Thursday, 3 June 2021

NW VIETNAM -HANOI -AUG 2015

 NW Vietnam tours

Hanoi

14 Aug 2015

This was another off flying duties vacation squeezed between flying duties. The tour was booked online after much research. The tour officially started in Hanoi. It was a private tour with driver and a guide. The focus of the trip was Dien Bien Phu and Sapa Mountains in Northwest Vietnam

Going to North Vietnam has always been on my travelling list. Top of the list is the town of Diem Bien Phu which is steep in Vietnamese history and French colonialism in Indo China. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was won by the Vietnamese on 7th May 1954. The mighty European French colonizer had lost and perpetuates the French withdrawal from Indo China. It was the world news on that day. It was also the day I was born.

 

 


Route map and itinerary. Hanoi - Mai Chau - Son La - Dien Bien Phu - Lai Chau - Sapa - Hanoi

We arrived in Hanoi at noon and stayed at Legend Hotel situated in the old quarter, and a short walk to Hoan Kiem Lake. In the half day we had, we walked around the city and appreciate how the people of Hanoi live. The pulse of the people reflect on the dynamism of the Vietnamese people who had suffered immensely, first under the French and then the Americans.











There narrow roads and streets were overcrowded and bustling with bicycles, motorbikes, cars and human traffic. There are noticeably no beggars and streets urchins.  The buildings are old and some are in need of repair. Above the roads, the power and telephone lines hang like spaghetti.









Hoan Kiem Lake











Landscape around the lake






Ngoc Son Temple










The night market






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