Good Morning, Vietnam!

We arrived in Hanoi early in the morning and were both exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before and the 4am wake-up call to go to the airport. Upon our arrival in Hanoi, we quickly passed through immigration and the driver for our hotel was waiting for us outside. The drive from the airport to Hanoi was beautiful; thick, low-laying fog against a landscape of women working in rice fields and men plowing with oxen. Within 30 minutes we arrived in the colorful Old Quarter, where our hotel is located.

Hanoi is filled with small French colonial style buildings and this Capital city is packed with charm. Throughout each street and alleyway you can find cafes serving deliciously strong coffee/tea and an abundance of bakeries offering delicious bite-size cakes and mousses for about 10,000 Dong ($.66) because of the strong French influence. For being a Capital city it is surprisingly easy to walk from one end to the other, except for the traffic. The manager of the hotel gave us just one piece of advice before we left, warning us about crossing the streets, “look, walk slowly, DON’T STOP or turn back, and don’t worry, you wont get hit”. After being in Delhi, Bombay, Jodhpur and Bangkok we figured it couldn’t be much different. We were wrong. Matt learned his lesson within the first hour when he had his pinky toe run over :). It seems there are as many motorbikes as there are people (Hanoi’s population is 5 million) and sure enough if you cross the street slowly and without stopping, the drivers will weave their way around you. The interesting thing about the traffic situation is that 20 years ago there were no motorbikes and everyone used bicycles. There are a few busy intersections that have street lights but no one seems to obey them…it’s almost like they are for decoration only. At night the city slows down completely though and the streets are nearly silent.

People within Hanoi are very welcoming, always smiling, sometimes asking a little bit about you and where you are from, but few try to hustle or sell you things. We found a good Vietnamese restaurant next to our hotel that we went to at least once a day. The beef noodle soup is unbelievable and cheap, 25,000 Dong (about $1.66), and the beers are 11,000 Dong ($.70) for a 20 oz. mug. The great thing about this restaurant is that the family that works there also lives in the restaurant in an open air loft upstairs. While we’re eating dinner they are usually cooking similar dishes for themselves and most of the time the children are in pajamas waiting to go to bed. Good, clean, cheap meals with a lot of charm.

We spent a lot of time exploring the Old Quarter, narrow streets which change names every block or so, each street dedicated to a specific trade or craft. For example, Hang Bac sells silver, Hang Tre has bamboo, Hang Ca sells fish, Hang Thiec is lined with tin items. Women walk the streets carrying baskets of fruits, snacks, etc for sale and men drive people around on cyclo taxis. There is so much going on all around you and every street you turn on offers something different. We ate at various cafes, drank great coffee and watched the city pass by.

We visited the Hoa Lo prison, nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton” by US POWs held there during the Vietnam war. It was constructed by the french in 1896 to hold communist revolutionaries but between 1964 and 1973, it was used to hold prisoners of war. The cells still contain the iron gates that clamped one foot in place, the original french guillotine is still standing and there are areas where torture took place. On the walls are mostly stories of communist revolutionaries but there are some pictures of famous inmates like John McCain receiving treatment by Vietnamese doctors. The prison is an eery place to walk through, especially after reading more about the events that occured there.

The next day we explored the Revolutionary Museum, which explores Vietnam’s past and present. The museum takes you through a timeline of events from the early 1600’s, through the French occupation and repression, photos of child soldiers, revolutionary newspapers and weapons, then taking you through exhibits and artifacts from the American war, pieces of airplanes, uniforms and missles. The photographs, stories and artifacts are extremely powerful and emphasize Vietnam’s strength as a nation.

Our last day was spent wandering around the Duan Xuan market, Vietnam’s oldest and largest market, three stories of shops selling everything from spices to clothing. After dinner we went to the Water Puppet theater. It was a great show with traditional Vietnamese music and puppets playing out stories on a stage of water. The tradition started over 1,000 years ago, when people put on puppet shows in the rice fields for the amuzement of their children.

After the water puppet theater, we went to the only jazz bar in Hanoi, known for the international artists who have played there. The music was great and we’ve posted some short video clips.

After 7 great nights in Hanoi, we knew it was time to move on. We could have stayed longer but it was time to leave for Halong Bay. We’ll be back again for sure.