Friday 22 November – Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City

I learnt a new treat this morning – banana and condensed milk!

First thing was another walk around Hoan Kiem Lake. This lake is a central feature of the Old French Quarter of Hanoi.

Hanoi is a very different city to Ho Chi Minh City. It’s not defined by a cityscape of high rise buildings like Ho Chi Minh City. It isn’t as developed and that is not surprising considering the two city’s have evolved under very different economical and political environments. Ho Chi Minh City in the south has been growing with the help of foreign investment for many years, probably since the French left in 1954. At this time the north was introduced to Ho Chi Minh’s brand of communism, Lenin Marxist. Both regions grew under opposing ideologies. Hanoi also suffered more physically from the American War. While allied troops were never this far north, the city was relentlessly bombed by the Americans from Thailand. Much of the city was destroyed. They only Americans on the ground here were the ones shot down. Senator John MacCain was fished out of Hoan Kiem lake just near here in 1967 and locked up in the Hoa Lo prison (Hanoi Hilton).

You really notice the difference between the two cities when you fly into them at night. Ho Chi Minh City is a blaze of coloured light while Hanoi is dark. And apparently there is a difference in the appearance of people in the north to the south, though I couldn’t see it. There is a difference in the language as well. You do get a sense that Hanoi is new to commercialism but it is working on it. From Gucci to KFC, they are here but I didn’t see any Christmas trees. There are many Christmas trees in Ho Chi Minh City.

We catch a Vietnam Airlines flight around 5.30, arriving in Ho Chi Minh City at 7.30pm.