We flew with Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi, which was uneventful, as preferred! The airport at Hanoi is brand new — only two years old (I couldn’t work out why it seemed unfamiliar, when we’d flown into Hanoi only three years ago…)
Driving into the Old Town, we were overrun by mopeds, and remembered hearing last time that there is some strangely huge number of motorbikes in Vietnam, like three per person or something. There were certainly a lot on the roads!
NYE on Beer Corner
Our hotel was the Essence on Ta Hien St, right off Beer Corner. We had chosen it knowing it was in the middle of the Old Quarter, but didn’t realise quite how much it was totally in the thick of things. It was busy on the Saturday night, but on NYE the streets outside were heaving — literally wall-to-wall people!
The hotel itself is great: a bit of character, absolutely lovely staff, plus everything you want as well (aircon, wifi, good shower, comfy bed). One of the bonuses about this place is that if you book directly with them, you get your laundry thrown in, and a plate of fruit brought to your room each day. Very convenient!
We’ve been taking it pretty easy here. Each day we’ve done a 2-3 hour walk wandering around the neigbourhood, gotten a bit lost but continued exploring, then found somewhere to eat lunch, then checked the GPS on the phone and worked out how to get back to the hotel, then had a massage. Good plan, huh!
Beer Hoi
On the first night we went to Beer Corner and R had a beer hoi (the fresh, day-old beer), we wandered the streets a bit, and then had some pho while sitting on tiny plastic chairs on the street.
Bun cha
On NYE, we walked up to the Dong Xuan market, which is where a lot of the locals buy their groceries and other stuff. It was pretty busy, so we headed out again after a quick look. Then we walked randomly, got hungry and had lunch on the side of the road where some ladies were selling Bun Cha (pork with rice noodle soup, where you add herbs and lettuce to taste). Nobody spoke much English there, but they managed to call us beautiful and let us know how much to pay, so it was a win-win situation (plus delicious food, making it win-win-win!)
When finding our way back to the hotel, we went around the Lake of the Returned Sword, where they’d blocked off all the streets and set up stages for concerts. On the streets there were things like kids driving mini cars including a mini tank; a woman who had her cat, dressed up, on a lead; a dog in a Spiderman outfit (and one dressed as a reindeer); lots of bubbles being blown; people taking mobile-karaoke machines for a wandering warble; and we were even interviewed by a bunch of school-kids wanting to practise their English.
Popped into a tailor to see whether it was worth getting anything made here, or wait for Hoi An. The word is that in Hanoi it takes 4-5 days minimum to have clothes made up, so we’ll be waiting until we get to H.A. as we have a bit more time.
After the de rigeur massage and dinner, we sat out on our balcony watching the crowds get bigger and bigger on Beer Corner, until the fireworks went off at midnight and things started calming down again.
There weren’t many people on the streets on New Year’s Day, so we decided to head to the Ceramic Mosaic Mural, an almost 7km long stretch of wall on one of the main roads. It was pretty amazing, with stretches of various different styles. I’m not sure many tourists visit it, or at least walk along it, because at one point there were two twentysomething guys recording us on their phones as we walked along pointing out interesting bits to each other. I’m still waiting to hear that we’ve become YouTube sensations.
We took advantage of the hotel package we’d booked, and had a massage in their lovely facilities that afternoon. There are a few differences between this and the massages we’ve been having in the cheap places around the streets. The hotel spa is quiet and soothing, and the masseuses don’t text/make phonecalls/check their messages/have conversations with random people who wander up while you’re being massaged here. But on the whole, for $10 massages I don’t begrudge a little distraction.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant was also part of our package, and it was loooovely. We had two different kinds of spring rolls, rolled beef with veggies inside, a delicious Hainese Chicken Rice salad, then mango sticky rice (hurrah!) and icecream for dessert. Very much recommended. Then it was time to have a quick walk around the block then head up to our balcony and play cards while nursing our full tummies, watching the slightly less-busy Beer Corner.
Day Three we headed to the Fabric Market, Cho Hom. The fabric is on the second floor, with a usual wet market on the bottom floor selling fruit & veggies, clothes and other stuff. The fabric shops are all about 4 square metres of stacked folded fabric up to the ceiling. They had lots of different fabrics, but most of the shops seemed to have the same sorts of things, and not a lot of the specific sorts of things I was after. I did find some stretch velvet that I thought I’d take to Hoi An to make some dance tops, and some digital-print poppies on interlock, which might make a work dress. The ladies running the shops weren’t interested in discussing price once they’d given an initial number, contrary to the advice I’d been given to bargain when buying more than one metre. On the whole, I was a bit disappointed as I’d thought it would be better variety and more of a bargain. Worth having a bit of a look though.
Cheeeeeeeese
For lunch we tried out a tiny bar on Food Street (the other side of Ta Hien Street) called The Hill Station, which had Vietnamese-brewed craft beers and cider, and also locally produced cheese! Heavenly.
Our last night in Hanoi was spent walking the streets in a light rain, stopping for a bowl of pho and snail rice-paper spring rolls at a small restaurant, then checking out a few of the tourist tat shops for souvenirs.
Egg coffee at Giang cafe
We realised at the last minute that we’d missed out on a Hanoi delicacy: egg coffee, so we ran out before catching a cab to the airport, to grab some. It’s a bit interesting… imagine coffee with a condensed milk/meringue kind of mix in it. Wasn’t bad, but I don’t need to try it again I don’t think. Then we (okay, I…) got distracted at Mekong Quilts on our way back to the hotel, looking at pressies for family members, and we were a little late for our car… The quilt place is partnered with an NGO who helps to get jobs for women in rural areas, so I was keen to support them (especially once I’d seen how gorgeous their quilts are. And they post worldwide, so have a look at their website.)
Next stop: Hoi An!
Two Weeks Away 