Hanoi – a mixture of discreet charm and excitement  

To visit HANOI is to steep yourself in history, tradition, and legend in a capital that has been
inhabited continuously for almost a  millennium. Visitors often note that the city is quieter,
greener, and "cooler" than other big cities of Vietnam. Indeed, Hanoi itself, and
the Northern Vietnam, have quite clear four seasons, and October to March are lovely
pretty cool months whilst other towns southward just have dry and rainy times. It probably
influences in the mentality of the inhabitants and the city seems attract more intellectuals
and artists, while Saigon is great for entrepreneurs and hustlers.

Hanoi's present architecture is mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, and the French-
built section of the town is largely intact. Yet, the city preserves many old religious temples
and shrines dedicated to the nation's heroes or deities, who supported the farmers to
cultivate and protect the fertile land on the Red River right bank and gather the first
commercial guilds to form what later became an exciting urban town. Hanoi street life now is
fascinating. In the early morning, you can see people both young and old practicing "tai chi
quan" or martial arts in the parks and joggers along pretty lakes. Outdoor barbers with
mirrors simply hung on the street walls and women selling great French baguettes and
flowers are also at every street corner. If you go for a walk, the motorbikes and cyclos may
make you wonder a bit which directions they move on, but as soon as you get a chance to
try one of them, you could say they are not so risky like they seem to be, as the local drivers
have extremely special skills to avoid one another (!). Thus a deliberate Cyclo tour for one
or two hours is so far the best way to visit the Old Quarter, 90% of which are narrow and
short streets.
During the two Indochinese Wars in 20th century, Hanoi had been heavily damaged, but
there is virtually no evidence that now and the particularly thin, tall, often awkward-looking
buildings that you see on streets are not a result of bombing, but are created by
landowners who own only a thin slice of land so build up rather than out. Hanoi has a
number of lovely parks and big Lakes which inspire the ancient architects to build graceful
temples nearby, and Museums with precious exhibits of Vietnam's Fine Arts, Ethnology,
History and Recent Wars that attract not only historians but foreign visitors and local people.
Finally, the Hanoians are reckoned the warmest and most approachable in the country.
Though English is not as commonly spoken as in Saigon, most of the shopkeepers have
learnt English quite enough to discussion on the commodities and price, and many of the
older generation have a working vocabulary of French. Regardless of language, people will
attempt to chat with you irrespective of whether you can understand them. Many of the
cyclo drivers speak some English and often have very interesting pasts that they are now
willing to discuss with foreigners. At times in Hanoi, you could be sitting in a café sipping
excellent coffee that Vietnam plant in the Central Highlands for domestic use and export,
eating great pastries that is a pleasant trace of the French time, chatting in French to an old
beret clad gentleman, whilst as you look out the window you can see posh French-style
villas in the shadows of fig trees or malabar-almon trees. Then you can really
wonder just what country you really are in. In a single word, Hanoi is a city to be savoured.


Bat Trang and other cottage industry villages  

Separated from the Hanoi downtown by a bridge over the Red River and 15km dike in
between green rice paddies and old villages, Bat Trang is worth a half-day visit not only for
its well-known cottage industry but also for the poetic surroundings.
According to historical records, the villagers have featured some kinds of excellent ceramic
for domestic use and export since 15th century. From time to time, the Vietnamese
overseas people and diplomatic corps have found their products – valuable antiques now -
not only in neighbouring countries like China, Korea, Cambodia but in far states including
Egypt, France and Portugal. The masters of Bat Trang now are not only supplying a big
deal of porcelain for Vietnam but receive numerous orders from Japan, France and USA
and are proceeding to recover traditional samples that somewhat have been lost during the
war time. Stop-off at the village is an interesting mixture between watching the real
production of ceramics and walking around for some light but fine and sophisticated
porcelain. You can find in a factory the workmen mixing clay or dipping burnt vases into
glaze to highlight their crackled lines, the painting masters, usually young girls with
dexterous hands drawing on raw terracotta before they are heated at 900oC to 1,700 oC
ovens, taking inspiring pictures of coal-dust bakes pasted on the village's walls. Daily life of
the village with a small exciting market and the wharf at the Red River where the
products shipped are also very fascinating. You should go with a local guide to discover the
family factories behind the shops in front, as it may not easy to communicate with the
villagers who speak no English. If Bat Trang say they are proud that about 1,000
households live by traditional job, other cottage industry villages surrounding Hanoi would
be shy a bit. Dong Ky village – 30km
northeast of Hanoi, has only hundreds of families specialized in handmade wooden furniture
with mother-of-pearl and marble inlay. Whilst local people come here for ordering
cupboards, tables and wardrobes by their designs or in catalogues' styles, you would be
interested in wooden statues or sophisticated utensils made of ebony, redwood, rosewood
and pine wood. Another village 14 km West of Hanoi called Van Phuc is famous for the
traditional silk and you can find here many families using motor looms weaving silk or
washing them after completed. Villagers from Le Mat, 08 km northeast of Hanoi, catch and
breed snakes for foods and wine. Serpents can be found hereabout in compounds around
the house, in readiness to export or to be dipped in snake wine or traditional medicine.
Different kinds of other snakes are to be cooked and served to the people mainly coming
from Hanoi, especially men. In Hanoi old quarter sometimes you can also
buy medicines made from Le Mat snakes. Dong Ho village along the Duong river in nearby
Ha Bac province produces traditional woodblock prints. In the old time, a picture printed that
way is a must to decorate a Vietnamese house in springtime of "Tet" – the
Lunar New Year. Some families in the village now change to make paper articles to burn at
the Vietnam's ancestral anniversaries to send "utensils" and "money" from the alive people
to their dearest dead relatives, with a hope that those things will be assisting the
dead souls to "survive" well in the Hell. As the villagers' job is somewhat seasonal, a visit to
Dong Ho should be combined with a sightseeing to the large But Thap pagoda nearby,
which was restored in 17th century with impressive antique statues and stone-carved
balconies and towers.

To the South of Hanoi there are a few interesting sights within a day-tour. If you love a visit
to see magnificent limestone ranges edging a poetic river, come to the Perfume Pagoda or
to Tam Coc. The trip to Tam Coc is to combined with visits to Bich Dong
pagoda nearby and to the two temples which are remains of an ancient city called Hoa Lu,
all belong to Ninh Binh province. Also in Ninh Binh you can visit Cuc Phuong, one of the few
national parks in Vietnam. To the North of Hanoi is Tam Dao, an old French hill station with
beautiful landscape from a height and to the West is a combination of several Buddhist
temples, of which Thay and Tay Phuong Pagoda are most sightworthy. Please
see details of them hereunder.




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