24 Hours in Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam

When you’re travelling in Saigon or Hanoi, you’d be constantly reminded, by well-meaning hotel staff, to take care of your backpacks and avoid flashing mobile phones or fancy digital cameras. It can make you more cautious than necessary. Honestly, I think the rules of travel are applicable anywhere in the world. As a traveller, you always need to be aware of your belongings, period. We travelled just as we’d travel anywhere else and we did well. For most of the trip — we walked around and covered airport transfers by prepaid cabs. Running cabs can be a tricky affair and it’s best to check the base fare and if the meter is working correctly. The ride from the Old Quarter to Ho Chi Mihn Mausoleum is about 15 minutes and we were charged twice the base rate. On the way back, our cabbie showed us a chart with the standard fare. I’d say, trust your instinct and don’t let caution ruin the experience of exploring the city on your own.

In the month of July, on a extremely humid day, the walk from the main entrance to Ba Dinh Square can feel like eternity. The sprawling grounds are dotted with a number of iconic buildings. Signboards aren’t always easy to locate. Fortunately, the crowds are and following them will lead you to something. It’s hard to miss the towering building of Ho Chi Mihn Mausoleum. The design is minimalistic, sombre (because of its grey bricks) and yet, seems to be larger than life by sheer size. I can totally understand why he’d be against the idea of a shrine of this sort. It seems to be in direct contradiction to the ideals he stood for. The Mausoleum was closed on the day of our visit and we had to make do with the view from the outside. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).