PART SIX – Hanoi, Vietnam

We next visited Hanoi (capital of Vietnam). It was a very easy flight from Hue and as before, we were provided a small box of food, which would last for another meal, so I stuffed all in my bag to enjoy later in the day. Hanoi for us, was endlessly interesting. Click Here

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We first stayed at the Win Hotel, which is located in the old quarter of Hanoi - a marvellous area chock full of interesting restaurants, shops and daily activities of Vietnamese life. Best of Pals

When I consider the prices in HCMC next to the prices when travelling north, this was a bit pricey at $30.00 for two singles per night – however, for what we were getting, the cost was very reasonable. A maid came daily – the rooms were very clean and spacious with lovely well kept furniture and nearly all one wall was windows overlooking Hang Hanh Street – with free internet in the foyer for reservations and such. And the staff were helpful with advice, which was most appreciated.

Hanoi and especially the old quarter, provided limitless interest for us – no matter what time of day - and the food was always excellent. Mind you, as per any other country, we have learnt to be flexible with food – as far as names are concerned. Just 3-doors down from the WIN, we noticed a sign offering an interesting menu – we entered and found it too noisy – so turned about to leave. The proprietor queried our leaving - I politely explained that I needed something a little quieter – and we were promptly escorted into the back and up stairs (duck your head please – the ceilings are for a 5’2” body !) and then directed to sit down at a nicely appointed table setting in a cozy room. She disappeared – we could hear verbal negotiations – and a fellow appeared – went into the room next door - and suddenly we had wonderful classical melodies wafting softly just for just us !! $4.00 Canadian for everything including beer. Hubby was so delighted with the entré presentation – much less the taste, that he insisted on taking a picture of the darned thing.

In other eateries – whether exceptionally tiny (4 tables at a squeeze) to very large venues – some with a grungy alley way for a view and others, a beautiful view of Hoan Kiem Lake - we always devoured tasty food and quite often it was exceedingly well presented – a work of art. Shamefully (LOL), I very much enjoyed salad, cheesecake and Vietnamese coffee together with the view at Highland Coffee Restaurant – located 6 floors up looking over the Hoan Kiem Lake. Click Here

I got to thinking about how it ‘is’ to walk all day balancing the banisters/poles on one’s shoulder together with heavy loads at each end … so I ‘bribed’ a local lady to let me apprentice her position – for just a little bit. Heh heh Apprenticing All goofing off aside – those babies require a special gait and are VERY HEAVY.

The fashion offerings are quite top dog and ridiculously inexpensive:
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Everything Girlie

As we had travelled from HCMC northward, we noticed the traffic congestion to be steadily on the increase. Whereas in Saigon I would – errrr - - - just walk into traffic ? Well, that was not going to happen in Hanoi, if I wished to stay alive. Normal every day traffic consisted of swarms of motorcycles that just did not stop – all midst bicycles, cyclos, small vans and absolutely HUGE tourist buses - all moving in ALL directions..... left - right - in the opposite direction - directly across in front of you – to the point that you had to watch your toes – NO kidding !! NO vehicle waits for anyone to cross a street - even so there are crosswalks and some with traffic signals ... you just walk steadily into the teaming traffic .... try not to run, for that is deadly. And you HAVE to keep your eyes constantly looking to your left, to your right, in front of you and behind you. YOU the pedestrian are the ‘smallest kid on the block’ and therefore inessential. Anything bigger than you, has priority. I thought I had expired a couple of times.
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Street - Old Quarter
Old Quarter

When travelling by mini van or bus – always that horn is repeatedly having a go – and so is everyone else’s bloody horn. Honk … honk … honk …. HONK !!!! &*(# !! We never noticed ANY reaction to all this horn honking, until finally H came up with his ‘study’ of ‘Vietnam’s language for horn action’ … and this is what it all means (he says):
“I am coming”
“Keep doing exactly what you are doing now”
“If you are standing still, stay put”
“If you are walking, keep walking at the same pace”
“Do not swerve, and I will find my way around you”.
However there IS one important caveat, in that if somebody else makes an unforeseen and/or sudden move, which interferes with their ability to avoid you …… ah well … then everything is up for grabs !!

