Hello Hanoi!

November 23^rd, 2024

Yesterday Naomi and I flew from Chiang Rai, down to Bangkok and then over to Hanoi.  We were much closer to Hanoi from Chiang Rai, but that’s just how the airlines work sometimes.  There were no direct flight to Hanoi.  Chiang Rai’s airport is relatively small since the city’s population is only about 200,000.  Before coming on this trip, I applied for a multiple entry visa for Thailand for my Canadian passport. I was starting there and flying back four months later from Bangkok.  However, I would also be visiting Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.  Canadians need a visa for Vietnam, which only costs $25 USD, but UK citizens do not require a visa.  Since I hold a British passport, I decided to forego the hassle of applying for a visa and enter Vietnam on that passport. 

 

Naomi passed through immigration without any issues but me, not so much.  I gave the officer my Canadian passport so that I could get an exit stamp in it, and then he asked where my visa was.  I presented my UK passport which was what I intended to use entering Vietnam.  For some reason, he told me that this was an issue and that I had to use the same passport that I entered Thailand with to go into Vietnam.  This didn’t make sense to me.  I’ve switched passports before when traveling from Panama to Colombia, without any issues.  I was told to have a seat while Naomi stood dumbstruck on the other side of immigration.

 

An older, female immigration officer came out and started asking me questions.  She also told me that I had to use the same passport to leave Thailand and enter Vietnam.  She then instructed me that I needed to have a plane ticket out of Vietnam, so I reluctantly fired up my laptop and purchased a ticket from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh on the spot.  This was all a bit stressful.

 

Eventually I was allowed through immigration only to find out from Naomi that our plane had been delayed by an hour, which was going to make our connection in Bangkok tight which was now stressing her out.  However, since it was the same airline, they delayed the flight from Bangkok to Hanoi to make sure everyone could get on board. 

Flying towards Bangkok:

So lesson learned, never bother trying to use the “better” of the two passports that I possess…just be Canadian and deal with visas if I have to, except perhaps when I visit England.  In the end, the immigration officer in Vietnam didn’t even talk to me and didn’t look for the Thai stamps so I entered the country under my UK passport.  I will have to figure out how to change back to using my Canadian passport before re-entering Thailand after visiting Cambodia and Laos.  A problem for another day.

 

Driving into the old city centre of Hanoi in a taxi, we crossed over the Nhật Tân Bridge which looked really impressive, especially lit up in the night.  We could definitely tell that we were in a different country.  First off, where were the 7-11s?!?  There were a few massage parlours, but they were certainly not as ubiquitous as in Thailand.  Almost all signs on buildings were in capitalized letters.  I joked with Naomi that whoever made the signs was either lazy (keeping Caps Lock on) or very angry.

 

We knew that traffic in the capital city was chaotic, but it was still a bit surprising.  Lanes and traffic lights didn’t seem to exist in the old city.  When the taxi driver dropped us off at our hotel, he was kind enough to guide us across the street as scooters whipped by.  The secret is to be predictable…just keep walking and don’t go backwards.  Over the next day and a half, we got the hang of it.

 

On our one full day in Hanoi, we tried to pack a lot in, so we were up early.  After breakfast at the hotel, we took a Grab taxi to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square.  Ho Chi Minh is considered the father of modern-day Vietnam.  He was the founder and first president of the country.  After he died in 1969, even though his wishes were to be cremated, his body was embalmed and a mausoleum was built in between 1973 and 1975.  Over 50 million people have visited the mausoleum since, which is free to visit.

Our hotel in Hanoi:

Naomi and I arrived at the entrance which was very well organized.  Staff organized visitors into 6-8 single file rows as we proceeded through security, like at an airport.  The lines joined together after that and we shuffled along for about 500 meters, at first under a covered walkway but then out in the open, making our way towards the mausoleum.  One had to be dressed appropriately (no shorts, bare shoulders), no bags or cameras were allowed, and you had to keep quiet and moving forward.

School kids lining up at the mausoleum.

And so are we...

Soldiers dressed in pristine white uniforms were located along the way as we approached the building.  They were also situated by the entrance and four guards stood at each corner of Ho Chi Minh’s glass case.  It was quite a site to see.  He was lying there under a dull, orangish light with his hands on his chest.  Crazy to think that he died a few years before I was born, yet here he was, still preserved.  Well at least we think it’s actually him…who knows if it was a wax figure as keeping a body intact and presentable for that long must be a challenge.  Supposedly the mausoleum is closed for two months every year as he is sent to Russia for “maintenance”!  In fact, there are a number of Communist leaders who have become “Communist Mummies”:  Lenin, Stalin (for a while, then he was buried),  Mao Zedong, Bulgarian leader Dimitrov, Kim Il Sung and the most recent one, Kim Jong Il.

Here are some pics I found online of Ho Chi Minh in the mausoleum:

Outside the mausoleum, after we had been inside.

You can see some soldiers in their white uniforms in the distance.

It sure had a communist feel to the place.

Checking out some Ho Chi Minh swag.

This girl was sweet.  Naomi was looking for a fridge magnet for her mom and the girl was very helpful, spoke great English and her math on the prices was good too.  She took care of the whole sale for her mom who was behind the counter.

Back outside, we wandered around the grounds of the Ba Dinh Square which included the One Pillar Pagoda that was originally built in 1049!  We opted not to go into the Ho Chi Minh Museum as we had too many other items on our itinerary, so we started to walk towards our next stop.

The One Pillar Pagoda.

A nearby temple.

I'm looking towards the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

This sign was hilarious.  It is trying to convey idealogies of Buddhism, but in a modern way.

This one says:

    CAUSE: Revealing the country's or someone's secrets causing serious consequences.

    EFFECT: Brings rebirth as a dumb person suffering from miserable conditions.

CAUSE: Creating computer virus creating harm to others.

EFFECT: Brings an insane and foolish person.

And this one seemed appropriate to us!

    CAUSE: Wasting time on travelling for fun.

    EFFECT: Brings mobility problems when blessing ends.

In front of the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

A cute girl near the exit with her "Insta-pose".

Less than a kilometre away, we entered the Temple of Literature, which should really be called the Temple of Confucius.  It was old too, built in 1070.  We went there due to the architecture of the ancient buildings which were lovely.  By chance, there were many graduating students there getting their photographs taken with their proud parents looking on.  It was a great place to take pictures, that’s for sure.  Actually, Naomi was getting blown away by how much Hanoi in general was a photographer’s paradise.

Walking to the Temple of Literature.

All the shops on this street sold tools, but some of the architecture was interesting.

An old building that looked like it was going to be restored.

Crossing the street, commentary credits to Naomi:

In the Temple of Literature.

Ho Chi Minh looking a bit beatnik-ish.

Doing my best Samson impression.

One of many graduates.

Trying to stay out of the way of the proud parents.

I love the spontaneity of this photo that Naomi captured.

This little girl was super cute, dressed up like a little dragon.

Her mom was singing "Baby Shark" to keep her motivated for the photographer.

On our way back to the hotel.

We wandered through the ground for less than an hour and then headed back to our hotel where we split up.  Naomi wanted to find a salon to get her hair coloured while I went to visit the Ho Loa Prison, also known during the Vietnam War as the “Hanoi Hilton”.  I’ll split that into the next entry as this one is long enough!