Having just completed three weeks in Vietnam I have much to write about in my blog. Given how many places I visited, I'm breaking up my trip into several blogs.
The trip began in the northern end of Vietnam and wound its way down the coast, finally ending at Phu Quoc (an island off the coast of Cambodia). I arrived to Hanoi on a Saturday and while I was waiting to get my visa, I ran into Karen, my nephew's fiancé, who had just arrived from the States. For the first two weeks of this trip I would be traveling with my nephew Ryan, his fiancé, Karen, and a good friend from work, Amy. Karen and I quickly made our way through the airport and found a cab to take us into Hanoi. Ryan had arrived to the city three days earlier and met us as we checked into the hotel. We were staying in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and it's by far the most charming part of the city. Given the French influence, Hanoi reminded me a lot of the French Quarter of New Orleans - curved balconies with ornate railings, small narrow streets with shuttered windows, and many corner cafes.
After unpacking and a quick shower, the three of us went for some lunch. We walked around the corner to a small noodle place and got the first of many phos - soup with noodles and either meat or seafood. We then grabbed a cup of vietnamese coffee, which is as addictive as crack. Strongly brewed and sweetened with condensed milk, vietnamese coffee is delicious. My only complaint is that they serve it in such small amounts. I down those suckers in two sips and instantly want another. One guy I met in Vietnam told me that Americans drink their coffee like pigs, that it should take between 10-12 sips to finish that small amount of coffee. Yeah, right.
Afterwards we rested in the hotel and then went out to explore Hanoi. We walked to Hoan Kiem Lake, which is located in the historical center of Hanoi. The lake is filled with large soft-shell turtles. We didn't see any turtles but we did walk across the famous red bridge to Jade Island where the Ngoc Son Temple was erected in the 18th century. We didn't bother to go inside the temple, but stayed on the bridge.
Hanoi is crazy busy with motorbikes. Walking across the street can be a harrowing experience in which you can't be faint of heart. You don't see too many cars because cars are expensive for the Vietnamese (they must pay a 300% tax when buying a car). Since Hanoi is also located near a very industrial area, the air pollution is quite bad. At first it seemed as if the city was just foggy, but we soon learned that wasn't fog but pollution. All of us were coughing and rubbing our eyes for the three days we stayed there.
After the lake we strolled over to the one gay bar in Saigon because I wanted to see where it was located. When we got there, it was closed, but next door was a place called Polite Pub. Since it was cocktail time, we went inside. This pub became our favorite hangout (we went there every night). The two bartenders made the best drinks - and since we had our very own mixologist with us - he confirmed that they knew what they were doing. Every drink I ordered be it a martini, a manhattan, an old fashioned, or a mai tai was made from scratch and delicious. And the two bartenders were very sweet. We also liked the classic design of the bar with its rich wood, mirrors, and mellow music.
Refreshed from our drinks, we went to meet a friend of Karen's who took us to the night market. When we arrived the night market was still setting up, but Karen's friend who's name was either Trung, or Thun, or Tongue - none of us could pronounce it, took us to get some fried bread. They basically take a small baguette, squash it, soak it in butter and sugar water, and then grill it over a charcoal fire. It was so delicious - I ate two of them without even thinking. We needed that bread because we next walked a long way to see the sights of Hanoi. Hanoi at night is very pretty. Since it was around Christmas, lights were strung across the major streets. We walked past many monuments such as the presidential palace, the flag tower, the statue of Lenin. It was a far walk and my feet hurt by the time we found a place to eat what would turn out to be the best fried spring roles of the trip. Maybe it was because we were so hungry, but those rolls were super light, crunchy, and flavorful. We went back to the hotel full but tired.
The next morning we met up with Amy who had arrived late that evening. We decided to go see Ho Chi Minh, who's body has been preserved since he died in 1969. Knowing how far his mausoleum was since we walked it the night before, we took a cab. Visiting his mausoleum is an odd experience. First off, it's heavily guarded and you're carefully led through the grounds as soon as you buy your ticket. Everyone follows this circuitous path as it wends its way towards the mausoleum. At first you're allowed to take pictures of the grounds, but as you getting closer to the mausoleum, the guards become more frequent and strict. When you finally reach the building, you're not allowed to talk as you enter. You're lined up in rows of two and then led into the room where Ho Chi Minh is lying in his full splendor. You walk around the body without being allowed to stop. If you do, the guards grab you and shoo you along. It's all very weird and surreal.
