Michael Powell's Blog, page 30

Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum

Thank you, Uncle Ho: our hero! Leader of the struggle to free Vietnam from foreign influence! As a humble token of our gratitude, we honor you inside this mausoleum, where your corpse will be injected with embalming fluid and displayed eternally to generations of patriots … Uncle Ho? Why are you crying?

Few things are more ghoulish than a human corpse. One of those things, however, is a human corpse which has been embalmed to the point of plasticity. The body of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s greate...

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

As a country made up of 54 ethnicities, Vietnam is uniquely in need of an ethnology museum. And happily, the one found in the west of Hanoi is excellent. We drove out to the Cầu Giấy district to check out the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

Before we give the impression that Vietnam is a equally-balanced melting pot, it’s important to point out that the country’s biggest ethnic group, the Viet, is way bigger than all the others combined. 86% of the Vietnam’s population is Viet. But five others,...

St. Joseph’s Cathedral

Consecrated in 1886, St. Joseph’s Cathedral was one of the first buildings constructed by the French after the conquest of Hanoi. With a prime location just to the west of Hoàn Kiếm Lake, the church is among the most impressive pieces of colonial architecture in the city.

St. Joseph’s looks every bit the part of “ancient European cathedral”, with its austere gray facade and massive twin bell towers. The only problem is, it’s not in Europe. In the Old Quarter of Hanoi, with its narrow tube ho...

Bia Hoi in Hahoi… Banoi… Haboi (burp) Hanoi!

After one weekend in the city, we had already established Bia Hoi as our favorite new Hanoi weekend tradition. Bia Hoi joints are found on almost every corner in the capital, serving light, super-cheap draft beer, along with food. It doesn’t matter what kind of day you’ve had: if you finish it by pounding down a few Bia Hoi, you’ll go to bed happy.

It’s hard to overstate the popularity of Bia Hoi in Hanoi. These bar-restaurants are everywhere, and once the sun goes down, they’re all crowded....

Hoàn Kiếm Lake: The Heart of Hanoi

Legend has it that Emperor Lê Lợi was fishing on Hoàn Kiếm Lake, when a turtle god emerged and asked for his magic sword. Although the sword, which he had used to defeat the invading forces of the northern Ming, was precious to him, Lê Lợi was not about to second-guess a god. The turtle took the sword in his jaws and brought it to the depths of the lake, where it remains to this day.

Today, Hoàn Kiếm functions as Hanoi’s heart and soul. It’s not a large lake, but what it lacks in size, it ma...

The Đồng Xuân Market

A distinctive facade of three wide arches welcomes shoppers to Hanoi’s largest covered market, the Chợ Đồng Xuân. With mostly clothes and bulk foods on sale, this isn’t a place for souvenir-hunting tourists. But if you’re in the market for a fascinating slice of local life, it might be just what you’re looking for.

The market hall was built by the French in 1899, around the same time as the nearby Long Biên Bridge. After being badly damaged in 1994 by a fire which claimed four lives, the mar...

The Heritage House at 87 Ma May

Because the Old Quarter of Hanoi has given itself over so completely to tourism, it can be hard to get a sense of its history. But if you’d like to see how families lived in the 19th century, head to the Heritage House, in the heart of the backpacker district at 87 Ma May.

Built during the French occupation, the Heritage House was both a street-facing shop and the residence for a family which must have been fairly well-off. From the outside, it looks small, but the shop extends back for almo...

The Temple of Literature

Built in 1070, the Temple of Literature was Vietnam’s first university, where the country’s brightest scholars aspired to the role of mandarin, or court official. The temple is dedicated to Confucius, and is one of Hanoi’s most historic sights.

Maybe it was just the time of year we were visiting, at the tail end of May, but the Temple of Literature was packed with school classes. It makes sense, of course; what better place to celebrate graduation, than the temple dedicated to learning? With...

Welcome to Hanoi

We named this iteration of our travel project “Hanoi For 91 Days” more for aesthetics than for accuracy; “Central and Northern Vietnam For 91 Days” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. But the truth is, we didn’t even reach Hanoi until Day #31. After a month on the road, from Hoi An to Ninh Binh, we were ready to settle into the rhythm of a city, and get back to life as normal. It didn’t take long for us to realize, though, that life in Hanoi could never be considered “normal”.

Hanoi is th...

The Vân Long Nature Reserve

Located about 30 minutes north of Ninh Binh, the Vân Long Nature Reserve protects one of Northern Vietnam’s largest unspoiled natural areas. Visitors can take a boat tour to see a small section of the park, and possibly spot the elusive, endangered Delacour’s Langurs which call it home.

“A slow boat ride through a stunning landscape of limestone hills…” Wait, haven’t we done that already? It sounds just like Tam Cốc, to the south of Ninh Binh. But the experiences couldn’t be more different....