Good Morning Vietnam

Hanoi
Friday 7th – Monday 11th
The flight to Hanoi from Bangkok is short and sweet and passes in no time. Upon arrival filling out forms to receive the visa is simple and we quickly get given the stamp, good job we brought the $50 fee, also despite forgetting the passport photos, there is no issue as they take a snap of us for $2. A good tip is to put your passport into them last as they process them in reverse order.
Hanoi is properly cold and once again we arrive inappropriately dressed. Crazily it is like English winter here despite being so close to Bangkok and we are shivering to the bone. We end up having to buy new clothes it’s so cold, so much for my original dumbass idea of bringing just one set of clothes, glad Kath persuaded me otherwise.
Hanoi is overrun by motorbikes and they chaotically dodge and weave between the traffic, we are glad to have a bit of the chaos of India back: far less westernised than the other cities we have visited, Hanoi is definitely the city closest to my interpretation of real Asia. The buildings and infrastructure are much more solid than in India, indicating to me that Vietnam is a wealthier country. However, it is obvious that Vietnam is not yet at a level with Thailand and Malaysia, with manic streets filled with busy people selling their goods and services. I like the fact that here everything is done on the street and miss this about India, unfortunately though, it is so cold that we cannot enjoy sitting and drinking/eating as much as usual.
We finally have invested in a guidebook, albeit an out-of-date one, and it proves helpful in guiding us to a very nice hotel with massively friendly staff. We get a nice room with en-suite and awesome double bed with big thick blankets; these are well and truly needed. We don’t do much of note over the next couple of days, mainly enjoying walking around and eating various noodle soups and street food. It is probably the best place we have been for food by the roadside, appearing much cleaner and well maintained than other countries. In the evening we see them wiping down and scrubbing the floors and ensuring all the litter is disposed of correctly, for this reason we see far fewer rats and vermin.
Beer here is very affordable at between 50p-£1, unfortunately we can’t drink to many as a cold beer on a wintery day doesn’t go down quite as well. We do get some coffees but they come super strong and super small like a mega espresso, apparently this is due to the French influence (it is ok once you ask for some hot water to mix it down with). Also due to the French influence you can buy cheap white baguettes for pennies by the roadside: this makes for a refreshing change.
The economy is similar to India’s and likewise the scamming culture is present – although not to bad at the food places – any market stall will try and charge you 5 to 10 times the price. I have to buy some jeans as I am so cold and it is a real nightmare, often with the stall quoting half a million dong (blagging currency! – 32,000 dong to the pound) – eventually I get a pair of “levis” for 6 quid. The quality at least seems good and remarkably the locals all look pretty swish and well dressed, all with their knock off D&G, CK and Levi’s: this gives the populous a western look that is paradoxical to their country, which although in some ways developed, retains much more character than it’s counterparts.
We learn a lot about the war and Vietnamese history – finding that now Vietnam has come to a position of power in the region under Ho Chi Minh. The leader is worshiped like a god here, and the Ho Chi Minh complex is well worth a visit. Also the “Hanoi Hilton” which was an American POW camp gives insight into the war and Vietnams terrible past under French colonial rule: the grim highlight being the guillotine that was used to behead revolutionaries. Vietnam has had a turbulent past of war and revolution, yet despite this the modern country seems to be powering along happily under a new era of commerce.
The people are difficult to deal with though, similar to India, they will try to charge 5 or 10 times the real price for everything, this is ok when you don’t really need something but for example when we try to buy some fruit in the morning I get really wound up – the local stalls quoting marks and spencers prices! Also similar to India things always seem to run late and in a disorganised fashion, we’re used to it, but others complain constantly about the chaotic nature of the country.
The best thing about Hanoi is the street food, which is consistently great. A highlight (or lowlight) is when we get a kilo of snails boiled for us and eat them straight out of the shells. The top half or head is nice like a very chewy muscle or clam, however, the bottom part is gooey and horrible – still it is something we can tick off our list.
We also enjoy an amazing feast at Quan an Ngan (as featured on top gear’s Vietnam special) – the whole thing came to about 8 with 2 beers each and read like this. Eel soup, sparrow salad, pickled pigs ear noodle roll x 2, beef and vegetable noodle roll x 2, fresh rice roll with shredded pig skin, wild goose and bamboo noodle soup, braised snail and banana tofu with rice noodle and for pudding jelly, water chestnut tapioca pearls with coconut milk soup.
The highlight was the sparrow which came whole with beak and all, it tasty like crispy duck, mmmmm. The wild goose was also gorgeous – maybe the meatiest bird I have ever had. Eel was very tasty also, like most other fish I suppose and the snail was much nicer in the sauce than just out of the shell. Pigs ear is ok, chewy but subtle tastes whereas the pig skin was disgusting – like a chewy pork scratching. The unexpected highlight was the pudding which was really sweet and tasty and with nice chewy chunks of jelly and tapioca.
Most of the posh touristy places are around the lake which is lit up at night like a school disco, which although tacky is well worth a look, something not to miss is the water puppet show. I didn’t expect much from this – however the pyrotechnic display of colours and sound was amazing. The puppets seem to move magically without strings and often the puppeteers incorporate fire and water jets to create an amazing display. The orchestra though steal the show – playing intricate pieces to effortlessly accompany the scenes played out on the stage, go for the music alone, it is exquisite.