Tran Quoc Pagoda, though looking like a feeble and monotone tower
from a distance, proved to hold some divine beauty right up-close. The 11 storey high pagoda is the highlight of the attraction, with
a ivory statue of the Buddha on all 6 sides, and on all storeys of the pagoda. The entire attraction is on a
little islet led out into West Lake.
It is possibly the only pagoda in the world with over 60 statues of Buddha
all in 1 tower. On first look, the matt white Buddha statues looked
identical... but upon careful scrutiny, each statue was slightly different from
another, probably so because they were hand-crafted.
However, we were unable to get in because there were some locals already
praying in the temple before we got there, and unless we were also there for
prayers, we refrained from disturbing their peace.
Not wanting to waste time, we took a cab down to our next stop-over, and
because we/I was curious about how much a cab ride cost over there if we were
to go by meter, to the flag tower. Actually, my dear was more interested on the
Doan Mon Gate, a structure leading to the ancient citadel ruins, you
won't miss it cos' it's just an open space across from the flag tower.
The Vietnam Military History
Museum and Citadel looked
like it was just at the base of the tower, but we didn't check it out cos we
were pretty sick of museums. Furthermore, Doan Mon Gate was FOC
(free-of-charge).
And that was one of the best decisions we made because just behind the Gate,
was the lost-and-found citadel compound, called the Thang Long Royal Citadel.Relics
of different dynasties were discovered there, and archaeologists remodelled
the citadel compound and displayed the relics in the compound itself. I was actually
rather surprised that the public didn't have to pay a single dong to enter the
premises... because it looked like hidden gems were all over the place!
In a way, the compound was
like a museum, but because it wasn't
just limited to a single building, but an entire compound with different
buildings displaying different dynasties/types of relics, it felt like a
mini-exploration around a restored ancient city.
There were several arched-shaped openings through the gate, 5 in the middle, 2
at the sides. To climb up the gate, which is yet another yellow temple-like structure
sitting on what looked like a section of the Great Wall of China, you'll
have to enter from the side 2 entrances... which we only realised after
exploring most of the compound.
We first entered through the middle openings, and straight after that, it
brought us to the main citadel compound, which I've already mentioned, had
lotsa little buildings which one can enter to look at the dug up relics and to
know more about the site. Lotsa
incomplete ceramic broken vases/pots pieced together on display and a couple of
other stuff like a ginormous drum, a brass cannon, figurines of mandarin ducks
& dragons as well as a courtyard full of bonsais (yet again).
We came across a movie
shooting, and were so excited to go upclose to the stars, of course making
sure to not make a din during the filming. We were curiously checking out what
it feels like to be behind-the-scenes, but after a while, moved on because it
didn't take them long to finish the scene...
That was when we spotted this 3-storeys
high deserted-looking yellow structure (Hau Lau Relic). The
notice/sign/description of the building was purely in Vietnamese, and since we
were the only ones there, I was hesitant to check it out because it felt rather
unsafe to explore the building. I'm not even sure if the public were allowed to
even go in, or perhaps it was similar to the Mango Road incident.
Furthermore, the d*** building sure as hell looked haunted. No freaking joke.
It was dark inside, the air dead still, even though there were openings on the
upper floors, and because we had to walk this short dirt route to get there. My
dear, on the other hand, though just as cautious, showed signs that she really
wanted to explore the place... while I was running through in my mind all the
possible scenarios we would face if we were to climb the steep flight of stairs
to the second level.
Satanic rituals, dead bodies, couples making out, guards on standby, fierce
guard dogs, obscene graffiti, all crossed my mind... extreme as it sounds,
considering our circumstances, I didn't want to take any chances.
But everything changed when a group of girls also "found" the
building and without much thought (I believe cos we were already there and they
probably thought we've already checked out the place) just went in, and up. Not
wanting to look pussy, and to lag behind them, I turned to my dear and said something
like "Oh, there's more people, let's check it out!"