Mind you, not all motorcyclists are in this mass :)
Notice the High Chair :)

We visited the Museum of Fine Arts – and discovered stunning and fascinating artefacts stored away – and also the Temple of Literature – and so many exceedingly interesting venues. We walked and we walked. You need LOTS and lots of time.

Everywhere in Vietnam – the food for us was good, but Hanoi had the vest variance for our personal tastes. In the evening we walked down streets looking for a new establishment for dinner – skinnied down, is more often the case as motorcycles are parked right on the sidewalk and there is little room – and quite often, no room. Your sidewalk is the Road

Many eating venues were accessed totally by surprise such as when we came across a sign advertising lunch – and behind it was a very small, winding and dark alleyway. Following through we found ourselves on narrow stairs going up – little to no lighting - with our having to duck our heads with the ceiling being so low - and when at the top, all opened to a very nice dining area and bar, with big windows overlooking the city. The food provided was very good. This turned out to be the Hub Pub. Every Saturday they have frog races on their rooftop patio. Now that was something VERY new for me. LOTS of yelling and hoopla.

One night, when mooching about for a new place to try for dinner, we heard this VERY loud voice – sound ? and discovered it was a fellow set up outside a restaurant with a loudspeaker, and was – um - - singing ? - - and that IS a polite word for what he was vocalizing. His sound encompassed the entire neighbourhood and I was surprised in thinking that all the different establishments, no matter how tiny, thought this was okay. Or did they ? However, just because no one was doing anything about it (as I could see it) did not mean this invasion was approved by the neighbours. For a little further down the road and away from the ‘voice’, we decided on an exceptionally tiny café (4-tables with 2-seater tables) providing a tasty Vietnamese dinner. About 5 minutes later, I realized that this ‘voice’ was coming closer. And shortly it was LOUD. In curiosity, I got out of my chair – and peering down the road I found that this fellow was ambulatory entertainment, and coming our way !! Accck. I stared in disbelief - and was wondering how I was going to be able to enjoy my dinner with my acute hearing. On returning to my table I met up with the owner who was not able to contain his snorts and giggles and pointed to the ‘voice’. And about 10 minutes later, while still eating dinner, a little boy came over to our table ….. and holding a hat upside down, begged for money. I am a sucker for children and had to firm remind myself that I cannot save the world. It was touch and go – but I didn’t offer. H shortly pointed out to me, that the child was soliciting money for the ‘voice’ and I would have had a totally miserable dinner and been in total disgrace with the entire neighbourhood, if I had offered coin – for it has been my experience that the entertainer ‘voice’ when paid, gives a little extra in ‘thank you’. I don’t know if that happens here in Vietnam but I will say phew !! I’m so glad I didn’t budge.

We visited the Vietnam Women’s Union, Women Museum. Unfortunately we arrived to find it was closed for renovations, but they DID have an excellent exhibit open, offering various themes in honour of the women of their country. “The mother in the National community’s consciousness” – “Vietnamese women in the historical process of development of the country” – “Cultural features of Vietnamese women through traditional handicrafts” – “Dresses of women belonging to various ethnic groups in Vietnam”. Basically it was in honour of the women / mothers of Vietnam and their struggle against the American invasion. Tiny slips of female humanity. For me, it was fascinating. Read the Fine Print
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I understand there are over 54 minority groups in Vietnam – each having their own language and culture - thus the more I read up and questioned – the more I found myself occasionally engaging in education overload. Here are some pics of cultural clothing – beautiful intricately worked designs.
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In Hanoi, each house number has it’s own set of regulations - such as where to hang laundry and the shared bathroom facility – but they all gather in the alleys/streets to cook. Each morning there are flowers thrown into the streets for early garbage collection – large bunches of beautiful flowers ! - resulting in my overhearing tourists talking about picking them up as they looked just too wonderful to throw out ! Once when waiting outside our hostel for a taxi - and this was EARLY in the morning - the manager went darting across the street to approach the lady selling fresh long stemmed roses. He took a good length of time to make his choice.
Fresh Flowers Every Day

I have now seen three elderly women who have been chewing betel nut – it can produce a bright red colour all over one’s mouth and lower face. One tiny elderly woman - dressed in a stunning, classically tailored silk suit – gave me quite a shock – with her visual of betel juice all over her lower face. A shock for me - the westerner that is.

