KVT – Day 6

KVT’s Diary as he enjoys exploring Hanoi in the final days counting down to Hanoi’s birthday.

KVT says: There is so much great stuff on and so much to see in the lead up to the great day that this opinionated blogger can’t get to the lot…so if you catch an event or a memorable sight send it to [email protected] and we’ll post our favorites so that no one’s left in the dark.

Monday and all’s well with the celebratory city (apart from a few traffic hiccups when streets are suddenly closed off and you get lost trying to find alternative routes, or stuck in resulting marmalades of traffic congestion). A cool spell has swept in from the north to make the final days of the countdown more than tolerable. Perfect weather for early morning or late evening excursions to catch the sights.

Ba Dinh Square is starting to look very beautiful as it is being dressed up for its big day in the spotlight next Sunday…..when, unless you belong to the upper echelons, you won’t have a chance of seeing it first hand in its martial and cultural blaze of birthday glory.

Don’t miss the light installations the whole length of Pho Dien Bien Phu. They are worth walking the kilometer or two of that avenue to experience their sparkle and warm glow….late at night is best if you want to escape the slow, rumbling parade of motor bikes and exhausting fumes.

If you can manage to get near Hoan Kiem at night as the weekend draws closer make sure you see the lights along Trang Tien as they are also quite speccy. Those along Ly Thai To, and Ngo Quyen are less flamboyant but they’ll give you a sparkly lift.

One of the best day time visuals is along the dyke road across Long Bien bridge and up beside the Duong River. The immense bamboo structures being built for Anh Khanh and friends’ finale to their sound, light, audio visual and performance trilogy on the 15th are wonderful. The huge figure with arms outstretched poking high above the village rooftops is awesome.

Another good visual coming up and one for the camera enthusiasts is the kite festival on Wednesday morning at My Dinh Stadium.

Related posts:

KVT day 1
KVT day 2
KVT day 3
KVT day 4
KVT day 5
KVT day 7
KVT day 8
KVT day 9
KVT day 10
KVT day 11
KVT day 12