Hà Nội.

Arriving on Thursday evening I laughed off the pilots announcement that 'the outside temperature was 36 degrees'. Rolling my eyes knowingly towards Chi I asserted that he meant it was 26. No, he was right. Wow. 10.30pm sat on the street and the sweat was cascading down my front like a waterfall, crashing onto the rocks that was my lap. Thankfully the rest of the weekend was bearable, but that first night was like being in a greenhouse full of steam in the Amazon Basin.

So, Hà Nội. Nice. A 'pleasanter' city than Sài Gòn, I would have to say. Lakes and parks and more open space. Less traffic. Better air. The Old Quarter is charming. I have visions of this city in the future, perhaps fifty years down the line. All around modernization has taken hold and the city will be as developed as any other in Asia, but the Old Quarter will remain the same, and in doing so it will be one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the region....real history and tradition should be preserved in these streets, starting with the banning of cars, an embarrassment to those narrow streets.

Across Hanoi, I see less building and construction than in Saigon. I see less big chains taking hold like Highlands and Lotteria. This is of course relative to the populations of the two cities, but noticeable nonetheless.

Hồ Hoàn Kiếm

Đền Ngọc Sơn, my wife just visible through the incense sticks.

This was the start of our walking tour around the streets of the Old Quarter, which typically look something like this.

We had started with only a coffee in a traditional Càfê Giảng on Hàng Gai, so breakfast was a high priority. This was it, a voluminous bowl of bún riêu cua laced with cherry tomatoes and tofu.

No sooner had I stuffed that in my face and strolled along the street, the wife was once again making a noise that I now realize is associated with some kind of culinary frenzy, part of a subliminal mission to sample all the street food in this quaint portion of her country's capital. I wasn't complaining. First was the fried tofu dipped in a kind of lemony, sour sauce (bún đậu mắm tôm) . Very good. We sat on a street corner where two or three things were available, one of the other things being sweet bread balls that were deep fried (called bánh cam in HCMC).

Unlike HCMC, wares are easy to find. Each street in the Old Quarter has its own specialty after which the road is named - for example, Phố Chả Cá for the street that serves the special fried fish. Here, shops with goods for weddings stand side by side.

And toys. Some are very lifelike.

Later that evening we went to Công Viên Thống Nhất (Independence Park, previously Lenin Park) for a dusk stroll, along with half of Hà Nội.

Then it was back to the Old Quarter and off to a very famous restaurant, where I had one of the tastiest Vietnamese dishes I've ever had. The place was the renowned Chả Cá Lã Vọng. Wow. The longer it cooked, the better it tasted. I wanted to drink the oil from the pan and bask in its greasy deliciousness.

Hà Nội by night:

The following day we ventured to the Hồ Chí Minh mausoleum, where I practiced looking sombre. Of course, the pomp was worthy of royalty, let alone a national hero. The actual walk through was brief and subdued. In the picture, you can see the line of people waiting to pass through.

Next up was a walk around the complex, which includes the Museum of Hồ Chí Minh, and a hell of a lot of domestic tourists sweating it out.

Later that day we had a drive around Hồ Ty (West Lake). Here, an old man is fishing.

We then made it to the Museum of Ethnology, where the most interesting display I have seen about Vietnam is shown, that of life during the bao cấp period

That evening we visited Bobby Chinn's restaurant. What a place -- the food was fantastic, as was the atmosphere, and the man himself was walking around making the customers comfortable (Bobby has his own show on Discovery Travel & Living now).

The next morning, we went to Văn Miếu ( Temple of Literature), the first University in Vietnam. The history of the Confucian system of education is remarkable. You think students these days face pressure.....huh! Here, the stone tablets bear the names of those who passed the exams and the exams themselves.

Finally, I wanted to drive over the Red River and back, you know, just to 'have a gander'.

And that was it, in pictures and words, our trip to Hà Nội.