On the first day of her Intrepid 10-day explorer tour, Sara Mason-Parker, business development manager at Corporate Traveller, makes the most of her free day in Hanoi….
"An advantage of arriving to Hanoi in the dark is that as we drive into the city people’s homes are lit up like dolls houses, the majority of them with vast glass windows to spy in or the locals are sat eating/chatting in the ‘cool’ (27c) evening air out front. Horns are tooting, there’s obviously an unwritten rule of three passengers minimum to one bike and Harry Potter’s 9 and 3/4 train platform is nothing in comparison to the invisible middle lane of Hanoi’s roads!
As this would be my only day in Hanoi, and the only day on my own in Vietnam, I was determined to see and do as much as possible. Starting with early stroll round Hoan Kiem Lake watching the locals perform tai chi, I walked to the National Museum of Vietnamese History. A beautiful building but I found its contents sparse. Then off to Hoa Lo Prison, dubbed ‘Hanoi Hilton’, which I found interesting and quite eerie, especially as many women were imprisoned and executed here.
I decided to have a coffee at a place recommended in my lonely planet. Cafe Pho Co is accessed through a silk shop, where you pay for your drink before climbing several storeys and a winding spiral staircase (thought I was on the fire escape!) to a roof top terrace with views of the lake. Bliss.
I spent my afternoon mooching in the Old Quarter and had lunch at another suggested eatery, Quan Bia Minh, where you can people-watch from a terrace above.
It’s time to meet my group now. I’ve very mixed feelings, will they be middle-aged anoraks and bore me to death? Or, will I at least have one drinking partner. Let’s go find out…"
