Good Morning Vietnam - as they say in the movies…
Hanoi is our first destination on our trip round Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Room with a view - Old Quarter, Hanoi Hotel
First impressions of Hanoi are that it appears quite complex and chaotic but they simply have their systems and it’s actually quite orderly in an apparent unorderly way. We learnt pretty fast that you just go with the flow - when you cross the street, you walk like an elephant - slow and steady, don’t stop, look forward, keep moving, and trust that scooters and cars will either stop or move around you. Except Buses - they don’t Stop. You run.
When you’re looking for somewhere to eat - follow the locals, have trust and go with the flow. Food plays a big part in the city and it’s all so fresh.
It’s the the beginning of Autumn here and the Indian Oaks are just on the turn.
The air is thick and heady. The tree-lined avenues provide much needed shade from the searing heat. After the war with the French ended, President Ho Chi Minh showed his appreciation to the role of green trees in the country's construction and encouraged everyone to plant trees when spring arrived, with his famous phrase “To reap a return in ten years, plant trees. To reap a return in 100, cultivate the people.”
Motorbikes and scooters are everywhere, in fact as a pedestrian you end up sharing the road with them. The pavements are wide but they are filled with miniature tables and short stools for the people cooking, eating, and selling their wares or filled with parked motorbikes and cars.
I was hoping there would be tuk-tuks here - they would be perfect for scooting around in the heat, however the government banned them in 2008. The cyclos, a bicycle rickshaw have a mixed reputation in as much you could end up paying a hefty price at the end.
Buying and selling isn’t reserved solely for shops, restaurants, and stalls. Hanoi is full of women in traditional conical hats pushing enormous carts full of clothing, pots and pans, walking bicycles covered in flowers and fruit, and carrying a bamboo yolk full of food.
Hanoi’s old streets are set up like a giant superstore. Each street is like a shopping aisle with its own specialty. Numbers have grown over the years from the 36 original ones. There’s the glass street, electronics street, bamboo street, art gallery street, metal fabrication street, paper decoration street, silk street and leather street to name but a few.
Bamboo Street
Delighted to find a hand-made paper shop, in Paper Street, of all places ;)
Hanoi is a large city squashed into a beautifully small area that holds so much charm. The buildings in the Old Quarter where we are staying, are beautiful in their own right. They are typically narrow and very tall which harks back to when taxes on homes and properties were determined by the width of the building.
Narrow alleyways lead to hidden gems - cool, shaded mansion houses - a few are now cafes, away from the heat and noise. Although motorbikes can just manage to squeeze in.
During our first evening we found tailors and leatherworkers working late into the night - there is a quick turn-around on made-to-measure clothes, you can have anything tailored.
We happened upon the infamous Train Street which is now guarded by police with a list of rules expected to be adhered to. A large crowd gathered to get on the track before the arrival of the 9pm train. The guards were having none of it. Things started to get quite heated much to the the locals suprise. Rules are expected to be followed here.
Selfie Station
Move along NOW please!
Our first impressions are that we are going to really enjoy being here and exploring a great deal more…