We arrived in Vietnam ready for what feels like the next chapter of our adventure. Up until now travel has been fairly comfortable. With the exception of our short stay in Taiwan, we could speak the language (English or French), we could decipher signs, for the most part food was familiar and cultural norms were similar to our own. Now we were jumping into the part of our trip that has us exploring South East Asia. We started by landing in Hanoi.
Hanoi is a huge bustling city that hums with life. The roads are notorious for the chaos that meets the eyes and ears as millions of motorbikes weave every which way in a shockingly successful dance. (See Luna's post on motorbikes for more on this!). The smells are pungent as you walk along the sidewalks, dancing between roadside food stalls, parked motorbikes and swarms of people. You can barely walk a few steps without passing some kind of dining option. Everything from regular sit down restaurants to permanent roadside stalls with plastic stools and metal tables, to people selling food from baskets and buckets. At times it feels like the city is always eating. Any time of day you can find people sitting enjoying a bowl of noodles or sipping coffee or smoothies while snacking on pumpkin seeds, scattering the shells on the sidewalk.
Stopping to buy a small baggie of crushed peanuts.
BBQ at a street stall
Spring Rolls - next to the vat of cooking oil
While walking through the city the eye doesn't know where to go - in front to ensure you don't crash into an oncoming bike, to the side to peek down alleyways that may hide homes, shops, parking spots, food stalls, or up high where the old buildings stretch upwards in a ramshackle way to reveal windows, balconies, hanging laundry, water tanks and plants.
Walking is a full focus undertaking here. Not only do you have to dodge motorbikes (both parked and moving) but there are vats of hot oil and broth dotted along the sidewalk at the ad hoc food stalls and impressively exuberant tangles of wires dipping precariously close to our tall North American heads. While eyes are busy taking all this in the background soundtrack is of honking and zooming.
Can you find Luna?
The kids were amazing at just jumping into the fray and taking in all there was on offer in Hanoi.
I had to laugh at these two traffic signs. Clearly no one pays any attention to the signs!
Wiring up to code?
It sounds chaotic, and it is, but somehow Hanoi is delightful. There are enough pockets of calm so you don't feel continuously bombarded. There is a large lake in the midst of the hubbub that is an urban oasis. People are friendly and don't have the rushed edges of many big cities. Perhaps a contributing factor is that people take time to sit and share food and drink out in the open, right on the sidewalk, imbuing the city with a sense of expansive time. The traffic chaos somehow dances around in a fluid way, and as long as you walk in a steady manner they truly will weave around you. There are traces of the French's influence in the architectural style of the governmental buildings and some of the big boulevards. History is tangible here, whether the Hoa La prison or Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. There are pockets of the city that are clearly geared to tourists, but this is a living, breathing city that has charm and energy. As cliche as it may sound, the city also has a compelling mix of new and old. You will see women selling veggies from baskets on the street corner, as they probably have for decades, next to cell phone shops and Domino's pizza. Tiny doors open to closet sized store fronts that house a repair shop that only repairs fans, with the work spilling out onto the sidewalk while nearby is a stand that sells buttons and another that sells diapers a few doors down from a stand filled with dried herbs and teas.
A quiet and spacious side street.
Stopping for a bag of freshly fried donuts.
Need any buttons?
Walking down the Hanoi "Train Street" where people live and work alongside a working train line.
Twice a day they whisk their goods and selves inside to make way for the passing train.
Our arrival in Hanoi coincided with Trump and Kim Jon Un's "Peace Summit". Yes, the one that broke down and Trump left early. While taxing on the runway after touching down in Hanoi we saw five United States of America Government jets parked on the tarmac! The streets leading into the city had American and North Korean Flags flying, there were banners throughout the city and entrepreneurs had T-Shirts printed within hours of the opening photo-op. During the two days that the leaders were in the city we saw streets blocked off and motorcades zoom by. It added an extra sense of excitement to our arrival.
