Vacation in Vietnam--Hanoi (11-1)

Jackie and I arrived in Hanoi at 8:45 AM Friday morning. I had arranged for the hotel to meet us there, which was a good decision. The drive from the airport to the hotel took an hour. On the trip, we got acquainted with Hanoi traffic. The city is full of motorcycles that drive everywhere. Cars and motorcycles honk often. Traffic moves without stopping. It flows like its own entity. We felt like we were taking our lives in our hands every time we crossed a street and had to always be alert and aware of the motorcycles weaving in and out whenever we walked anywhere. Some streets are called “walking streets” on the map. They were not as crowded as other streets, but the motorcycles were there. A guide we had the next day told us that Hanoi has 6 million people and 3 million motorcycles. We had no problem believing that. I did notice that all drivers wear a helmet and most passengers also had helmets, unlike here in Thailand.

Our hotel, formerly Hanoi Gecko 2 and now Sans Souci II, was a great place to stay. The staff members were extremely friendly and helpful. It is on a side street of the Old Quarter, which was nice, as it was away from the heavy, noisy traffic. They gave us a map of the Old Quarter that was extremely helpful. The young women recommended two places to eat, both of which we tried and enjoyed. After settling in and showering after our night on the bus, we were off to explore. 

We walked around a bit to see the area and take in the people and bicycles and motorcycles. 


 I enjoyed looking at the French-style buildings. Buildings are narrow on the sidewalk and long going back. I read that this was for tax purposes, as owners were taxed by the amount of road front they had.

Wiring was interesting!

Everything is carried on bicycles. They are ridden as well as being used as transport for carrying a variety of goods.

The loads carried on motorcycles are amazing. It is hard to imagine how they ride with such heavy, bulky items. .

After wandering a bit, we headed for the noodle shop recommended by the young woman at the hotel. It was closed; so we ate at one nearby. Jackie had the traditional pho noodles with beef. When I looked at it on someone’s plate, I knew I could not eat it. The woman offered soup, which was noodles in beef broth, and it was fine. Jackie said the noodles were slimy, which is how they looked. Too much beef flavor for me. We were seated at a table with two students on their lunch break. When they left, two young working women joined us. The place was full and seats filled up as soon as someone left.

After lunch we wandered down the streets toward the hotel. This took a couple hours, as we stopped to take photos and shop along the way. We both made some good purchases. Jackie is an extrovert who chats with almost everyone; so we met a lot of people. Most enjoyed having their photo taken and looking at it. Some said “no,” and we respected that. One young woman was selling shirts with hand-embroidered designs. Jackie was interested in one style, but she didn’t have one large enough with her. So she went somewhere and came back with a larger size. It wasn’t the design Jackie wanted; so she went back again to get the appropriate shirt. We both purchased shirts, which are lovely. While we were waiting, we chatted with a travel agent who was also delightful.

Many of the streets in the Old Quarter still follow the tradition of selling one type of goods. We were on the sewing goods street for a while. Stores had tons of buttons or yarn or fabric or other items used for sewing. 

In the evening, we were on shoe street, which was full of shops that had tons of shoes.

We walked past and into Quon Day Temple, an old Chinese-style temple that is listed on a brochure we got later as a Heritage Information Center. We chatted with the young woman who volunteers there. They have concerts there I think once a week.

At one corner, I noticed that Jackie had a pole with fruit baskets on her shoulder and was wearing a Vietnamese hat. While I was taking her photo, a woman put a pole on my shoulder and said she would take a picture. It all happened quickly; so there wasn’t time to think about it. Then the women demanded that we purchase fruit. Since they had put the poles on us without our agreement and since we didn’t want fruit, we didn’t buy it.

                                                                                                                                                           

When we walked past a bakery, Jackie noticed the women who were dressed in beautiful dresses and asked if she could take a photo. The woman she asked was happy to pose. Then her friend joined her. I walked in to see what they had in the bakery and didn’t see anything I wanted. As I walked out, one woman said to wait a moment. She then bought a cake to give me. As if that wasn’t enough, she bought one for each of us. So, we had two small cakes to take with us. This was a delightful surprise. We quickly decided that we would have a tea party at the hotel and invite the staff women and young man to join us.

It was great fun to share our cakes with them and they were delighted to be invited.

After the tea party, we headed out to purchase tickets for the water puppet show. We had planned to go at 5:30, but it was sold out. So we got tickets for the 8:00 show. Then we walked around the area and went to Ngoc San Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake. The lake is one of about twenty lakes in the city. The island the temple is on is connected to the lake by a lovely footbridge that was reflected in the water. Two wedding couples were there having photos taken.








Then it was time for dinner. We didn't want to go too far from the Water Puppet Theatre and had a hard time finding a place to eat. We finally saw one that Jackie had been given an advertisement about; so we went in. Reservations were recommended, but we were lucky they had a table that we could have until 8:00. No problem, as that was when the water puppet show was. We had a lovely and delicious French-style dinner. Actually, it was two appetizers, but they made a great meal for us.

The water puppet theater was really interesting. This is one of the “must do” things recommended in guide books, and it was worth it. Our hotel friend had recommended that we get the more expensive tickets so we could sit closer to the water stage; these cost $5; so that wasn’t a problem. The puppets sit on the water and are moved around. I had purchased one earlier and the women showed me how they are operated by pulling strings on the back. The next night I saw a documentary on TV that showed how they work. There is a bamboo screen in the building at the back of the water stage. Men stand in the waist-deep water behind the screen and use long poles to manipulate the strings inside the poles and to move the puppets around.

After the show, we headed back to the hotel but got misplaced a bit. Since we were tired and it was dark and late, we took a cyclo—a seat that is powered by a three-wheeled cycle. Before getting in a cyclo, you must negotiate the price. Since I knew we weren’t far from the hotel, I didn’t want to pay much. We negotiated a price that I’m sure was too high but was lower than the man initially stated. The trip took five minutes. When we arrived and I paid the man, he tried to take more than the negotiated price and not give me enough change but we were persistent in asking for the correct change and got it.

So, our day in Hanoi was full and interesting. It’s amazing how much we managed to do in our ten hours wandering around one small section of the Old Quarter.