Once back outside, we toured the rest of the grounds. We saw the outside of the presidential palace, but we couldn't go inside. We saw Ho Chi Minh's cars and his office and resting pagoda. We decided to skip the museum and had a coffee instead. Since Amy and Karen were still tired from their flights, we went back to the hotel and rested for a couple of hours.
After resting Ryan convinced us to go see snake village and eat a cobra. None of us were too keen on going, but we agreed anyway. I thought snake village was a park where you can view snakes, but it turns out it's just a section of Hanoi where there are many restaurants that serve cobra. It's a quiet residential part of Hanoi and it was nice to stroll around, though we were the only caucasians in sight and I began to fear it was a trap to lead us into white slavery. It was an odd time for eating (halfway between lunch and dinner) but we stopped at several restaurants where they would politely pull out a cobra and show us. We needed some liquid courage, so we stopped for some local brew which is served out of the equivalent of a garage. We then chose a restaurant called Thanh Dao. We left Ryan in charge of picking out the snake and watching them kill it since none of us wanted to see that happen. This restaurant serves cobra seven ways. You first begin with the blood and its beating heart. We left the heart for Ryan, and after he drank the blood, we all agreed to try it. They mix the blood with rice wine, so it's not so thick and it mostly tastes like alcohol. Next comes a soup with snake in it. The soup was like a thick egg drop soup that I didn't like. Next comes the bones all finely chopped and deep fried so they look like bacon bits. Then the fried skin, and the stir-fried snake. Most of it was OK, but it got much better when the owner of the restaurant decided to sit with us and show us how to properly eat each course. The bones for example were served on a type of cracker, and the skin and flesh were rolled in leaves and dipped in a sauce. Once he demonstrated, everything tasted so much better. When we were finished, the owner invited us down into his house and served us tea. He didn't speak a word of English but we managed to communicate and have a great time. It was a memorable experience.
After dinner we headed back to Polite Pub. On the way there we ran into another teacher from my school. She and her husband ended up joining us at Polite Pub and we all drank far into the night.
The next morning, everyone was dragging a bit, so I suggested seeing the new Star Wars movie and everyone thought that was a great idea. After the movie we really didn't have any plans so we walked to a nearby lake to see what it was like. It turned out to be the most depressing place in the world. First off, we had to pay to get in (a whopping 15 cents). Once inside, the park was deserted. They had sad looking swan boats that hadn't been maintained in years. We saw one lone man with no shoes lying on a park bench and that was it. We walked around the perimeter of the lake and came to this spooky amusement park. The rides were all old and rusty and nothing was running. It was creepy and strange. The air pollution this day was also very bad and all of us were hacking our lungs up as we walked through this post-Soviet nightmare of a park. We think Chernobyl would've been more interesting. We reached the end of the park and there were some vendors selling spices and crappy clothes. They were so bored and dispirited they didn't even bother to look up as we strolled by. On top of everything else, the speakers were playing Adele songs. We affectionately dubbed this park The Land of Forgotten Toys.
I was so depressed I don't even remember what we did next. I think we went back to the hotel and slept a bit. We then went out shopping and exploring the Old Quarter. We went to see the church, bought some silk gifts, and then ate at Kangeroo Jack's since everyone was craving burgers. The owner was Australian and he never shut up. The burgers weren't bad. though. Next we went back to the lone gay bar in Hanoi, but it was dreary and not very gay. We had one drink and went next door to Polite Pub and had our final cocktails in Hanoi. The next day we were scheduled to leave Hanoi for Halong Bay.
To sum up, we all liked Hanoi. The people, food, and Old Quarter were great. The air pollution, though, was terrible and we all decided if it were like that all the time, we couldn't live there. Next blog - Halong Bay!