After spending a month in Thailand I was ready to move on and explore a new country. To be honest, Vietnam was relatively low on my countries to visit in South East Asia. I had nothing against Vietnam, I simply wanted to visit other countries more. So although I was excited to be leaving Thailand I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down to be flying to Vietnam. During our time in Vietnam we visited Hanoi, Halong Bay, Cat Ba island, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh. This post is primarily about our first stop from Thailand – Hanoi. I had absolutely no expectations of what this city, culture, cuisine or its people would be like. The only expectations I had, were the ones given to me from our hotel in Hanoi. Upon confirming our booking, they warned us to be careful of scammer taxi drivers that have rigged taxi meters and sometimes charge triple the price. Some even hold you hostage in their cab for a ransom. 🙀

Despite this, I felt pleasantly welcome from the moment we landed. More so than Thailand. For example, our flight was delayed by 2 hours and the visa process took over an hour, but our friendly driver had an infectious smile as he waved to us with our names on a board. After a few minutes of ensuring this was in fact our assigned driver from our hotel and not some scam artist; we asked him quiz questions, asked our booking number, asked him to call our hotel, we proceeded with caution.
We arrived at the hotel at almost midnight and the friendly staff at Splendid Boutique Hotel, welcomed us with a plate of fruits and fresh juice while we checked in.
The next day, we were eager to explore Hanoi. Our hotel was perfectly located in the Old Quarters making it really easy to walk everywhere. Using authorized cabs are also really inexpensive.
My first experience wandering the streets of Hanoi were loads of fun. It reminded me of the chaos in Mumbai, except a lot cleaner.I really loved how the main roundabout would close for motor vehicles from Friday to Sunday. Within hours this street would transform from a noisy and chaotic roundabout to a lively junction with kids running in every direction. Millennials snapping a hundred selfies while the older generation, equipped in their running gear, fiercely did the rounds to exercise. Circus performers, acoustic players and singers, all sharing the space and making the most of their weekend. It filled me with joy watching the locals celebrate life.

The Chinese and French influence has made for some really interesting architecture. As the former capital of French Indochina, a rich variety of colonial style buildings decorate the city – from the grand to the modest, from the newly renovated to those near collapse. Although it’s not a pedestrian friendly street, walking is the best way to see Hanoi.

 

The Chinese and French influence has also left an imprint on Vietnamese cuisine. Vietnamese people love their Banh Mi’s (baguettes) and Pho (Noodle soup). I personally can handle each of these items only in small doses. Thankfully though, Hanoi had many other international dishes to choose from and they were exceptionally made.

David and I had initially planned to spend 5 days Hanoi and make our way from North to South however as we arrived in Hoi An we got news of typhoon Sarika passing through central Vietnam. Since we didnt want to risk getting stranded, we decided to head back to Hanoi. In hindsight, now that ive been to Ho Chi Minh city, i would have rather spent those extra days in HCM, as there’s a lot more to see and do.

After spending a month in Vietnam, I have a new found respect for the Vietnamese people. For all that they’ve been through, they’ve really come a long way. They are resilient people and this shines through in their everyday lives. Hanoi, like any big city also has a dark side. The air and noise pollution are some of the factors that require getting used to. I’ll let David elaborate further on this. So watch out for his post “Hannoyances”. I will write soon about the other cities we visited and some of the crazy experiences we’ve had, so stay tuned my friends!