| | Overview (Source: Frommers) |
Cleaving the yellow walls of a centuries-old Chinese temple, an old gnarled banyan tree is adorned with flowers and offerings of rice wine and incense. Adjacent to the tree is a designer boutique and gallery, farther on is an Internet cafe, and, out front, an endless stream of honking motorbikes whiz by, rustling the tree's leaves. If the 200-year-old banyan could speak, it might tell stories of the 19th-century tradesmen who worked on the avenue out front, the arrival of the French, or the introduction of the automobile. It could speak of the years when revolutionary murmurs became skirmishes and barricades lined the streets of the Old Quarter, or of a time -- years later -- when a full-scale war, with an enemy that attacked from the skies, almost completely evacuated the city. It might talk about the quiet years after peace in 1975, years of austerity. And then it might tell of one-time enemies returning as investors, bringing recent years of capitalistic excess. The most obvious reminders of the past in Hanoi are written in the vestiges of precolonial and colonial buildings -- low facades tucked beneath towers of concrete, especially in the city's Old Quarter. But even these centuries-old structures are recent, considering the rich history here that dates back thousands of years. Through it all, stalwart and struggling for its patch of ground, the old banyan looks on, ready for whatever changes come its way and grappling its crooked arms around new hunks of pavem
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| History (Source: WCities) | Top | Hanoi's personality combines the charming candor of a schoolgirl, the hardworking grit of a mechanic and the wisdom of a great aunt. It is a city in transition. Squashed between karaoke bars and travelers' cafes, elements of its French colonial past inject the city with the character of a provincial town. Over the course of the country's soap opera-like history, Hanoi has for the most part functioned as the nation's capital. Though smaller and less modern than Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi bursts with a determined energy that speaks of its historical and political significance. Inhabited since the Neolithic period, Hanoi, enjoyed power and prestige at an early stage in Vietnam's entangled past. In A.D. 1010 King Ly Thai To, known as Hanoi's founding father, established the site as the capital of the first Vietnamese dynasty independent from the Chinese. According to folklore, when the king stepped onto the riverbank a golden dragon flew toward the heavens, hence the original name Thang Long, City of the Soaring Dragon. Hanoi became home to the pulse of administrative activities and to the nation's first university, the Temple of Literature , a graceful complex of courtyards and small buildings. It remains a well-preserved example of the serenity and architecture of a bygone life. Other remnants of dynastic life are sprinkled throughout the city. Guided by the principles of geometry, Ly Thai To and his successors chose auspicious locations to construct temples and palace
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| How To Get There (Source: Frommers) | Top | Hanoi, along with Ho Chi Minh City, is a major international gateway. Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport (tel. 04/886-5047 ) is about a 45-minute drive outside the city. If you haven't booked a hotel transfer through your hotel, an airport taxi costs $10 (£5.55). To save a few dollars, you can take the Vietnam Airlines minivan into town. It costs $3 (£1.65) for a drop-off at the Vietnam Airlines office, but sometimes for an extra buck you can get the driver to drop you at your hotel if it's along the way. From town to the airport, shuttles make regular departures from the Vietnam Airlines office as follows: 5am, 5:30am, 6am, 7:30am, 8am, 8:30am, 9am, 9:30am, 10am, 10:30am, noon, 12:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm, 3:30pm, 5pm, 5:30pm, 6pm, and 6:30pm. To contact international carriers in Hanoi, try the following: Aeroflot, 360 Kim Ma (tel. 04/771-8742 ); Air France, which has a helpful customer service desk on the southwestern edge of Hoan Kiem Lake, 1 Ba Trieu (tel. 04/825-3484 ); All Nippon Airways (ANA), 25 Ly Thuong Kiet (tel. 04/934-7237 ); British Airways, 25 Ly Thuong Kiet (tel. 04/934-7239 ); Cathay Pacific, 49 Hai Ba Trung (tel. 04/826-7298 ); China Airlines, 6B Trang Tien St. (tel. 04/936-6364 ); Czech Airlines, 328 Giang Vo (tel. 04/514-1852 ); Emirates Airlines, 25 Ly Thuong Kiet (tel. 04/934-7240 ); Japan Airlines (JAL), 63 Ly Thai To (tel. 04/826-6693 ); Lao Airlines, 41 Quang Trung (tel. 04/822-9951 ); Malaysia Airlines, 1/F H
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| What To Do (Source: WCities) | Top | Hanoi's nightlife is all about legs: the squat, plastic legs of tiny stools crowding around equally diminutive tables in your average bia hoi (beer hall); the proud, carved wooden legs of the chairs in fine restaurants; and, your own two legs sashaying your body across the dance floor. Whichever kind of legs you choose to employ, select early, as Hanoi operates on your grandparents' clock. Low Legs Short, plastic table legs usually indicate a low-budget dining/entertainment option. Groups of men puffing on cigarettes and sipping coffee sit pretzel-like on stools inches from the ground in cafés scattered about the city. A concentration of local cafés can be found on Trieu Viet Vuong Street and Bao Khahn. The backless, plastic stool is also almost compulsory in Hanoi's other renowned watering hole, the aforementioned bia hoi . Also generally male turf, these airplane hangar-like venues offer cheap beer on tap and local munchies and meals. Some spots do not beckon the lone female traveler, but there are a few other options frequented by a mix of locals and foreigners. They include Quan Bia Minh , Cua Hang Bac Nam Bia Hoi and 60 Ly Thuong Kiet Street and provide an inexpensive and casual place for groups to chat away the afternoon and early evening. Another low-to-the-earth entertainment choice is paddling across Hanoi's several lakes. On weekend afternoons, swarms of Vietnamese flock to West Lake for picnics and floats atop the water. Keeping with the
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| Getting Around (Source: Frommers) | Top | Hanoi has a number of local buses that ply regular routes through the city, but Hanoi's smoke-belching lorries are extremely crowded, and using them is difficult if you don't speak Vietnamese. With the ready availability of fast, affordable local motorbike taxis and good metered taxis, few tourists bother with local buses. By Taxi Taxis can be hailed on the street, at hotels, and at major attractions. The meter should read 14,000 VND (95¢/£0.50) to start, and 4,000 VND to 5,000 VND (about 25¢/£0.15) for every kilometer (about 1/2 mile) thereafter. You can call ahead (or ask at any front desk or concierge) to contact a few companies such as Hanoi Taxi (tel. 04/853-5353 ), 52 Taxi (tel. 04/852-5252 ), or Taxi CP ( 04/826-2626 ). Make sure the cabbie turns on the meter. Be sure to get your change; drivers often seek a surreptitious tip by claiming that they don't have the right amount to give back. Smile. Tell the driver that you'll wait until it's obtained, and it will materialize. Tips are greatly appreciated, but don't feel pressed to give any certain percent, just round up the meter or offer 5,000 VND (35¢/£0.20) and you are being quite generous by local standards. Rigged Taxi Meters Be sure to go with an accredited taxi company, either one mentioned above or a company connected with your hotel. Smaller companies and individual operators sometimes rig the meter and charge up to double the price. If you protest, these shifty characters just point
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