"Hanoi - The City for Peace"
Particularly bad traffic due to street closures.
One of the other factors that made our time in Hanoi so special was that we were joined by my parents, here forth referred to as "Yia Yia" and "Papou". (Grandmother/father). They braved many hours of travel to join us in Vietnam. We were all so very excited to see them when they arrived a day after us.
We enjoyed walking the streets and often the experience of making our way to and from a spot to eat was adventure enough for the afternoon or morning. A walk that google maps said was 20 minutes took at least 40. There was so much to absorb and process while being out in the city that retreating to the hotel after a few hours out felt just right.
Google Maps changes the way we all travel!
SIM cards were incredibly handy, with huge amounts of data for mere dollars.
On Friday night ventured out to the night market. There is a long street of stalls selling cheap goods. There were swarms of people moving along the stalls, many tourists but also locals buying clothes or electronics or snacks. It was not the most compelling market I've been to, but it was still fun to be out in the hustle and bustle.
The start of the market
These were some crazy corn puffs that were frozen with dry ice and drizzled with chocolate.
We weren't sure what we were getting, but a cup of smoking balls the colour of fruit loops was too good to pass up.
Popcorn to the rescue when I realized it was 9pm and the 6 year old hadn't had dinner.
While wandering around at night we saw a bride and groom getting photos in the middle of this busy, but picturesque, intersection. I later read it is a popular spot for wedding photos.
Another evening we went to see an impressive performance called "Lang Toi" or "My Village" held in the Hanoi Opera House. It is a performance reminiscent of Cirque de Soleil's magic. The performers are artists who perform acrobatics, contortions, and jaw dropping juggling, but in a way that is artistic and beautiful, not showy or tawdry. The performers used huge bamboo poles to create the sets that changed with each scene. They then climbed, jumped, balanced and spun on and around the poles. They also used the poles as percussive instruments and as props to help with incredible feats of agility, balance and strength. The set and costumes were beautiful in their simplicity and the entire performance was supported by live Vietnamese folk music. It was an unexpected highlight.
We also went to the traditional water puppet show. This too was a cool theatrical experience. It is an ancient art form dating back to the 11th century when shows were performed in the water of the rice fields. The show included live accompaniment by a traditional Vietnamese orchestra that included many instruments unknown to us. One stood out as particularly intriguing, a one string instrument called the Dan Bau which created haunting sounds.
The tour of Hoa La Prison, also known as "Hanoi Hilton" from the Vietnam-American war, was eye opening for all of us. It was very interesting to learn some of the history of the brutal occupation by France and to hear the Vietnamese's presentation of the treatment of the American POWs during the Vietnam war (which is known as the American war here). Any museum or monument about war is difficult but important to see. I was really impressed with the kids' willingness to engage in the material. We were inspired to learn more about the history of the region and try to understand what led to the war we know of as the "Vietnam War". This allowed history from schoolbooks to come alive. Leo was so impressed by what he learned about Ho Chi Minh that we decided to find our way to his mausoleum. Turns out you can only go inside during the early morning hours, but it was still impressive to see the scale of pomp and level of respect still paid to "Father Ho".
It is a lot to take in.
Some favorite memories of Hanoi are wandering the sidewalks while weaving among plastic chairs and metal tables, cooking stoves, motorbikes, other humans all the while dodging hot exhaust pipes, electrical wires and puddles; eating at the roadside stands and having delicious fresh food (more to come on the food in a later blog); crossing the street; eating cream puffs around the corner from our hotel or finding bubble tea; learning about history; seeing some cultural shows and, as is a theme for this trip, seeing the city through the kids eyes while they take it all in stride.
Our favorite bubble tea spot.
The women were dressed up for International Women's Day.
This guy was impressed with all the motorbikes.
There were little scenes happening around every corner and down every alley.
This one was a photo shoot. Not sure why or what for, but they looked cute.
Lunch at "the Obama Place" - where Anthony Bourdain and Obama shared a bowl of noodles.
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