Robin & Karen Living the Dream: December 2024

Hanoi,Vietnam is a city of 9 million people and probably just as many scooters.And we loved it! When we weren't seeing specific sights we were happily people watching. You just can’t image the things & the volume of things that can be carried on a bicycle, a push cart or the back of a scooter or motorbike!

Clothes

All manner of household items

Even a baby!

Balloons

Dishes

Adorable hood complete with plastic face shield in a “scooter seat”, certainly not CSA approved!

The hat carts were popular, 15-20C & the locals were bundled up like it was -20C!

We did most of our sightseeing by walking, St Joseph’s Cathedral was an impressive site, both inside & out, built in 1886 in an architectural style resembling Notre Dame de Paris.

Just walking in the streets of the Old Quarter was fun, admiring the narrow but tall buildings tightly packed together. Many held businesses on the street level with some having extra seating for cafes on higher floors, or guesthouses or just living quarters.

Sunny Hanoi Homestay, our 1st hotel

We toured the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, also known as the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam war. It was built by the French in 1886-1889 where it initially held Vietnamese political prisoners who were treated very badly. After the French left Hanoi it was used to detain American POW’s, initially in miserable conditions, hence the “Hanoi Hilton”. It was a sad & somber place but helpful to understand some of the history of the Vietnamese people.

School children making straw hats to protect themselves from US bombings

There were bomb shelters for people everywhere

Next touristy sight was the famed Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre show. Water puppetry was first introduced in the 11th century, performed in rice paddies & ponds of rural villages during festivals & special occasions. Today it has become a significant cultural symbol of Vietnam. The show is performed by skilled puppeteers standing in waist deep water behind a bamboo screen & manipulating the puppets on long poles. The accompanying orchestra & singing was magical even if we didn’t understand the language & the show was great fun!

The orchestra

The puppeteers

It’s no secret that we both love to eat & we were excited to try all the “famous” dishes of Hanoi. Our Homestay had given us a pamphlet with many good dishes & where to try them, so off we went! Most meals were very reasonable - $10-15 for both of us, which often included beer or smoothies. Beer in a cafe costs $1.50-2, smoothies $2.25-2.80, coffees $2.50-3. We generally ate in smaller local restaurants or food stalls, and there were much fancier & pricier options to choose from.

Bun Cha - barbecued pork with rice vermicelli & fresh, leafy greens

Tasty fried corn fritters

Bun Bo Nam Bo - stir-fried beef with rice noodles, pickled vegetables, bean sprouts, peanuts, lettuce & sauce, similar to our Vietnamese noodle bowls

Pho Bo - beef noodle soup

Bahn Cuon (plate with chopsticks) - steamed rice rolls, stuffed with shallots, mushrooms & ground pork,
And more Bun Cha

Where we ate the Bahn Cuon

A tiny kitchen in an alley, famous for Bun Ca - fish soup with noodles

The stools were so low we weren’t sure we could get up!

The place that invented Egg Coffee in 1946

Egg coffee - strong robusta coffee, topped with an egg yolk beaten with sugar

The Hoan Kiem Lake is part of the Old Quarter, a scenic spot for a stroll around the lake & a popular spot for photo taking ( the Vietnamese take new dressed-up pictures before the new year) as well as a place for events.

A military celebration

Red seemed to be the choice of clothing color for photos

We move to an apartment for 2 weeks in Hanoi, a 30 minute walk from the Old Quarter or a quick $2-3 taxi ride. It was lovely to have more room than a hotel provides, including a couch & TV with Netflix, as well as a kitchen which we used a bit. We will probably do more of this as our winter continues. By local standards it was expensive at $750CAD for the 2 weeks but well worth it.

Our apartment

View from the bedroom window

Sunset from the rooftop deck

The apartment was a 2 minute walk from a huge park - complete with a lake, walking trails, flowers & good people watching. And a good place for walking around the lake, 3.5 km, for exercise.

Lots of fishermen

Little coffee shops

We were lucky to visit during a big Vegan World festival, with many vendors selling food to eat & vegan products for taking home, & entertainment.

Christmas decorations everywhere, even though most Vietnamese are Buddhist

We like taking cooking classes & found a good one in Hanoi where we shopped at the market & then created Bun Cha, papaya salad, fried spring rolls, pho & egg coffee. All delicious - but I neglected to get a photo of the completed foods..

The locals prefer to buy meat from the local vendors, unrefrigerated but fresher than stores

One other iconic spot to visit in Hanoi is Train Street - a working train that passes through neighborhoods very close to the shops & homes. There are 2 sections that have turned into tourist attractions where the fronts of homes are now coffee shops to sit & watch the train whiz by.

We also did a Hop On Hop Off bus tour of the central parts of Hanoi, giving a different perspective to the sights.

I did go for a lovely massage, a bit pricier than my previous ones at $28 but well worth it!

We spent many an afternoon or early evening sitting in a cafe, right on the street, enjoying a beer & marvelling at the chaotic but somehow choreographed traffic! And we quite enjoyed the challenge of crossing streets through this craziness!

Bundled up like it’s cold!

We took a tour in a bicycle cab - that really puts you in the thick of the traffic!

We checked out a section of murals near Train Street, impressive, but we got quite the shock to see barbecued dog for sale. We only saw them in one spot so hopefully not too common.