Hello! Hey! Honk Honk!

Lovely (And Busy) Streets Of Hanoi

With our time in Laos done we flew from Vientiane to Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. We stayed in the Old Quarter, a charming if not a little touristy part of Hanoi and very quickly learned that navigating the crazy traffic was essential to our survival in the city. We had been given advice before arriving to walk slowly and steadily across the street. Do not stop, do not run, and use human shields where you can. Crossing a larger street you're likely to have two or three cars and a couple dozen of Hanoi's two million motorcycles zoom by you. It takes a little getting used to but the advice was sound and although we were on edge most of our time in Hanoi we managed pretty well. One other big change arriving in Hanoi was the weather. Coming from sweltering Vientiane we were relieved to find cool temperatures (even cold at times). And after two months almost void of rain it was wet most days.

Kicking Back With His PJs And A Paper

 

 

 

 

Arriving in a new country we were excited to experience new food. We quickly confirmed our suspicions that food here will be tricky for Dawn given her vegetarian preferences. Street food has frequently been a highlight for us both due to the food and the interactions we've had with the locals. But since both the food and the language is new to us street food in Hanoi was a bit risky for a vegetarian. As I'm free of vegetarian restrictions I signed up for a private street food tour to see what was on offer. My tour guide, an expat from Australia, took me to about ten different street vendors to sample their offerings. Most of it was delicious and the rest were an experience but more than anything it was immensely helpful to chat about the country and what to expect from a food perspective.

From stickyrice.typepad.com

 

 

 

 

A few of the dishes stick out for me. Ban Tom (whole prawns fried up with a tasty batter and served with herbs and dipping sauce) was delicious but also a fun experience. In Hanoi patrons of street food pull up tiny plastic chairs and tables littered all over the sidewalks and even streets. In this case the vendor gestured me toward an empty spot crammed in between two parked scooters and blocking part of a very narrow alley. As I crunched away, scooters navigated their way past to escape the alley and shoppers bumped past me as they left the market. With all this happening around me I must of had a big grin on my mug as I sat on that chair many times too small for me.

From stickyrice.typepad.com

 

On the tour I had the best pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) to date but also a pho adaptation. There is a street with about half a dozen restaurants all selling rolls made with sheets of pho noodles packed with herbs and pork and served with a tasty dipping sauce. Although they were delicious it was again the scene that made it more memorable. You see, each of these restaurants hires a daring boy who stands in the middle of the road coercing scooters with their bodies, arms, legs, etc. to their employer's restaurant. It was crazy to watch and I was shocked I didn't see at least one accident while sitting there chomping away.

From stickyrice.typepad.com

Probably at the top of the experience list for me was Ga Tan. This dish consists of a really small chicken, herbs, seeds, berries, roots, and of course a shot of rice wine and is meant to have medicinal properties that improve blood circulation among other things. But what's really interesting about this dish is how it's cooked and subsequently marketed. The vendors start by lopping the top off of a pop or beer can. Then they jam the chicken and everything else into the can before steaming it. What results is a tray of cans lined up at the sidewalk stall with little blackened chicken legs sticking out the top. Not in the least bit appetizing but it was actually pretty tasty. We finished the whole tour back on our sidewalk plastic stools sharing some Bia Hoa, draught beer that is always brewed the day you drink it.

Hey! Cyclo? Cyclo? Where You From?

Similar to the warnings about the traffic we knew to expect touts, scams, and lots of sales pitches. But despite the warnings we found it all pretty overwhelming and certainly did not leave us with a good first impression. It started as soon as we tried to get a cab from the airport. We knew that it was a fixed rate to town from the airport (15 USD) but when confirming the rate the driver responded that it was $55. When that didn't work he offered to use a meter (which run notoriously fast). We stood our ground but when we arrived he asked for more and looked at us with disdain when we refused. As soon as we hit the street it was more of the same. "Hello, hello" or "hey!" preceding someone offering to sell us something or pull us into their restaurant (literally). A fruit vendor put her load on Dawn's shoulder and then asked for money for the honour and a "student" who works for the "Red Cross" asked for a donation in exchange for toothpicks. We understand the vendors that are simply trying to make a living but the scamming and deception and the constant pestering was an unwelcome change. All that said, Hanoi definitely has its charm and is a worthwhile destination despite the annoyances.

