Hanoi
The Vietnam Airlines flight from Seoul to Hanoi went pretty smooth, unlike the chaos at airports in Europe, it took about 15 minutes from check-in to gate. This included a 5-minute wait for luggage to clear security.
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It was dark when I landed in Hanoi. Generally I don't like that, it's difficult to orientate yourself and somehow feels a bit hostile, when arriving at a new place.
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HanoiVietnam21.02945/105.85445
The pre-booked car took me directly to my hotel, ... well it was a Saturday, so a large part of the Hanoi Old Quarter is made into a giant pedestrian zone, so I had to walk the last couple of hundred meters through the Saturday night crowds.
The next day I headed to a nearby museum called Hoàng Thành Thăng Long. (empirical city of Thang Long). It's more like a large area with multiple musea and exhibitions, either about Vietnamese culture or the war.
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Same like last time, it's interesting to read all the history of the war from the Vietnamese perspective, where the Americans were the occupiers.
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The area used to be part of a large fort-like structure and was the capital of the Ly-dynastie in the 11th century.
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During the Vietnam war, the bunker below one of the buildings was used to lead the war.
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A couple of days later I visited the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, for a welcome air-conditioned afternoon. The museum is spread out over three floors and contains traditional and modern art.
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Every day either around lunch or after dinner I wandered the streets of Hanoi, mostly in search for food :P but also to take some photos here and there.
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A Confucius temple on a little island in Hoan Kiem Lake, which happened to be open this evening.
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You have to pay for entrance, but it was a nice escape from the crowds.
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It turned out the crowds where here for a reason, the Hanoi marathon.
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Tucked away in the Old Quarter was a gallery showing modern art. It's free to visit and it was open late at night when I passed it.
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