The skinny buildings

and the low laying cables,


the busy crossroads, the lake in the middle of the town,


the walking peddlars


or the honking vehicles seems to have a funny way to welcome people to the Old Quarter.

Sleeping in one of the budget hostel or guesthouse would be woken up, not by any alarm clock but instead the honking of cars and motorcycles signifying that the town has woken up. Activities started early in the morning and the honking sound only starts to die off at around 9-10 pm.

Starting the day with a bowl of pho bo (pho = rice noodles, bo = beef) by the road side,


and trying to cross the road with non stop flow of motorcycles, we ended up joining the crowd and honk our way to the Ho Chi Minh Complex to pay respect to Uncle Ho.


Ok, the LP guide book says that the Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum opens on Tue-Thu, Sat and Sun Dec-Sept, last entry usually 10.15am. Notice what's missing? Absent-minded us has been seems to miss out the word "Fri" and "Mon". Unaware of the missing Friday, we decided to leave Old Quarter and visit Uncle Ho, we rented a EX5 Wave for a day and make our move to the west of Old Quarter.

Despite all our effort, it has already passed 11 am when we reached there, and still not noticing the very fact that HCM Mausoleum is not open every Fridays and Mondays till after a while. Nevertheless, grin, riding a motorcycle in Hanoi is an unbeatable experience :)


Side note: I find riding in Hanoi is not too bad, in fact may have been safer than riding in Malaysia along with so many cars. *Ponder

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