Hanoi: The City of Ancient Architecture

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and famous for its rich history and traditions. The people know it by different names and epithets such as “city of lakes”, “city of ancient architecture” and most popularly the “Paris of the east”. All these names have been rendered owing to the presence of ancient buildings from the days of French rule and the presence of more than two dozen lakes all over the city.  Hanoi is rich in tradition, as it is one of the oldest cities in the world as in the year 2010, the city marked the 1000 years of the establishment of the city.

Our adventure club was on a quest to visit the traditional and historic cities around the world. Hanoi was one of those cities that we were planning to visit last year. We decided to visit the city in the month of March last year, which is the time of the year when the weather is amazing. When we reached here, we stayed in a hotel near the Hoan Keim Lake, which is itself a marvel of nature. The lake is located on a small island and surrounds the Ngoc Son Temple.

Hanoi: the City of Lakes

One of the major reasons why we chose Hanoi from scores of other historical cities to visit was the popularity of the capital as a city of lakes. The city has so much to offer and the atmosphere of peace and serenity has a spell bounding effect on the tourists. We visited the west lake in the center of the city, which is the largest freshwater lake here. Truc Bach Lake is another great lake in Hanoi full of tranquility and magnificence. Lake Thu Le is another awe aspiring lake in the city famous for the presence of wildlife around it. We spend around two days exploring the beauty of the lakes in the city before we decided to visit the historical architecture.

The French Architecture, Temples, and Museums

The capital city of Vietnam is unique in the sense that it has been under the control of many civilizations over the course of our history. Every civilization, which ruled over the city for a significant period left its lasting marks on the architecture of the city. However, the architectural traditions of very few civilizations today are as dominant as those of the French Colonists. We had already visited the Ngoc Son Temple so we had a whole day to visit places inside the city.

First, we visited the Tran Quoc Pagoda, which was built in the 6th century. This ancient temple has become an important center of Buddhists teachings all over the world. We visited the Bach Ma Temple, which was founded in the year 1010. It is another center of Buddhist teachings and people from all over the world visit this place every year. There is a famous temple of literature located in the capital city, which has preserved the teachings of Confucian for centuries.

We spent almost a week in the city and then we decided to continue our journey to other historic cities in the world.

Other cool places to visit: Vatican, New Orleans, Istanbul, Greece, Belgium

Preparation tips for your road trip and the best diners to eat at.