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Vietnam Diaries: Part 2 - Hanoi

We landed in Hanoi at 7.30 am ICT (ICT stands for Indochina time, and it’s one and a half hours ahead of IST). The airport was pretty empty. We got our stuff, and we were off to Hanoi Paradise Center Hotel and Spa where we had booked our stay for the next four days. This hotel is in Old Quarter, which is probably the most happening place in Hanoi. We had booked the hotels online, and it had great reviews, and the rooms looked great. When our cabbie dropped us off we were looking around expecting to see a big hotel entrance. Imagine our shock when the receptionist walked up to us, pointed towards a really dark, narrow, and shady looking alley and said “this way please”. We looked like someone who had just been asked to have a glass of bitter gourd juice! Luckily, the hotel turned out to be as good as the reviews suggested. The rooms were quite comfortable, and the staff very friendly. The receptionist even gave us a map of Hanoi, and told us about the places we could visit, and the things we could do there. Given that four out of the five of us were vegetarians, she even told us how to ask for vegetarian food in Vietnamese. “An chay” means “Vegetarian”. “An trung” means “I eat eggs”. These phrases could save your life if you’re an eggetarian, or like me, a vegetarian.

Most of the things we had planned were in Old Quarter, and first on the list was Ho Hoan Kiem (meaning “Lake of the returned sword”). Now there’s a story behind why it was named so, and I was expecting a really fancy one that would blow my mind, but it was a pretty simple one which I’m not gonna write about here.  We freshened up, and left for Hoan Kiem lake which was a very short walk from the hotel. 

Hoan Kiem lake is one of the most visited places in Hanoi. The lake was named Ho Luc Thuy in the past which means “Green water lake” (not very creative, but makes sense because the water is green). There are a few things of interest here. There is the Ngoc Son temple (means Temple of the Jade mountain) which has a preserved specimen of a giant turtle, the beautiful Huc bridge which leads you to the Ngoc Son temple, and the turtle tower in the middle of the lake. 

One thing I was glad I did was wake up early one morning, and go for a walk around this lake. There were people walking, running, and exercising of course, but the highlight was a group of people dancing to some slow, melodic Vietnamese music. Now I’m not really into dancing (mostly because I suck at it), but this was a really pleasant sight. It looked peaceful and refreshing, and far better than the drunken dancing that I’m used to seeing. We later went on to realize that this is a very common thing in Vietnam, and found people dancing to music near the beaches too. This is one of the things I must say I really loved about Vietnam.

If you visit Hanoi, your trip is incomplete without visiting their night markets. The Old Quarter night market is of course second to none. It is open Friday to Sunday from 7pm to 12am, and no vehicles are allowed here during this time, as the streets leading to the night market are cordoned off. It has to be covered by foot. We thought this was good for two reasons. One was of course that it’s really peaceful to walk around without having to look out for vehicles, or be annoyed by unnecessary honking. The second was that it was a good way to burn off all the calories that we consumed, stuffing ourselves with every new type of food that we could find. The night market has almost everything. Rows and rows of shops selling clothes, shoes, bags, handicrafts, souvenirs, action figures, ceramics, and so many other things. Prices are low, but haggling and bargaining is an absolute must, and it is also expected.

Where there are streets full of people there is of course food! The street parallel to the night market was filled with restaurants. The restaurants had put small stools and tables which even came onto the roads. All of them were filled, and people seemed to be really enjoying themselves. It’s a nice way to take a break from all the walking and shopping, and chill with a cold beer and some authentic Vietnamese street food.

Another thing that’s high up on the list of things to do in Hanoi for tourists is watch the water puppet show in the Thang Long water puppet theater. Now I didn’t go for this, because I thought “who’d wanna watch a puppet show?”. But, it’s known to be an award winning puppet show, and two of my friends who went to the show thoroughly enjoyed it. It is better to buy the tickets directly at the theater than buying it online. It is about ₹800 (or $10) cheaper.

Any blog on Vietnam or Hanoi always has mention of the train street. This was something we were curious about, and we decided to check it out one evening. We didn’t regret it one bit. We had read about this place. We had read that it was a narrow street lined with eateries and shops, with a track running down the middle. When the train passes by there’s just a few inches between the shops and the train. It sounds dangerous but it’s totally safe, and very thrilling. Just before the train arrives there are people who walk around making sure the tracks are clear. We sat in one of the cafes feeding on junk and sipping cold beer, and watched three trains pass by. It’s definitely something that I would recommend.

Besides these there are a lot of guided tours from Hanoi. There’s the Ninh Binh province tour, the HaLong bay tour, the Bat Trang (this has nothing to do with Batman) ceramic village tour etc. We had decided to go for Ninh Binh, and HaLong bay tours.

to be continued.....

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Vietnam Diaries: Part 1 - The beginning

How do I begin to describe the beauty of this country? Was it in the greenery that surrounded me? The beautiful mountains and caves? The variety of food? Or the people, their culture, and the way they live their lives? I think it was all of it. It is ironic that a country whose history is rife with war made me feel so much at peace. Twelve days here, and I was left wanting more, waiting to go on my next adventure, away from the sedentary lifestyle that I was starting to get accustomed to. Twelve days here, and I rediscovered a part of me whose existence I had long ago forgotten - a kid who had dreamed of traveling the world some day.

It all began when I started to plan a vacation with my friend, and we realized that Vietnam was a place that we were both eager to visit. Soon, three more had decided to join us, and we were five. We decided to plan the dates, and book the tickets early so that we could get affordable prices on flight tickets and hotel bookings. Two months before the date of travel our itinerary was planned, and bookings completed. And off we went on what would be one of the most memorable vacations of our lives.

We left from Mumbai, and landed in Hanoi on the 27th of August 2022. Yes, there is a direct flight that goes to Hanoi, from Mumbai. There are direct flights from Delhi and Kolkata too. We had booked Vietjet Air which is not a flight that I would recommend unless you’re tiny and don’t need a lot of leg space. It was a very uncomfortable four and a half hour flight. However, I must admit that the stunningly pretty stewardess made the journey quite bearable.

to be continued....