HANOI – BECOME A HANOIAN IN ONE RUN – 21K

Our journey starts at Sword Lake at the heart of Hanoi. It is round and surrounded by curvy streets and an elegant bridge named The Huc where “the sunlight converges”. So, why the name? The answer is a history lesson that is half real and half legendary. The legend involves a golden turtle, a great king and a sword of great sharpness.

Then we breeze around Old Town Hanoi – the core that presents the capital with the nickname of “The City of 36 Streets”. This area is also referred as “a chessboard” as the streets intersect perpendicularly to form “black and white squares”. Hundreds of centuries-old houses having survived several wars seem to have a big bag of stories to tell.

We’ll pass through boulevards full of trees where the sunlight even on its brightest days hardly touch the pavements. We breath in the morning air in the West Lake above which the fog might hang lazily without considering to leave before noon.

Then the wars. A part of Hanoi history painfully dipped in blood and will never be forgotten. The city proudly stores that memory in the Museum of History along the track.

We keep running to “meet” two massively venerated characters of Communist ideology, Lenin and Ho Chi Minh, of whom the latter is affectionally referred as Uncle Ho. He is now resting in peace in the mausoleum of his name which rises up from the middle of Ba Dinh square. Luckily enough, if we arrive in time (6 a.m) we may participate in the flag raising ceremony.

With all the love for Hanoi, the city is not of mere beauty. Everything about the city, good and bad will be told along the way, so join us on this tour!