Last Stop: Hanoi; Goodbye Vietnam

Finally, I had reached the end of my trek up Vietnam. My trip ended with the capital, Hanoi. Hanoi was another big bustling city, but it had a different feeling than Saigon. I'm not sure how much of that was the weather; Saigon was significantly hotter and stickier. 

Some streetside dog meat

 In the center of the city, there was a huge pond. The pond is important in a Vietnamese folktale. Right around the pond was all the tourist attractions. I found Hanoi to be very walk-able and centered around this area, but I didn't travel too many places.

 

The pond lit up at night

 I visited a water puppet theater on my first night in Hanoi. It was really beautiful. The entire show was in Vietnamese, but it was easy enough to understand. The puppeteers were standing in water for the whole show behind the backdrop. There were even fireworks and smoke shows.

 

By climbing a fence, I found myself in another park. I couldn't find the exact entrance so a nice man showed me where to climb the wall. This one was dedicated to Vladimir Lenin. It was incredibly peaceful. It was easy to forget that you were in the middle of a bustling city.

This peaceful pond was brought to you by Doublemint gum. Double the pleasure, double the fun with Doublemint Gum!

An Eiffel Tower shaped radio tower over the pond

A girl practicing roller skating

 

After leaving the immediate area around the pond, you get to see more of Hanoi outside of the tourist spots.

A man works in his crowded shop

And eat at some local places. This was one of the most delicious meals I had in Vietnam. It's called "Bun Cha." It had a huge plate of fresh greens and some rice noodles. There's also a bowl with meat soaking in a broth (sauce?). It was so good :)

 I didn't totally avoid the tourist places. I made it to the Temple of Literature. It was another quiet place in the city, but definitely less isolated than the parks. It had some old architecture and temples.

    

And after, I made my way to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. It was closed that day, so I could only visit the outside.

  

Some workers relaxing outside the mausoleum

By the time I made it to Hanoi, I was at the end of my 3 weeks traveling. It was a city with some nice relaxing parks and it was quite welcoming to foreigners.

The entire trip was phenomenal. I really hope to visit again. I'd revisit some places and definitely see more of this amazing country. Anyway, that was my entire trip through Vietnam. I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos as much as I enjoyed the trip. 

Yum? Probably...