Hanoi: June 2015

Hanoi night market

We looked into getting our visa ahead or time, but instead took advantage of Vietnam’s visa on arrival. We were both a little skeptical. But Vietnam did not disappoint! The process was so simple and smooth. We were both pleasantly surprised. We took a cab to our hotel and started sweating as we walked from the cab to the front door. Our hotel was decent and had airconditioning. That’s really all that mattered.

We asked the receptionist where we could find some local food for dinner. She looked at us a little skeptically, but pointed us in the direction of a pho place. It was a short walk, but even at night, it was sweltering…why were we going to eat hot soup?!? The place was crowded. Good sign. We ordered some fully cooked beef pho, and even though we sweated through the whole meal, it was delicious. Up until this point, I hadn’t been a huge fan of pho, but this was a game changer.

Fruit salad

After dinner we walked the night market, which was literally the same stall over and over again. I couldn’t believe people still wore jeans and long-sleeved shirts in this weather! On the way back, we passed by people sitting on little plastic chairs on the street, eating fruit. It looked so good and refreshing. We knew it wasn’t a good idea, and that there was a really good chance we would pay for it later, but stopped anyway. We found our own small plastic table and chairs and a woman brought us a bowl of fruit covered in condensed milk. Bon appetit! They also gave us a little bowl of ice to cool our fruit down. We opted to skip the ice. I am happy to report that the fruit/condensed milk combo was delicious and refreshing and we did not pay for it later. 🙂

Pho every day. yummy

It had been a couple days since coffee or tea, and I was starting to feel the effects. After sleeping in really late, and thus missing breakfast, we scoped out a recommended bahn mi place. It was really good, but just too hot. We were both drenched in sweat and I started to get a headache. By the time we arrived back home, it was a full blown migraine, and took me out for the rest of the day. Javier relaxed next to me. We both needed a day of sleep. I pulled myself out of bed to go back to the pho place for dinner, but couldn’t do much outside of that.

Hoan Kiem lake

The next morning, feeling better, we woke before the sun was too intense and went for a run. We were within walking distance from Hoan Kiem Lake. We decided to run around the lake. We started with one lap. About 1 mile. We were feeling pretty good, hot but not miserable, so we went for another lap. This was too much. At the end, Javier needed juice. He was feeling dizzy and sick and didn’t think he could make it the three blocks back to the hotel. We went to the nearest cafe we could find and ordered him some juice. He perked up right away. It was scary.

Back at the hotel, we showered and had breakfast. While we were eating, a woman and her daughter asked if we would mind if they sat at our table. Of course we didn’t and we ended up having a great time with them. The mother, Kathy, and her daughter, Julia are both from Christchurch, New Zealand, and had been to Vietnam before. We enjoyed each other’s company so much, we ended up spending the rest of the day with them. Kathy and Julia gave us the best advice we received during our entire visit in Vietnam. How to cross the street.

The tour group with Kathy and Julia

I would like to take a moment and comment on the streets in Vietnam. There are more scooters in Vietnam than people. Anytime you want to cross the street, there will be tens, maybe even hundreds of scooters coming at you. They don’t have lanes nor crosswalks. You’re on your own. We struggled the first couple days. Kathy and Julia’s advice? Just walk. Don’t wait for an opening…there will never be one. Once you start, don’t stop. The scooters are anticipating your speed and will move to the side to avoid hitting you. If you stop, you run the risk of them weaving right into you. The cars are a little different, but there are so few, you really can just wait for them to pass before starting your cross. We were nervous at first. It seems so opposite to everything we’ve been taught. But it worked! THE BEST VIETNAM ADVICE, EVER!

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Hanoi Church

Together, we walked to the Cathedral. We started to go in, snapped a few pictures, and stopped. I’m glad the rest were paying attention because I sure wasn’t. I stood there for a minute confused as to why we weren’t going in, and then I saw it…there was a funeral. It was small, and we had already barged in a little. I felt so bad. We waited until they carried the casket out and into a pickup truck. The family members climbed in, there was a woman smoking next to the coffin. It was all really weird. After the group left the church, they closed the doors, and we were told the Cathedral was closed. Well, that settled that.

Hoa lo prison

We walked on to the Hoa Lo prison, aka Hanoi Hilton. This is where the French Colonists held political prisoners and later, where US prisoners of war were held. Here the US prisoners were tortured into confessing anti-American rhetoric. We read that they Vietnamese weren’t interested in war tactics, or information, they just wanted the American soldiers to write down how horrible America was for propaganda. They were tortured until they did. I’ve been to a lot of museums about wars. I have never been to a museum that was so overtly anti…any country. Normally, it’s just facts, void of emotion. There was definitely a strong anti-American sentiment. Deservedly so, it was just weird to see in a museum.

Hanoi

We walked back to the lake where we hopped on a little golf cart and took a tour through the Old Quarter. We stopped at a market, and old colonial house, and a white horse temple. Inside, where normally a statue of a god would sit, there was a big, plastic, white horse. People would enter, bow and place offerings at the altar of the horse. It was strange to say the least.

When we retuned, we decided to grab a coffee at a restaurant that overlooked the lake. We weren’t really in the mood to do anything more, so we said good bye to Kathy and Julia and retreated to the coolness of our room. Side note: it became a bit of a pet peeve, but hotels in Vietnam do not air condition their elevators or hall ways. So, while the lobby is nice and cool, you start sweating as soon as you enter the elevator, and by the time you arrive to your room, you’re hot and bothered. Maybe it isn’t this way at some of the really fancy hotels, but we also stayed in the Intercontinental in Vietnam, and it was also this way. Go figure.

Sweat. too hot

It was simply too hot the next day to do anything. Some go-getters are willing to endure anything to see the sights. Not us. The hottest I saw in Hanoi was 103F, and God only knows how much humidity. You could swallow the air it was so thick. After enduring it for a few days, we wanted a break. We had some blogging to do, so we found a great little coffee shop that overlooked the lake, ordered some incredibly strong Vietnamese coffees, and worked away! And who did we run into at the coffee shop?? Why, our friends Kathy and Julia, of course!

Feet. Hanoi market

That night, we met our friends for our last dinner. They took us to a place they had visited before. It was a giant step up from our pho place in terms of fancy-ness, and it was pretty good too 🙂

We were advised by several to take a day trip from Hanoi, but I have to be honest, the heat killed us. I’m honestly impressed we did as much as we did.

Now off to Na Trang for some R&R.

To see more pictures of Hanoi, click HERE.