Second last day in Hanoi and we're off to a slow start as a result of hitting the hay a bit late last night. Breakfast, blogging and packing fill up most of the morning then we head off to see the last of the key sights; the Cathedral, the Market and the Temple of Jade Mountain at Hoam Kiem Lake. We headed off to see the cathedral stopping at various temples and shops along the way. It's weird how things that were so foreign when we arrived almost a month ago have become commonplace; parking lots of motorcycles on sidewalks, motorbikes laden/overburdened with people and stuff everywhere, the ubiquitous restaurants and food vendors. One thing that I don't think I would ever get used to is the constant traffic and cacophony of honking horns but I digress.
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| A Temple along the way |
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| Street life |
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| Another temple - note electric wires |
We finally reached the cathedral and it was locked up solid and surrounded by a huge metal fence for good measure, I can't remember seeing a church that looked so closed for business. St Joseph's Cathedral, built in 1886, is a beautiful edifice but no chance to look around inside. nterestingly, there was a young couple getting their wedding photos taken in front of the cathedral. Not suire how they will photoshop out the fence but they looked happy.
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| St. Joseph's Cathedral |
No need to linger so we headed to the lake and the temple there. Today is the first new moon of the new year so it's a big day for the Buddhists here and there are lots of folks praying in the temples large and small so the Temple at Jade Mountain is a busy spot with the fragrance of incense wafting in the air. The "high holy day" is also the reason why folks were burning paper outside their homes and shops as we meandered over here.
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| Can you believe that he's been a monk for 20 years? |
From the temple, we made our way to the ticket office of the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre to secure tickets for tomorrow afternoon's show; the last of our "must-dos" here. On the way to the market, we stop for lunch where Ken gets a cheese sand which and I get a wrap and roll platter featuring pork; a speciality of the house and as scrumptious as it is beautiful. Sated, we continue to the market, dropping off the purchases from the morning (mine, of course). The market is a big disappointment after the Ben Thanh Marketing HCMC so we have to look elsewhere formalize final treasures. Ken is finally in a mood to shop so finds a few treasures while I head off in search of pampering; one more trip to the salon. Who can resist a $10 blow dry?
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| Temples are everywhere |
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| My wrap and roll lunch! |
Got turned around when I left the salon so our partners-in-crime for our pub crawl are already at the hotel when I finally get back. After a quick clean-up, we start with a round of Tiger beer in the hotel bar before heading out. Next stop Finnegan's Pub and more Tigers, Guinness and Carlsberg.
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| View from the "balcony" at Finnegan's |
Our seats on the second floor balcony yield great people watching opportunities but after our drinks we head down three doors to the Prague Pub for another round and a shared pizza. They are setting up their altar to the new moon and it is overflowing with offerings from their kitchen. Time for the next stop, we cross the street to a restaurant bar.
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| Inside the Prague Pub |
Here we have another round of drinks and a few more snacks; calamari and spring rolls. The calamari, cooked to perfection and served with a sweet spicy sauce, was a big hit. The spring rolls were just okay. Next ...
Off to the Mix Bar where sadly we couldn't sit on the tire chairs as it was misting heavily. No more food but the cheapest drinks by far with a quart of Tiger costing only 20,000 VND ($1.15 CDN)!! A last round of drinks before we head back to the hotel to bid adieu to Vickie and Bruce as they are heading to Hong Kong tomorrow morning. A great evening with new friends.
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| Seating on the Mix Bar Patio |
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| Big beer and goodnight! |
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