Fascinating old style Hanoi Vietnam

							Title:
Fascinating old style Hanoi Vietnam

Word Count:
418

Summary:
The 1,000-year-old capital, a low-r
ise city of lakes and peaceful park
s, Hanoi will enchant its visitors
with simple but unique moments.


Keywords:
hotel, hanoi, vietnam


Article Body:
Early morning mist rises from the H
oan Kiem Lake while elders perform
the slow movements of tai chi in gr
een parks, streets become filled wi
th mopeds and cyclo drivers (three-
wheeled bicycle taxis) clamour for
people attention.

Although a city of historical impor
tance considered to be the social a
nd cultural centre of Vietnam, Hano
i is a far slower and less develope
d than Ho Chi Minh City. Luckily, t
his slow pace development has prese
rved the special vibe you will live
 in Hanoi, with old fascinating bui
ldings, green views on treed boulev
ards and smiling local people. Espe
cially the historic Old Quarter wit
h its French style streets and arts
 and crafts bargains.

Especially in this area there are m
any recently refurbished hotels tha
t kept an eye to the traditional ar
chitecture and design. Modest but
with an unique charming environmen
t some Hanoi Hotels are located in
historical or colonial buildings. J
ust to mention some that you can ea
sily find and book directly online
are the Pearls hotel for example, t
he Old street Hotel, Hanoi Queen Pl
aza, the Ritz Hotel, Joy Hotel, Re
turn Hotel, Y Van Riverside Hotel o
r Hanoi Plaza hotel. Most of them f
ace the quiet Hoan Kiem lake provid
ing guests with beautiful views fro
m terraces and windows. Quite unexp
ectedly for the standard they offer
, the room rates in Hanoi Vietnames
e Hotels are modest in general, ran
ging from 3,5 euros per person up t
o 15 euros per person.
As a cultural centre, Hanoi has qui
te a lot to offer. In fact, during
the year Hanoi guests many traditio
nal events from water puppet shows,
 to music and religious festivals,
dance performances and a lot more.
Just to mention a couple of curious
 ones held in springtime, that will
 certainly worth a visit to Vietnam
 and Hanoi in particular, are the W
hale Festival and the Elephant Rac
e, both in March.

The former is a fishermen festival
typical of Quang Nam Village in Da
Nang province, where people worship
 Whales and their gods asking for p
rosperity; the latter is more tradi
tional in the countryside in Don Vi
llage or in forests near the Sevepo
i River (Dac Lak). The race track i
s large enough for 10 elephants run
ning on even ground near the forest
 for 1-2 km. At the signal, the mah
outs command their elephants to go
to the starting line and will start
 running excited by the sound of th
e drums, gongs, and cheering from t
he viewers.
At the end of the race, the winning
 one wave to the viewers with its t
runk and is offered sugarcane and
banana leafs!