Solo Trip to Hanoi / Imperial Citadel & HCM Mausoleum Day 4

                   That was my 4th day in Hanoi. As follow the itinerary to visit Imperial Citadel of Thang Long and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which are located around 1.5km from my hotel. It took half an hour for me to find that places in view of hustle streets in Old Quarters which was made me loss the way.

The area of Thang Long Imperial  Citadel is huge. You may spend hours to cover the area from the entrance till the end of park. The entrance fee is 30k Dong = RM6. Most visitors were schooling students of Hanoi, perhaps it was a getaway held by History club in their school.

I was wondered why the architectures seems French-like buildings. Maybe this country was invaded by them long time ago. Overall I like the environment, quite and peaceful. You can enter all the rooms as well as underground tunnel guided by arrow signs from first to last checkpoints.

Next stop was Ba Dinh Square which was located just in front of HCM mausoleum. The park was strictly supervised by police and visitors were not allowed to step on the grass. Huuuu.

I took picture by using my tripod, then guess.... "Preeett preeeett" sound of whistle blew from the police. He shown 'X' by using his forearms as sign tripod used was not allowed. Okay, it was embarrassing moment. hahahaha. I'm not sure why, maybe it is the rules stated there.

It was a hot day. so I decided to go back to hotel before went out in the evening. Tonight was my last night in Hanoi, you can take the opportunity on sightseeing night market  and buy some souvenirs before depart home next day. The stuffs prices were reasonable and so many choices you get in here.

See what I bought. The bag, shirts & fridge magnets for family & friends. Hahaha. 

Okay, that's all from my solo journey in September 2018.

Solo Trip to Hanoi / Day 3 - Temple of Literature

         
             

              Woke up at day 3 in Hanoi, still felt muscle sore due to previous day visit to Halong Bay. The weather was scorching hot even though still in the morning. Today, I planned to visit another landmark in Hanoi which is Temple of Literature. This temple actually is former university as well as first higher education centre for Hanoi citizen long time ago. So I decided to walk by using route in between buildings of Old Quarters.

As you can see, there was wet market in between the buildings that sold pork, frog, fishes and crab. I'm not sure whether they sold it legally or underground, perhaps it was permissable. 

In Old Quarters, the building is narrowed and uniquely tall probably due to limited space and overcrowded environment since France colonization era.

After 30 minutes of brisk walking, I arrived in front of the temple gate. The entrance fee was 20000 Dong = RM4. There were a lot of visitors from school children and also foreigners. The landscape was clean and dim due to surrounded by big trees. I love this peaceful place and great for photography. As usual, I only used my tripod and remote control to take nice shots hahaha.

The gate Temple of Literature

You can see this monument on 20k Dong note

Climbed up this double storey building and you can see the view of this temple

The giant drum

In the afternoon, I moved to Hanoi Train Street. The train passes only feet from houses twice per day around 3pm & 7pm. Beside the railway, there are souvenir & coffee shops for visitor to experience once train passes by if you are in right time. Then, I rode Gojek heading to D'Lion restaurant for lunch. This restaurant owned by Singaporean which is providing Halal food for customer. Here you may try Vietnamese cuisine as well with reasonable price.

In the afternoon, just walk around near hotel & found this cathedral. A lot of newly married couples came here for wedding photography due to its unique architecture. 

Anyone who has been here, you should try Egg Coffee as it is one of signature in Hanoi. Before I go watching water puppet show at night, I walked to Giang Cafe to taste this coffee. Not bad, the taste was good and odourless. The price was 25k Dong = RM5.

Enjoyed very much water puppet show. The entrance fee was 80k Dong = Rm14. My friend told me the fee is cheaper compared to water puppet entrance in HCMC.