We visited the Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology – where they “preserve documents and objects in an effort to conserve the cultural heritage of various Vietnamese ethnic groups. According to its mission, it "showcases the lives, cultural activities, and identities of Vietnam's 54 ethnic communities" The museum, which serves as a research center as well, has collected more than 25,0000 objects from among the peoples of Vietnam.” I found it enormously interesting.
Wood Beam Carving The stilt houses, are intricately beautiful structures – and I saw a small notation that the new bride had her own room where she slept with a friend on the first night of marriage - and the next night with her new husband. Curious. The Giarai Tomb (communal tomb) quite astounded me with its sexually explicit carvings – however, I learnt this is to express fertility in the new life. All members of the same matriarchal family are buried in coffins within the tomb. We inspected everything which included attending a much loved and captivating original water puppet presentation. Click Here The entire day was absolutely delightful.

After a long day we hired a taxi to return us to the old quarter. Taxis were easy to hire there, as a few waited about at the exit gate. We took particular interest in this one fellow’s vehicle, as he proved to be not that mobile at all, and somehow had concocted together a vehicle that would easily take us about, but still accommodate his difficulty. Click Here Of course, we just had to choose him for his determination and ingenuity - mind you he didn’t want to venture into the old quarter and asked if he could let us off at the lake, which of course was no problem for us. Click Here Even so, he was quite fun, very informative and thus I enjoyed tipping him well.

We thought to venture into a quasi western establishment for a coffee and goodies – was called Papa Joes. We walked up to the 2nd floor – as it was non smoking. Narrow narrow stairs with very low ceiling on walking up there. Ouch ! Tiny room at top with equally tiny balcony but on my pigging out with tuna salad and apple crumble with Vietnamese coffee for dessert – I was in ecstasy. H had cream onion soup and cheesecake with Vietnamese coffee. I noticed a waitress walking by with what ‘appeared’ to be a banana split. A young female tourist eagerly spying this concoction coming toward her, quickly hiked herself up onto a high stool on the patio section. At the same time, she broke into a Cheshire cat grin as her eyes followed the dessert being placed down on the counter behind her. At that, she turned completely and all I could see was her back. As I watched, I could see her back actually shivering in excitement – anticipation ? haha It IS interesting what we really crave – at times.

H once declared to me that it must be intensely satisfying to live in Vietnam and own a vehicle with an Italian horn. The driver on the minibus which next took us to Ha Long Bay, owned such a vehicle. My goodness, what a difference that made.

Continued…..

Very interesting ....considering we just booked our tickets to SEA today :)

Hi living: Such a small world isn't it. (private joke here)
When are you leaving ?

I was in Hanoi for a week this spring, and my experiences were similar to OP's. Other than touring the city sights, I also booked tours to Halong Bay and the Perfume Pagoda.

The traffic/driving is definitely "interesting", but not as bad as India's ;-)

Great report, as usual, and now I'm hungry!

I love part 6, but where do i find parts 1 through 5 since we are going to VN in June and I want to hear more? thanks.

Alison - I had the same problem but I did find them all. I did a search of thorntree with (vietnam + "part one") and I then went back and searched for the other "parts" in the same way.

Hi Alison:
Just use the SEARCH icon - and type in my handle.
My posts will come up.

Oh oh - I see what daawgon is saying ... I had been copying in the previous URL when adding on another portion to my journal.
I only have three more to add - but will quickly draw up the others - I crossed posted between Vietnam and Older Travellers.

Here is the URL for:
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE