Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Vietnam 2010
Old Town bedlam
I got up around 0745 and immediately noted that the weather was similar to the previous day: smoky, cloudy and grey. An unexpected bonus on a weekday was that the Executive Lounge was almost empty, which somehow further enhanced the usual nice breakfast offering. We set off around 0930, walking past the Opera House and Metropole Hotel and along the eastern shore of the Ho Hoan Kiem lake. The streets seemed quieter as well and as a result we felt better able to appreciate some attractive buildings in the immediate vicinity of the Metropole. Our first brief stop took us over the red bridge that leads to the Jade Mound Temple, situated on a small island in the lake.
Next, we saw the water puppet theatre, but decided not to pursue this option any further, having already been let down by the hotel concierge. We pressed on into the heart of the Old Quarter and quickly became embroiled in its utter, manic chaos. Concentration was required at all times as we mostly had to walk in the roadway itself, with the ever-present risk from all manner of vehicles. We eventually reached the Dong Xuan market, which offered momentary relief from the traffic. The next part of our route took us past a section of the old city wall and then, as we turned back in the direction of the lake, I caught sight of a familiar but unexpected face: Brian from the Ha Long Bay cruise! After a brief chat, we carried on towards the lake and eventually emerged into the wider streets there.
After a coffee break at a lakeside cafe, we walked the short distance to St Joseph's Cathedral, which unfortunately looked a little sad and unloved. We returned to the edge of the Old Town and quickly found our chosen lunch spot Green Tangerine - a cafe-restaurant offering, in its own words, 'French food with a Vietnamese twist'. We had a very nice light lunch, despite feeling a little cold sitting in the outside courtyard. I had two courses that were designated as starters: a rather innovative three-colour soup and some duck liver paté.
After our leisurely and later-than-usual lunch break, we agreed that we'd done enough exploring and decided simply to head back to the hotel and have a breather before going out for our last-night dinner. We spent the time watching back-to-back episodes of the curiously addictive Masterchef USA on TV.
After freshening up and paying a short visit to the lounge, we took a taxi to Restaurant Bobby Chinn, close to the Sheraton. We enjoyed an amazing, fine-quality dinner in classy surroundings, at a surprisingly reasonable cost. I smiled at the quirky sense of humour that was evident in some of the menu narrative and on the survey forms. The meal was a fitting high point on with which to celebrate a hugely successful visit to Vietnam that was now, sadly, drawing to a close.