Hanoi – like crazy had 2 Vietnamese coffees and a Red Bull
We landed in Hanoi, late in the evening. We were picked up by a taxi organised by our hotel, which made everything very easy. The first thing we noticed on our 45 minute drive from the airport to our hotel in the Old Quarter was that Vietnam was a lot more modern than Laos. The roads were very well developed, there were billboards, new cars, modern buildings and more order. Simon felt that he was going to like it here straight away. Then we hit the main centre of Hanoi and we were exposed to the chaos that was Hanoi scooter traffic. The order evaporated and what we were left with was a population of 8 million people and 5 million scooters driving the wrong way up roads, over taking each other whenever they fancied it and just being generally very dangerous. We have been exposed to chaotic driving and scooter culture a lot in the last 2 months, but this was a shock to the system.
Once we were checked in to our accommodation we needed a quick snack so went for a wander around the Old Quarter towards Hoan Kiem Lake. We learnt a few very important rules about crossing the road.
- Just go.
- Don’t stop. You HAVE to keep walking.
- Do NOT go backwards.
- Do not change speed.
- Keep swivelling your head in all directions at all time.
Taking these rules into consideration means you don’t die as the scooters, and occasional car, move around you and take you into consideration. You can hear honking all the time, but when it’s close to you it just means ‘Watch out… I’m near to you!’ It doesn’t mean ‘Move out the way… I’m angry you crossed in front of me’. After a few days we had the knack of crossing the road and were pretty happy we could get about comfortably.
We got some snacks from a street food vendor near the lake and enjoyed the atmosphere with locals riding hover boards, playing kick up ball and spending time together as it was a Saturday night.
The next morning we woke up relatively early as we had to be at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum before 11am. Ho Chi Minh was the first President of Vietnam, taking control after the 13th king of the Nguyan dynasty abdicated and handed rule to him. He was a communist leader and most Vietnamese people we have spoken to hold him in very high esteem after the changes he made to the country. Even though it wasn’t his wish to be, he is preserved in a glass casket in a mausoleum in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. We took an uber over to the mausoleum and went through all of the security. As soon as you are through security you have to keep your arms down, keep quite and walk in a line with the other people who are visiting. We saw the changing of the guard outside of the mausoleum and walked through seeing Ho Chi Minh. We were unable to take photos during this part, but received our camera back afterwards so we were able to take pictures outside. His body is sent to Russia to be treated and preserved each year. There is no information about this in the mausoleum or museum though and we had to google it afterwards. He looks very peaceful as though he is sleeping.
After the mausoleum you walk through the Presidential Palace looking at the French architecture of the building, the lake and his personal living quarters. This area was absolutely packed when we got there and we didn’t stop long to look at everything which was a bit of a shame. We only had 45 minutes before they were closing for lunch so we wanted to have a quick look around the museum. This museum was very well put together, but not very informative. What I mean by that is the displays were very appealing to the eye, but I didn’t learn a lot. Many of the areas of the museum said things like ‘This model represents/is symbolic of etc’. As someone who didn’t know a lot in the first place, I didn’t find that style very useful. We left feeling not much more educated and that’s when we slipped up. And I don’t have any idea where there was a giant table in the museum either.
There were a lot of taxi drivers outside of the complex ready to take you where you needed to go. I couldn’t order an uber back as I didn’t have a SIM card yet so unfortunately we had to get a taxi. We found a taxi driver and made him use the meter (we’re not that stupid) having learnt that this is the biggest way that people get scammed in taxis. We made it to our destination and on the way he had locked the door. We didn’t think much of it, but when we got there he was asking for around 8 times what we’d paid in the morning (a ridiculous amount of money). We couldn’t get out of the car so feeling stuck we paid it. Not once did we feel unsafe, but I think it could have gotten dangerous if we hadn’t paid. I think with it being our first day in Vietnam as well, the currency confused us. If you’ve been, you know they work in thousands. Withdraw less than £100 and you’re a millionaire. We learnt our lesson. Ask for a price beforehand or get a taxi ordered by a hotel/tourist attraction instead of using one on the street. I have a Vietnamese SIM now so when possible we will just be using Uber.
Feeling like an idiot we walked to our next destination which was to book in for an evening street food tour that we wanted to take. We went back to our room, regrouped and now feeling better when we realised this was the first incident like this in 5 months, we went to do some other jobs. We got our Vietnamese SIM card and booked in for the water puppet show that evening after our street food tour. We shamefully went to Burger King for lunch, but wasn’t feeling up for negotiating the new food until after our tour.