Cat Ba Harbour

Next we headed towards Cat Ba Island and world-renowned Halong Bay. The first of three bus rides (and a ferry) to get to Cat Ba almost drove me completely mad. People here use their horns a lot. Throughout our time in Hanoi the horns were constant. Unlike Bangkok, for example, where a "honk honk" is usually used productively to warn someone of your presence, horns here have a much broader range of purposes. Yes, they do use horns in a productive way but more often than not it seems as either honking for the sake of honking or honking to say something like "I'm coming, get out of the way". On top of all of this the horns here are frequently many decibles higher than what we're used to at home adding to the irritation factor. Our bus on the first leg to Cat Ba had one of these exceptionally loud horns (click play on my donut at the end of this post for a sample) and it felt as if the driver had his horn blasting more than not. On top of that it seemed that the driver was utilizing the horn as if it could magically part traffic jams to allow him to pass. It was truly maddening and I now understand a little better what it must be like to be tortured. The rest of the journey was lovely though.

Imagine Blue Skies And Endless Visibility

Cat Ba town is nothing to write home about (for good things anyway) but the surrounding waters and park land is filled with limestone peaks that make Halong Bay famous. Tragically the weather was horrible and the bay filled with thick clouds obscuring the view. Considering the wet, cool weather and poor visibility we skipped the expensive boat tours and headed inland for some hiking. The vistas were great and we imagined that they must be spectacular in better weather. After our shorter-than-expected trip to Cat Ba we next ventured off by bus to Ninh Binh. Ninh Binh is just a regular old town but the surrounding area is frequently referred to as Halong Bay on land due to the numerous limestone outcropping and waterways.

Hoping to avoid at least some of the hoards of Hanoi daytrippers we skipped the tours and instead headed out on bikes. Many of the stretches of roads were filled with scenes I imagined when thinking of Vietnam. We rolled by bright green rice fields with magnificent limestone peaks as a backdrop passing villages and old ladies wearing their iconic non la or conical hats. And all of this with not another tourist in sight. Ahhh.... Our destinations were a few temples and a boat journey at Tam Coc. This is where we found the tourists again and since we were there at midday there were a lot of them. We knew to expect it but were still turned off of the boat trip by the constant stream of tourists coming and going along the waterway tour.

With Our Vietnamese Tourist Friends At Trang An

Instead the following day we chose to do an alternate trip at Trang An. This one was still very touristy but lacked some of the negative aspects we read you find at Tam Coc - vendors selling things to you along the way, scams, and pushy boat operators insisting on overly generous tips. Despite there being a lot of people there with us and the Vietnamese traveler behind us spending most of the trip puking over the side of the boat it was a nice trip. Along the gentle waterway we passed a couple of temples and went through seven caves the longest of which was 300 meters. The caves were definitely the highlight for us and we were the highlight it seemed for the largely Vietnamese crowd snapping photos of the big, white people while out for a Sunday float.

My Sidewalk Haircut In Cat Ba

I realize that through this first post from Vietnam I've painted a rather bleak picture of what it's like to travel here. But let me end by telling you that we've also had some really nice experiences particularly in the small, less touristy town of Ninh Binh. Here we had a very pleasant family hosting us their guesthouse. And in this town the hellos were more frequently from younger locals with a genuine interest in greeting us for the sake of greeting us. And on our last night in Ninh Binh our friendly restauranter gave us a large package of cookies for our train ride the following day. So with all the hellos, heys, and honks it's been tough but we've met some really great people and expect more of the same when we head inland to the more remote highlands.

Eating To Cope