Van Mieu and To Market! To Market!

On my first weekend in Hanoi, I walked the city extensively and visited some of the more "touristy" sites. The Tempreature of Literature is also known as Van Mieu (pronounced 'Van Mee-you'). It was Vietnam's first university (1070-1802) and is composed of five interconnecting courtyards. Here, students would study to become mandarins, but only an elite minority ever succeeded. On this particular day, it was crawling with tourists.

Across from the Van Mieu, I spent 20 minutes zipping through the Vietnam Fine Arts museum which houses some paintings, sculptures and other traditional village crafts. No tourists here, but a little drab inside and poor lighting.

Then, I lost my path somewhere and ended up in a residential area (it's so easy to lose yourself in Hanoi with its winding alleyways crossing other streets and road networks - a veritable urban labyrinth) and ended smack dab in the middle of a little neighbourhood market. This is what I just love about Hanoi, you never know what's around the next corner.

It seemed like the whole neighbourhood was having lunch on small stools on the side of the road, and all sorts of brilliantly coloured exotic fruit were being sold by women squatting next to their produce. Other vendors peddled freshly baked baguettes, with locals buying up meat and goodies for their evening feasts while their kids ran up and down the alley playing tag with their friends.

Motorcycles brushed passed me and nudged me on with their honking horns and ground level shops in buildings brandished their merchandise with open sliding doors as their shopkeepers gossiped outside. Old men drank tea and smoked cigarettes in groups, and straw hat women carried balances of bananas on their shoulders. There was a lovely hum of activity in the air, and I thought to myself, "Life in Hanoi can never be dull!!"

There are just endless ways to entertain oneself in this city. And sometimes, the best surprises are those found off the beaten path.