My weeklong business trip to Vietnam was coming to a close. On the last full day that the team was all together, we got up early to take a taxi to Hoan Kiem Lake so that we could explore Hanoi's wonderfully vibrant Old Quarter.
 |
| breakfast coffee and banh mi at Highlands Coffee |
You know I love the coffee in Vietnam!
 |
| at The Note Café, the walls are covered in post-its |
 |
| and each coffee comes with a note from the staff |
"In the end, we only regret the chances we did not take". - The Note Café
In the end, I guess that's why we were in Hanoi. It's a risk starting a business. But I'm grateful for the team that we've put together, and for the friends I've made during the experience.
 |
| egg coffee |
We decided to do a little team-building/marketing with the notes ourselves!
 |
| leaving our mark at The Note Café |
It was still early, but it was hot! We sat on an upper floor of the café looking out across the streets below. It was a Saturday. In Hanoi, the city shuts down the roads surrounding Hoan Kiem Lake on the weekends so that people can enjoy time around the lake without worrying about traffic.
 |
| Hoan Kiem Lake |
Ngoc Son Temple, or the Temple of the Jade Mountain, is a small temple in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. Constructed in 1865, the temple is dedicated to both Confucian and Taoist philosophers.
 |
| Ngoc Son Temple |
It seems as if there has been some renovations since the last time I was here! A few years ago, the temple was covered beneath some sort of metal construction. I guess they were performing some maintenance on the old building.
What I find so interesting about visiting temples in Vietnam is the syncretism amongst the "triple teaching" of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. In practice, all three faiths and philosophies are sort of blurred into a traditional Vietnamese religion.
 |
the temple interior
|
We walked around the temple, which is set on a small island in the center of the lake. A man sat in the corner of the temple painting calligraphy, and we took a moment to watch him at his art.
 |
| a calligraphy master inside the temple |
We took a walk around the lake, stopping for
a dubious snack at a local street-side stall.
One of my colleagues has been living in Hanoi for several years for university. Although not originally from Hanoi, she knows the city pretty well, and served as our guide through the Old Quarter. As we walked past an old building, she explained how it was the office for Hanoi's oldest newspaper.
 |
| Hanoi's first newspaper |
They post the newspaper outside of the office on a board everyday for people to read, even if they do not buy a paper. During the war, she said, people would line up outside of the office to keep up with the news.
 |
| daily news is posted outside |
I was delighted to pass by the alleyway where I used to stay when we spent a month in Hanoi a few years ago!
 |
| I used to stay down there! |
We did some souvenir shopping, then stopped by St. Joseph's Cathedral. The beautiful old gothic cathedral was build by the French during the colonial era, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Hanoi.
 |
| the old cathedral |
Next stop was the Temple of Literature, a thousand year-old Confucian temple and Vietnam's oldest university. In the past, the temple trained and examined candidates for the highly competitive positions for government officials and mandarins in the imperial court.
 |
| the Temple of Literature |
 |
| students praying at the temple |
The Temple of Literature isn't a university any longer, but it is still an important place for students due to its long association with learning and education. Students in school uniforms were praying inside the shrine hall, and a group of university students were taking graduation photos in the courtyard.
By the next morning, all of my friends had gone back home, and I was alone to pick up my visa and wait for my evening flight back to Bangkok. Walking through the embassy district, I passed a piece of incredible art: traditional Vietnamese-style propaganda encouraging everyone to wear a mask and stay safe from COVID-19. Vietnam, like Thailand, handled the pandemic fairly well, as people there tended to wear masks even without being told to do so.
There was a little delay with my visa. When I arrived at 9am to check on it (understandably stressed due to cutting it so close), the embassy staff promised me that it would be ready be 3pm. I had some time to kill, so I wandered around for a while. I had yet another coffee at Highlands, and set out to see if there was anything to do to pass the time.
 |
| still fighting COVID |
I ended up at the Hanoi Police Museum. It was free and it was airconditioned - the two qualities of any good museum, in my opinion! I hopped inside to get out of the bright, hot sun.
 |
| Hanoi Police Museum |
The museum, as its name suggests, is dedicated to the Hanoi city police force. Exhibits displayed uniforms, equipment, medals, and more.
 |
| an exhibit in the museum |
It was interesting, although since most of the explanations were in Vietnamese, I couldn't really read the exhibits. It was still worth seeing, though, even if just as a way to get out of the heat. I especially liked the display of propaganda posters (they were easy to understand, even without Vietnamese literacy). I like that art style. It's iconic, but something that you obviously don't see often in the US.
 |
| the airport shuttle |
With one last toasted banh mi and a cup of coffee, I said goodbye to Hanoi and headed to my gate.
 |
| dinner at the airport |
It had been a great - albeit exhausting - trip to Vietnam. I felt so happy to meet my colleagues in person, and we had a great time working hard and exploring the beautiful old city. I hope that we can do it again sometime.
And now I'm back in Bangkok with another 3 months on my visa! Now that the pandemic is dwindling down, I'm returning to quarterly visa runs. It's not so bad. I liked having the emergency visa extensions, but I won't complain about having to take a trip out of the country a few times each year... well, ok... I might complain about it, but I'll secretly like it.
 |
| on the way home |