I have to say the Street Food Tour was AMAZING! It was very highly ranked on Trip Advisor, but it went above and beyond what we expected it to be like. We had a reasonably sized group and our tour guide was a local Hanoian woman who knew the place like the back of her hand. We started our tour by going for some Bun Cha Ta. This was Simon’s favourite dish of the whole night, a broth with rice noodles, mint, chilli, garlic and BBQ pork meatballs. Yummy!!!! We loved this so much we went back the next night! We then tried ‘Sexy salad’ which was green papaya, sliced beef, beef jerky and a chilli and peanuty sauce. This was my favourite. It was so tasty and I could have easily eaten it again straight after.
Throughout the rest of the night we tried 2 different local beers Bia Ha Noi and street beer (Bia Hoi) as well as an egg coffee, steamed pancakes, a baguette, coconut ice cream and sticky rice, fruit and yoghurt with condensed milk and traditional Vietnamese beer snacks. We were STUFFED by the end of the night but felt like we knew so much more about the local cuisine. Interestingly, she told us how different the food was throughout Vietnam. She said in central Vietnam the food is far spicier and in the south far sweeter. We’ll have to see if that is what we find. We had so much fun with our group and would recommend this to anyone coming into a country with a very different cuisine.
Our last stop of the day was to the Water Puppet show at Thang Long which was near to the Lake in the Old Quarter. I’m not sure I knew what to expect from this show, but we both absolutely loved it. Water puppetry originated in the 11th century from the Red river delta area in the North of Vietnam. The puppets, which are made of wood, are controlled from behind a screen and made to appear to be floating on the water. When the rice paddies would flood villagers would entertain each other with water puppetry. The show was an hour and we were shown traditional folk music as well as 14 different water puppet scenes. This isn’t something to miss and we would recommend everybody experiences this whilst in Vietnam. After a small wander through the night market we headed off to bed to recoup from all the fun.
The next day we went to Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton or Maison Centrale) after a lovely walk along Hoan Kiem Lake.
This prison was used by French colonists to hold Vietnamese political prisoners and later by the Vietnamese to hold American prisoners of war. Most of the prison has been demolished, but a small section now remains as a museum. The majority of the museum focuses on the Vietnamese prisoners that were housed there and at the end gives a very ‘cheery’ account of how well the American POWs were treated during their stay. As we walked around the museum we saw the holding cells where prisoners lived in cramped conditions with leg restraints, we saw isolation cells, death row cells, guillotines and torture equipment. I have to say now, if you’re planning to go, be prepared for some of the parts of the museum. I really did not feel happy walking through the death row cells.
We came away from the museum confused. It was obvious that everyone who spent time there was exposed to inhumane treatment. I also know that it was obviously very biased. I truly believe that the American newspaper articles and photographs selected were selected for one reason only.. they made the prison out to look better than it was. We are looking to find a book that is an account of an American POW so if anyone has any recommendations please let us know.
After this we met up with a Hungarian couple we met the night previously at the Street Food Tour. We went to a well rated restaurant to try some Beef Pho (Beef Noodle Soup). Vietnam is known for its Pho and I’d been dying to try it. It did not disappoint at all. Very tender beef, a tasty broth and of course… noodles.
We then explored The Note, which was a post it note cafe. When you come into the cafe you collect a post it note, write a message on it and stick it to the wall. As you can tell, many people had been there before us and we had a good time reading the post its, writing our own and drinking Vietnamese coffee. Out of the four of us, I was given a post it on my coffee telling me how special I was and never to forget it. I felt very special in that moment.
That evening we met up with our American friends from Thailand and another girl from the food tour for some more Bun Cha Ta. Yum! It was great catching up with everyone, but we had an early start the next day to Halong Bay!!!
After Halong Bay we came back to Hanoi for one more night. We had a lovely meal with Paul and Lisa, who we’d met on the tour and really hope we get to see again once we’re back in the UK. We enjoyed some burgers and nachos, and Simon and I were super naughty and had a slice of cheesecake. WOW it was good!!!
Hanoi was brilliant and I would definitely go back. There is so much more to explore. I think we could have done with 1 or 2 more full days to just walk around the French quarter and visit a few more museums (The woman’s museum and Military museum would have been our choices). We also didn’t make it up to West Lake which we would have liked to have explored. Unfortunately, we do still have a schedule to keep to so I guess we’ll just have to come back again in the future.
Simon and Becky's travels 