10 August 2014

From the moment we landed in Hanoi, we knew that it was something special. Crazy, but special. And granted, not as crazy as Ho Chi Minh City for the most part.  The atmosphere here seems to be one of relaxed oblivion with a side of hodgepodge cultural pride, a heaped dose of traffic chaos and of course, the ancient remnants of a thriving city that has survived many years of hurt but has managed to retain its unique flair.  

Modern development springs up beside poverty and neglect and there is always an entrepreneurial focus to daily life for the general population – everything is for sale and everything is negotiable with the right attitude.

For example, our first introduction to a walk through the Old Quarter, was a very enterprising man who basically tripped my husband while we were taking a slow walk and then proceeded to squirt super-glue on his toe (“apparently” aiming for his shoe). He then demanded a dollar for ‘fixing’ the said shoe (even though it wasn’t broken), despite the fact that we had in no way asked for this service to be administered.  He followed us a long way down the street until he finally gave up trying to force us to pay him (we are a little stubborn about this sort of thing having had a lot of experience travelling in Asia and Africa).

Entrepreneurial spirit is one thing and is gladly rewarded, but scams are just downright infuriating for usually careful travellers.

Other than that, Hanoi treated us very well indeed. It was fascinating to experience the extremes of modern development alongside the preservation of ancient customs and architecture.

The grand opulence of the Vincom Mega Mall (Royal City) seems strangely out of place among the rundown apartment buildings and multicoloured street sellers that wind their way between the cheeky motorbikes, crawling all over the streets and lined up on the sidewalks.

What to expect in Hanoi

…crazy traffic, motorbikes everywhere, amazing massages, persistent vendors, hundreds of restaurants, shops for anything you could ever possibly want, whole streets dedicated to particular products (silk, fans etc), resourceful entrepreneurs, beautiful architecture, interesting art, eclectic charm.

Favourite memory

Mangosteens are a real treat when travelling in South East Asia and we located a small Vietnamese lady, complete with conical woven hat, who was selling mangosteens and other fruit off her heavily loaded bicycle (somewhere on the edge of the Old Quarter). She weighed my purchase with an ancient, rusted scale (the kind that looks like it belongs in one of Vietnam’s museums) and placed the cash into her handwoven purse.  The mangosteens were delicious, but this memory will last long after the fruit has disappeared.

Read more reviews about Hanoi hotels and restaurants on TripAdvisor:
Hanoi Sweet Home, Hoan Kiem Lake, Minh Thuy’s Family Restaurant, Tasty Restaurant

Next up…

From Hanoi, we went up north to Sa Pa and then east to Halong Bay – both stunning locations in northern Vietnam.