‘Must-see’ destinations on your Ha Noi City Tour

03 Th11 2015

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Ha Noi, the millennium year old capital of Viet Nam, is regarded as the center of culture, politics, education and tradition. With its elegance and aged beauty, Ha Noi has long been one of tourist destinations on visitors’ Viet Nam Travel. Therefore, Ha Noi City Tour will definitely bring forth sheaf of interesting, fresh and unique experiences regarding the country’s culture, arts, and history for travelers.

As a national cradle of history and culture, Ha Noi enjoys plenty of historic relics and natural beauty spots. Once your Ha Noi City Tour embarks on, the first landmark will be the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, or the Chairman Mausoleum (Lăng Chủ tịch) where the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, or intimately called Uncle Ho – the first president of Viet Nam, is preserved. Construction work kicked off on September 2^nd 1973smack-dab in the center of Ba Dinh Square, where Uncle Ho read the Declaration of Independence on the same date back in 1945. The Chairman Mausoleum opens to the public 5 days a week, except Monday and Friday, and every afternoon. Moreover, the mausoleum closes from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12 every year for restoration. As paying a visit to the Mausoleum, you’re required to dress smart casually, stay solemn without picture taking.

Right behind the mausoleum there exists a small stilt house where the Chairman Ho Chi Minh was living in the 1960s. The house bears an outlook of a traditional rural house. Near to the Chairman’s residence, there is a green bushy garden and a carp fish pond. This historical complex also embraces the Presidential Palace, which was built for the French Governor – General of Indochina under the country’s colonial period during 1900s. The area is also called the Presidential Palace complex.

As Hanoi being considered the country’s center of culture, history and religion, One Pillar Pagoda is one of the utmost iconic features of the capital. Located in the heart of Ha Noi, this buddhist temple highlights unique architecture of Viet Nam. It’s also known under several names such as Mat Temple (chùa Mật), Lien Hoa Dai Temple (Liên Hoa Đài) or Dien Huu Temple (Diên Hựu Tự). Constructed in 1049, the pagoda was to realize a strange dream of the ruling King Ly Thai Tong (Lý Thái Tông). Emerging in the middle of a small lake, it resembles an opening lotus blossom. Over time, it has been more or less ruined, and been partially damaged by the Vietnam War. However, the buddhist temple was restored to its original architecture in 1955, and since then has been surviving as a religious icon of Buddhism in Viet Nam. Certainly, the One Pillar Pagoda will enthrall you when you stop by on your Ha Noi City Tour.

The next destination on your tour is the Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám), another iconic complex in Ha Noi. The temple is the first university in Viet Nam, which houses tortoise stelae engraved with names of feudal doctors or royal exam winners, and serves as the worship of Confucius. Over the country’s feudal dynasties, it was the place hosting royal examinations to select talents nationwide. This complex comprises separate areas for different purposes such as teaching, worshipping and sitting the commemorative steles. Nowadays, the Temple of Literature becomes a tourist attraction for visitors and, especially, for students who come to pray for luck before their examinations.

After lunch, your tour will go on to Vietnam Folk Museum. You’ll have a chance to sight-see, study and enrich your knowledge of ethnological aspects from religious events to typical rituals of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. The museum is divided into 3 parts; that is, the first embraces an exhibition room, offices, study rooms and a library; the second is an outdoor exhibition area, and the rest serves to introduce foreign cultures, mainly of communities in the Southeast Asia.

Then you’ll be back to the downtown of Ha Noi for a walk around the Old Quarter (Khu phố cổ). As the feature of your Ha Noi City Tour, the Old Quarter includes 36 distinct streets spotlighting old houses that altogether retain a retrospective touch of the 19^th century. Especially, names of those streets once refected their own principal sales, though some remains the same now. Only walking deep to these special streets helps you capture Hanoians’ pure beauty – friendly and hospitable.

Finally, to wrap the tour up, there comes an outstanding destination – Thang Long Water Puppet Theater near Hoan Kiem Lake or the Sword Lake (hồ Hoàn Kiếm or hồ Gươm). You must pay a visit to this special theater to watch puppets dancing or performing on water, which are skillfully operated by puppet artists at the back stage. All puppet performances cling to local folk stories, which can tell you about aspects of Vietnamese life and culture. You will absolutely love them and your Ha Noi City Tour will abound in unforgettable memories in life.