After all that build up guess what we saw inside the building? Nothing much.
Just an empty (almost) building with an altar. Not those creepy floor
altars which you see in horror movies but a decent table altar where people
would make their prayers, and there was even some $$ offerings there
(which made it less eerie).
The 3rd storey was cordoned off (maybe
that's where the "exciting" stuff is) and since there wasn't much to
see around, we headed back to the gate, hoping to climb up the main gate before
it closes.
The top of the gate did give a scenic view of the front compound (open space
and flag tower) but not so much the citadel compound because it was blocked by
some construction and a huge longish building.
Heading back out, we also managed to catch a gilmpse of some fighter jets at the compound
because it was an outdoor extension of the military museum, all of which
the engines had been hollowed out. Just around the corner of the military
museum was the Highlands
Coffee Cafe, which my dear had wanted to check out on the white boat at
West Lake. What luck!
We ordered chicken pho and Vietnam's famous coffee. After my much-awaited first
sip, I knew why I wasn't a coffee lover. I'm not sure if it was good or great,
or even bad because the only thing I tasted was bitterness, hardcore
bitterness. I was hoping for a fragrant after taste, or perhaps the next few
mouthfuls would churn out some miracle taste, but every sip, every mouth I
took, it was just yet another mouthful of bitter coffee. Perhaps Highlands
Coffee had already become too commercialised and had lost it's flavour, there's
no way Highlands Coffee is equivalent to Vietnam's Starbucks, or even
better?!?!
We chilled out at the cafe till it turned dark, and it turned out that the flag tower actually
looked more gorgeous at night. It was illuminated
and transformed into a glowing tower. Looking at the map and realising we
were quite far from our hotel, we decided to head back, taking a stroll along
the night streets of Hanoi once again.
As usual, we tried the roadside stalls, such as what we thought was a "Dua
Pao" but is in fact a not-to-our-tastebuds vermicilli/something/quil_eggs
pao; a chicken instant noodle-like meal (which tasted surprisingly good with
its dark chicken broth) and some hot desserts (Bubor Hitam, and Tang Yuan,
actually their Bubor Hitam used red beans instead of black glutinous rice, and
their Tang Yuan was twice as thick as Singapore's).
Made our way to the famous Dong
Xuan Market, a bugis street pasar malam-type night market for the locals.
There, many segments of the Dong Xuan/Hang Duong/Hang Dao Road was converted
into walking streets. And we could see why... we were like floating sardines
pushed along the incessant flow of local shoppers. It was super packed
that day, the kinda packed like a countdown party, and was so because it was on
a Saturday.
There were a couple of streets so packed there was no way we could stop to look
at the items that the stalls were selling. But at Dong Xuan Market on a
weekend, one can get the cheapest and best deals of stuff or souvenirs in town.
After the weekend, the streets are converted back to it's original state of
honking vehicles (which we found out during our last few days). The stalls
taking up the space of the streets were only temporary weekend stalls.
Walking till the end of the road, we reached a
lake, and was so excited to have found the Red River, or so we thought... and
which we later realised that we thought wrong... because the lake we found was
none other than the famous Hoan Kiem Lake.
Hoan Kiem Lake looked gorgeous at night, with the multi-colored reflections of
the surrouding buildings coloring the night waters. There were loads of couples
chilling out at the side of the lake and there's this memorable fork road there
which is one of the most chaotic roads in Hanoi because the oncoming vehicles
came from all sides.
Recognizable companies such as Aldo, AIA and KFC were
all situated around the fork road as well... a good way of landmarking the
direction of our hotel. We didn't hang around the lake too long because we
had to wake up early the next morning for our day trip to Perfume Pagoda. It
may be yet another pagoda, but its promises a different experience entirely...
it's a pagoda not easily accessible, and where one have to brave through wind,
water, mountains and bugs to get there...
----------------------------------------- End of part 2------------------------------------------
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