Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) was built in 1070 during Emperor Ly Thanh Tong to honor scholars and literary men, and was dedicated to Khong Tu (Confucius). In 1070, the Royal College (Quoc Tu Giam), Vietnam’s first university, was founded here to educate the children of court mandarins, which remained until 1802 when the national university was moved to the new capital, Hue. Here is the entrance gate to temple complex, which reserved for the royalties.
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My feared nightmare became true. The hot and humid weather in Hanoi was always a big consent to me. Worse, the weather today was even hotter than I imagined, reaching 39 ºC. I was sweating non stop just by doing nothing and stood under shade! It’s very tiring and uncomfortable to roam around Hanoi at this steamy weather. Thus we skipped a lot of attractions in Hanoi and even cut short the time spent outside just to get back to hotel room for the comfort of air-conditioning.

There are a few pagodas around West Lake. We passed thru Quan Thanh Pagoda (Den Quan Thanh) without went in… the hot steamy summer weather in Hanoi was taxing a heavy toll on our energy, and hence the mood to visit the sights. Anyway, Quan Thanh Pagoda was built by Emperor Lo Thai To during the 11th century. Of course, entrance fee required to go in, as almost any other non Ho Chi Minh related sights in Vietnam. About 150 meters towards West Lake from here, along Duong Thanh Nien, there is also Tran Quoc Pagoda (Chua Tran Quoc).

Before coming to Vietnam, I was thinking Vietnam should be a relatively underdeveloped country. In most sense, it is, but not the girls. Vietnamese youths wear very fashionable, and looks very attractive. Here, a pretty girl walked in the park around West Lake.

West Lake located at Tay Ho District is about 500 hectares, a 20 minutes walk north of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. At the time of our visit, there was nothing much interesting here except few pagodas, but it should filled with Vietnam’s youth by evening.
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We walked to the West Lake at Tay Ho district. All restaurants here by the West Lake was pretty expensive. So we settled our lunch at the only food stall in sight, had a delicious chao (rice porridge) and a no taste coconut drink.
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Bao Tang (Museum) Ho Chi Minh, located about 200 meters from One Pillar Pagoda. Entrance fee is VND 5,000.
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Dien Huu Pagoda is just a few steps away from One Pillar Pagoda, but often overlooked by tourists. We managed to come to here by following the university students, as I assumed they should be studying tourism.
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Right beside the Ho Chi Minh stilted house is One Pillar Pagoda, one of the few structures remaing from the old Thang Long. One Pillar Pagoda is dedicated to Quan Am, the goddess of mercy, after Emperor Ly Thanh Tong dreamed about the goddess sat on a lotus flower and offered him a son. And surprise, soon a boy was borned to him. The pagoda was destroyed by French in 1954 but has since been rebuilt.
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In 1958, Ho Chi Minh moved into this simple stilted house near a carp pond, after refusing to stay in Presidential Palace. Ho Chi Minh stayed here until his death at 1969.
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