Hanoi

(Usual waiver applies to grammar, typos, spelling as I'm posting via  a small phone screen on the hoof 🤭, click on the pics to zoom in)

Our first day in Hanoi. Skip part this bit if you just want to check out the photos. A little bit of history.....Hanoi is the  capital of Vietnam. It's the country's second largest city and has a population over 8.8 million! Bit bigger than the entire population of New Zealand.

Hanoi  means 'city inside rivers' as it's  built on the bank of Red river and the lowlands. As we flew in we could see miles of  lush fields,  a green tapestry  of produce/veg/banana trees. No wonder the fruit & veg looks so fresh here. Great alluvial river soil. Pic below courtesy of Google as we travel sans drone 😁.

We crossed  the Long Bien bridge as our hotel shuttle got us from the airport to the Old Quarter where we are staying. You could tell this bridge  was important just by looking at it. Google told me it was designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the Eiffel Tower  and Statue of Liberty. Early French colonial occupation has certainly left its mark.The area surrounding the bridge is home to some of the poorest living under the bridge. Tough life.

After a good nights sleep we set out early to explore as the Old Town came to life.

The noise, chaos, hectic traffic, motorbike horns, bicycles traders, street food being cooked on the footpath.... it's amazing. 

You can wander down little back lanes where there is meat being cut up, flowers being sold from the back of  bicycles, shoes being cleaned and rickshaws on the move. 

You can see why  the Instagram 'influencers' love Hanoi - turn a corner and there's a money shot.

We wandered along to Hoan Kiem Lake and crossed the red Hue footbridge to the beautiful Ngoc Son temple in the middle of the lake. 

We were early in the day so it was incredibly peaceful. 

Many locals were out exercising around the lake in the cool morning air. Spot the night herons in the trees beside the temple. 

We then passed the Monument of Determination or the Martyrs Monument which honours those who gave their life for independence. It shows a woman welding a sword to acknowledge the role women played alongside men in the independence movement.

We did our own self guided walking tour, following our noses with some key locations along the way. 

Bach Ma Temple is in the heart of the Old Town, small as temples go but of major significance. 

As we wandered by there was a beautiful  ceremony taking place. 

The blend of architecture is amazing. Grand French influenced alongside the very humble. Lot's of houses in the Old Quarter are very narrow. Property tax, introduced by the French, was based on the building’s width, the wider the house, the more tax people had to pay.

Vietnam produces some of the best coffee in the world so it's no surprise the amount of coffee houses in the Old Quarter. We made several coffee stops to get out of the noise and humidity. Day one over and it's been incredible. Over and out, well caffeinated, tired but happy.