Pedaling fast – but not fast enough.
Racing from the opposite direction of this uncontrolled intersection, waves of scooters and cyclists and chaos sweeps around me as I slow, swerve, sandals scraping asphalt.
Phew! Another accident averted.
CONTENTS
Despite the odd traffic scare, for a couple of dollars a day, hiring a bicycle is an enjoyable way to see the sights of Hanoi.
Having a map makes orientation easy.
The city’s flat, compact layout features grid-like streets, and the Red River runs along its east side. Elegant French colonial architecture, grassy parks, pagodas, and lakes serve as useful landmarks.
Brief History
Legend says that Hanoi’s beginnings go back to 1010 AD, when Prince Ly Thai To, while on a riverboat, saw a golden dragon preparing to take flight, interpreting this as an omen to build his capital there.
The positioning of the royal city and Hanoi’s expansion followed the principles of geomancy, a Chinese system of divination.
Palaces, temples, esplanades, artificial hills, and lakes were constructed over centuries, only to be largely demolished and westernized during French rule (1883-1954).
Hanoi’s allure lies in its tree-lined boulevards featuring aged French villas and imposing government buildings encircling the lakes and pagodas of past Vietnamese empires.
An island pagoda commemorating a semi-historical legend sits in the center of ‘The Lake of the Restored Sword.’
Legend says a golden tortoise stole Emperor Le Loi’s magical sword — used to conquer the Chinese — and hid it in a lake, returning it to the heavens.
Seated in the park surrounding this legendary lake, I’m oblivious to the hum and swirl of Hanoi.
It’s the prefect place to relax; best around dusk.
From a street-vendor I purchase a bowl of pho: shredded chicken, bean sprouts, parsley, and noodles in a clear, spicy soup. Delicious!
While swigging beer, I watch a family of five picnic upon the grass, two young lovers coo and kiss, old men drawing long on their cigarettes as sun light fades from the island pagoda.
Exploring ‘Old Hanoi’
Cycling around Hanoi in the Old Quarter makes every day, seem like market day
Men in Vietcong helmets weave their ‘cyclos’ (cycle-rickshaws) past pavements congested by parked scooters and women vendors wearing traditional conical hats, hawking fruit and vegie or cigarettes.
Others have set up small street kitchens comprising gas burners and woks, frying something resembling shrimp, egg, and veg pancakes (yummy).
Shops are boxed side by side, little more than a wall of stacked cans and cartons, selling everything from washing powder to Milo to biscuits and cheap Chinese beer.
Grouped beneath shady trees, there are chairs and mirrors and barbers offering me short-back-and-sides.
Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum
Meantime in the main-street the traffic rushes towards modernity.
Cautiously, I pedal into a fast-flowing avenue, passing the old citadel and the Army Museum to reach a quiet street where hundreds of bicycles stand in racks.
Within walking distance are Hanoi’s main sights, including Vietnam’s most-revered monument: Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum.
Ho Chi Minh, who died in 1969, led the fight against the French and Americans, though he did not live to see ultimate victory.
His tomb, stark in the Soviet style, is constructed from gray marble.
And I’m walking in this single-file line to visit, passing soldiers in white uniforms, red trim on their pants, jackets, caps, white gloves clutching AK-47’s, bayonets fixed.
Stark silent interior.
Every 5 meters, sentries are rigid in the shiny marble corridors.
At each corner of the glass coffin containing the embalmed body of “Uncle Ho”, four guards like stern statues, illuminated by an eerie light that stresses his wrinkled, waxy-pink face, and whiskery chin.
Close by is the Ho Chi Minh Museum, commemorating his birth centenary, having opened on May 19, 1990.
It features everything from his belongings and a giant statue to a state-of-the-art film and war exhibits set against the backdrop of the Socialist revolution.
More Sights in Hanoi
Hanoi’s most famous temple is the ‘One Pillar Pagoda’, sitting on a single pillar in a lotus pond.
Constructed in the 11th century, the structure was demolished by the French in 1954; however, it was reconstructed the following year after Emperor Ly Thai Tong had a vision of a goddess blessing him with a son. He subsequently married a peasant woman, who gave birth to his son and heir.
Today, the One Pillar Pagoda remains a place of pilgrimage for childless couples.
Another Vietnamese tradition is water puppetry.
It dates back to the 12th century.
I attended a performance by the Thang Long Water Puppet Troupe.
It’s strange; amusing; magical.
Staged in a theater with a pool, with a backdrop of cottages, pagodas, palm trees, the puppets – grinning peasants, singing fairies, smoking dragons, flying ducks – glide along the water to the sound of music, banging drums, explosions of smoke and color.
In the Temple of Literature, the Van Mieu, a statue of Confucius, sits on a throne, his goatee and golden crown adding to his regal presence.
This is the cultural heart of Hanoi.
Built in 1070 AD as a shrine, 6 years later, it became Vietnam’s first university.
In the temple’s shaded pond and pavilion enclosure, under banyan and frangipani trees, are rows of stone slabs on tortoises, recording successful scholars from 1484 to 1780.
These honors celebrated the achievement and inspired others to pursue their studies.
Watch the Traffic!
After 2 days of cycling around Hanoi, I’ve mastered the art of Hanoi street-chaos survival.
But, it isn’t so.
As I pass the railway station, I see a policeman whistling and shouting at someone, leading me to believe he’s harassing a local.
Seconds later – WTF!
Cop’s run after me – and whacked my arm!
He shrieks in Vietnamese, gesturing with his hands – I’m going the wrong way on a one-way street.
OK, sorry. Didn’t know.
Hanoi is a relaxed, friendly, fascinating city for bicycle adventures.
Yet, I’ve second-thoughts on touring by clunky old bike.
So over the following days, I relax and let someone else pedal, cruising the city of lakes, legends, and pagodas in the safety and comfort of a cyclo …
[ Article published in 1996 + 1998 in international newspapers. But I stopped writing for the mainstream media soon after to only publish here ]
Travels in Vietnam – 1994
