Travel Postcard: 48 hours in Hanoi

HANOI (Reuters Life!) - Got 48 hours to explore Hanoi? Reuters Correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most from a short stay in the Vietnamese capital:

FRIDAY

6 p.m. - Relax with a drink on the 20th floor Summit Lounge of the Sofitel Plaza Hotel with panoramic views of the Red River on one side, Ho Tay (West Lake) on the other and mountains in the distance on a clear day.

Look over Hanoi's eclectic architectural styles, from red-roofed yellowing houses to grand French colonial-era buildings along tree-lined avenues and a few new office towers. As the sun sets and the sky darkens, you will see Hanoi's brightest-lit building, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

7.30 p.m. - Take a 10-minute taxi ride to Vine restaurant near West Lake known for its vast selection of wines displayed on shelves along the walls. Popular among the capital's growing expatriate community, Vine has the decor, intimate setting, international fare and fusion menu of a North American bistro but with lower prices.

9.30 p.m. - If you have enough energy, you can stop along the way to your centre city hotel at one of the night markets in and around the ancient quarter.

SATURDAY

7.30 a.m. - Everyone gets up early in Hanoi and many start the day with morning exercise and then a breakfast bowl of Pho, or noodle soup with beef or chicken. Gastronomes say this popular dish is particularly delicious in Hanoi and it can be tasted at street stalls on Bat Dan, Ly Quoc Su, Nguyen Khuyen or Hai Ba Trung Streets, to name a few.

8.30 a.m. - Stroll around pretty Hoan Kiem Lake, or the Lake of the Restored Sword. Lined with ancient trees bending toward the water and colorful flowers, the lake is considered by many Hanoians as the city's heart and centre.

10 a.m. - Line up in the vast Ba Dinh Square to walk through the somber Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum of national hero Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) at a site not far from where he declared independence in 1945.

11 a.m. - Visit the beautiful gardens and Ho Chi Minh's House on Stilts behind the mausoleum in the grounds of the presidential palace, which is a distinctive mustard-yellow building circa 1906 and former home of the French Governor General of Indochina.

Lunch - The capital is earning a reputation for many excellent restaurants serving Vietnamese, Western and other Asian cuisine. Bobby Chinn Restaurant at 1 Ba Trieu Street strives to fuse them all. Even if you are disappointed, some of owner Bobby's wry comments on the menu might make you laugh.

1.30 p.m. - A ride by cyclo (bicycle rickshaw) is one of the easiest ways to experience the sites, sounds and smells of the bustling Thirty-Six Streets of Hanoi's ancient quarter. Many streets are named for the original guilds or artisans who made and sold their products there. Nowadays, goods from toys to shoes and kitchenware spill out onto the sidewalks competing for space for parking motorbikes, which are ubiquitous on city streets.

3 p.m. - Time for ice cream by the lake after your cyclo tour. Fanny's is the place at 48 Le Thai To street. The ice cream parlor serves many delicious flavors and in many different shapes, including sampan and cyclo.

4 p.m. - An hour spent in the Thang Long Theatre near Hoan Kiem Lake watching a water puppet show will introduce you to this charming art that originated in the Red River Delta 1,000 years ago. The colorful wooden puppets bob and weave in a pool of water, controlled by unseen back-stage puppeteers and accompanied by live music and narrated folk tales acted out by the puppets.

7.30 p.m. - You are spoiled for choice for dinner and several establishments rank high for their cuisine and charming central setting, including Green Tangerine, Wild Lotus, Au Lac House and Highway 4.

SUNDAY

9 a.m. - Visit the gardens and rooms of the Temple of Literature, which housed Vietnam's first imperial university. The Van Mieu as it is known was built in the 11th century as a Confucian pagoda. One of its compelling features are the stone turtles and stellae with the engraved names of graduates from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

Noon - A good place to eat lunch in this part of old Hanoi is "Koto on Van Mieu" restaurant opposite the Temple of Literature. The cooks and other staff at Koto ("Know One, Teach One") are former street children or poor kids who are being trained for careers in hotels and restaurants.

2 p.m. - Head over by taxi to the ancient quarter's historic Dong Xuan market, which has burned down several times over the years but survives today as a place piled high with clothing, footwear and rolls of silk. It also has stalls jammed with other goods such as spices, grains and preserved fruits.

3.30 p.m. More shopping, this time at the higher end of the market along Hang Giay Street, where you can shop for silk clothing, Vietnamese art, lacquerwork and souvenirs.

6 p.m. - No one should leave Hanoi without sampling Bia Hoi or "fresh beer" and snacks at one of the many street-side taverns around the city. Men (mostly) gather at Bia Hoi establishments at lunchtime, after work, or weekends to sip on the golden-colored rice beer, share snacks and what's on their minds.