Hanoi, Vietnam 13.03.08

We arrived in Hanoi by plane, and were lucky to have a room waiting for us at Loren's Uncle's house. He and his family live there in a beautiful house with really high ceilings. There were numerous musical instruments all throughout the house, and an amazing restored '67 Vespa. It was a peaceful haven for us in the middle of busy Hanoi and we were welcomed with open arms. Our whole trip to Hanoi was made so much better by staying with them.

Old Quarter

The busiest part of Hanoi can be found in the narrow streets of the old quarter, where we spent a great deal of our time. Motorbikes and scooters are mostly parked on the sidewalk, so in order to avoid them you have to walk on the road with the hundreds of scooters and taxis. Helmets were only made compulsory in December '07, which was a big shock to the population, some of whom sold their scooters as a result, lest they ruin their hairstyles with such an unneccesary encumbrance.

The traffic in Hanoi, in general, is like going down a busy ski slope. Everyone joins the road without looking, and everyone just makes way for them. If you think peak-hour is bad where you live, check out Hanoi! Surprisingly, despite all the noise of the horns, there is absolutely no road rage! Cutting sharply in front of someone inspires a beep of the horn, just as overtaking someone requires one. There is no malice in their actions despite the chaos.

Each street used to be named after the merchandise that it sold, but now you can find more than one kind of produce on the same street. Hang Gai is a street that still sells silk in most of its stores. Here we stopped to get a dress tailored for Loren. It was a variation on the traditional style Vietnamese dress. The same in every way except the sleeves.

Lonely Planet Walk
After running that errand, we decided to follow the Lonely Planet walk through the Old Quarter. The first thing we stopped to see was the Huc Bridge, which was a bright red bridge that led to an island in the middle of the lake. On the island, there was the Ngoc Son Temple. The temple was dedicated to a myth about a turtle that appeared and hid a precious sword somewhere in the lake.

The next stop was the Martyr's monument, where two ladies approached us trying to sell bananas. They put the banana carrying apparatus on each of our shoulders so we could take pictures with them. As usual this required payment afterward, but it wasn't too much and we got some nice bananas and pineapple out of it.

The walk took us past a street where every shop was selling shoes, and past a little market. We stopped at a heritage house which was in the traditional Vietnamese style. It was filled with local craftwork and handmade crockery, antique opium pipes and other artifacts. Our guide offered us jasmine tea, and chatted with us about Vietnam.

The temple that was next on the list, was not easy to find. It was through a tiny corridor and up a staircase in the back of a building. It was quite a large altar, but everything that was on it appeared to be grocery store merchandise. It was really strange, it looked more like a shop than a temple.

Back at my Uncle's house that night, we were served a slow-cooked traditional Vietnamese meal. It was absolutely delicious! There was a special order to follow for adding the meat, shrimps, shellfish, corn, and vegetables, and it was cooked in a hot pot in the middle of the table.

Further Exploration

The next day we headed back to the old Quarter trying to sort out the re-issue of the Traveller's Cheques. Artur went to the bank and Loren explored the town on her own. For Artur, the effort resulted in a further waste of time and frustration. Between trips to various banks, he was given a helmet to wear by his motorbike driver that was joined together by a rubber band. He asked for a proper buckle, but his request was greeted only with a disbelieving stare.

Loren was entertained by the locals in the meantime, and met some very weird and wonderful people. After finally convincing the people selling postcards that she was not interested, they decided to just chat with her to practice their English.

The next encounter was with a local crazy woman, who was dressed in flourescent robes and carried a huge bag full of all variety of things. Her glasses were extremely eccentric, and after attempting a 'hello' in English, she chatted away in her own language. The locals stared openly at her in disgust or out of curiosity. Loren actually felt a connection with this strange woman, perhaps because she was an oddity amongst the vast population of Vietnamese, who seem to band together. The lady was bizarre but generous, offering her food to Loren and to any local that paused to stare at her.

Water Puppet Theatre

After reuniting, Loren and Artur visited the Water Puppet Theatre. It was quite an experience. The seats were tiny, but the traditional instruments and singing kept us entranced.

The puppets appeared to move across the water without assistance, and some of the dragons spat out water and fireworks. It was pretty impressive, and all of the scenes were created around traditional Vietnamese folklore and culture.

St Patrick's Day Celebrations
That night, we went with my Uncle and Aunt to a party filled their fellow colleagues and other expats. Everyone was wearing green clothes and the house was decorated with shamrocks. By the time the Guinness came out, the party had really started. We learnt a lot about the lives of expats, and spoke to a lot of different people there. Most of them were teachers.

After a while, the Irish folk band 'For Folk Sake', came out and played some popular songs. They also performed some great instrumental pieces, which were very well received. My uncle played the guitar in the band and my aunt played the recorder and sang in most other songs. The band had only had a few practices, but were already invited to play at the Irish Embassy's formal St Patrick's day celebrations. All of the ambassadors from each country were invited. They were great!

Last day in Hanoi

Our last day in Hanoi started very early in the morning, as we took a few days in between to visit Halong Bay and Sapa. We slept overnight on the train and arrived at 5.30am, which was great actually because it meant we were awake early enough to check out the flower market.

The flower market was filled with every sort of flower available in Vietnam. Some had even been brought over from Da Lat. The flowers were in huge bunches and sold in bulk. Other little stalls were selling ribbons, baskets and anything else that you would use to package flowers at a florist shop. With flower markets like that, you could easily decorate for a wedding or any other occasion, with fresh flowers, for a relatively cheap price.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

After picking up Loren's tailored dress, we headed off to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It was quite an affair just getting to the entrance of the place. The surrounding blocks and streets were heavily guarded, and people were directed around a huge circumference in order to get to the correct entry point. Once your bag and camera are safely stowed in the luggage room, and you've passed through the metal detectors, you have to join an enormous queue that creeps slowly towards the Mausoleum itself.

We were instructed to cover our shoulders, take off sunglasses and hats and wear long pants. Once we entered the building, we felt the cold chill of the marble walls and the silence of respect. No one spoke as we shuffled slowly around the glass casket where Ho Chi Minh, the former leader of Vietnam, lay embalmed. Guards stand motionless with guns at their sides as they guard his body. It's amazing just how much the Vietnamese people still respect and almost worship this man.

Despite all of the mummification, he looks more unreal than a figure in Madame Toussaud's wax exhibitions. He is preserved, but not very life-like.

Bia Hoi

We were determined to try the local beer in Hanoi, particularly the kind that is brewed with no preservatives, for each 24/48 hr period. This beer is called bia hoi and can be found at any street corner in Hanoi. The price of the beer is ridiculously cheap. One beer is 3000 dong, which is about USD 0.20. The beer was good, and it was fairly light in flavour, particularly after having our fair share of guinness a few nights before.

Temple of Literature

The temple of literature was beautiful, and the grounds on which it was built were huge. The temple was supposed to be a quiet refuge from the busy city, but due to a primary school graduation that was held there, the place was filled with little children. They were very excited to see the tourists and were yelling 'Hello!'

There were statues of mythical birds all around the temple, which had turtles at their feet. If you rubbed the bird hard enough, then touched the turtle, the turtle's head would move. We think it had something to do with static electricity.

Horrible Hanoi Airport

We were shocked to discover that the International section of Hanoi's Aiport (Hanoi, being the capital city of Vietnam), had no newsagent, no money exchange facility, and only one restaurant, which of course sold terrible food for exhorbitant prices. The only thing sold there in the open stores were expensive snacks and souvenirs.