A new lake
Only in crowded, densely-housed Hanoi could you live 300 yards from a lake and not know about it.
In the end I spotted it via Google Maps and learnt it was called Ho Hai Ba.
It was just 50 yards off my route to work and on the Sunday morning when I eventually visited it, it was absolutely tranquil.
Sitting alongside it is a pagoda. I recall reading that Hanoi has more pagodas per square mile than anywhere in the world. It certainly appears true. These incredible buildings would be major tourist attractions in most towns and yet, like the lake, in many cases only the immediate locals know of their existance.
I’ve added the pics to my house and neighbourhood set on Flickr. Somehow I got lucky and stumbled on a very beautiful, well located, and not especially noisy, corner of Hanoi.
Beautiful!
We spent many, many days playing on the grounds at 10′s of pagodas in Hanoi. They tended to be a bit cooler with all the trees, etc. Also nice and quiet for the most part which could be a relief from the noisy streets we lived just above.
It’s beautiful! You are so lucky to be there.