Xin chao (Hello), Hanoi!

4 - 5 March

A bit of a slow start to the blog this time - too many distractions and slight case of "bloggers block"!

Anyway, we finally made it to Hanoi after an uneventful plane trip(s) and linked up with our group at the airport. My first tourist spectacle was the changing of the guard in the airport immigration hall at 12:00 noon sharp. This unexpected bonus left me stranded at the front of the queue waiting to get my passport stamped while much marching and saluting amongst the immigration officers took place as they changed shifts. Best to look impassive I thought and avoid applauding or taking snapshots - there were too many serious uniformed faces and guns around.

Later in the afternoon we got up close to downtown Hanoi with a "cyclo" ride, and a stroll around town including the thrill of crossing streets in the rush hour traffic. The cyclo is a very relaxing way to see the city - basically a 3 wheeler bicycle with a seat and canopy at the front. The passenger doesn't have to do anything - just go for the ride. The buses,cars, trucks and motorbikes whizz past inches away but somehow you don't feel too vulnerable.

Cyclo touriste.

All the stories we'd heard about Vietnamese big city traffic proved to be true, or maybe even understated! It is pretty much a free for all, with the white lines on the road being mostly decorative, and the road rules more like optional guidelines. There are motorbikes & motorscooters everywhere, with the drivers being very tolerant and giving way to others to make it all work. While manouevring your motor scooter through the chaos it's apparently no problem to, at the same time, text on your phone, hold a baby, manage a toddler, fit 2 or 3 friends on board, or cart a massive load of boxes on the back. Somehow it just seems to work here, although it would be hard to imagine it in NZ - kiwi road rage at the bad behaviour of all the other idiot drivers would soon bring eveything to a halt.

That night we ate at "Grandma's" with a range of well known Vietnamese dishes (one always get good food at Grandma's in my experience). Also started my research project by sampling the local beer ("Ha Noi" beer, a pleasant light ale).

On "Day 2" 5 March we visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where the great man is on view. HCM is revered as the father of Vietnam. We were told that its usual for all Vietnamese to visit and pay their respects at least once in their lifetime. We queued in the heat for over an hour to file past his body inside the mausoleum. The hordes of school children also in the queue were fun. They were very excited about their visit and were keen to practice their English words on us. HCM died in 1969 and never saw the "winning" of the war and reunification of the country, although it was somewhat inevitable by then. 

Keen school children and older tourists queueing together in semi orderly lines. 

More than an hour still to go from here.

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.

Nearby is Ho Chi Minh's house which he designed based on the stilt houses of the northern hill tribes among whom he had lived. It's said that he always lived a simple and healthy lifestyle (apart from smoking), shunning the "baubles of office" in order to remain close to the people.

Ho Chi Minh's stilt house.

Next up was the Temple of Literature, a Confucian temple which housed the first Vietnamese national university and dated back to 1070. The temple is currently also a place of commerce with stalls selling all you could need in the way of souvenirs and snacks. We learned that there are four sacred beasts in Vietnamese tradition. These were very evident in the statues and carvings in the temple: the dragon (a water spouting variety rather than fire); the phoenix; the turtle; and the unicorn (a combination of lion and horse, and maybe other animals too, but no horn, not even one).

A Vietnamese unicorn.

A classic Hanoi experience to round out the day was a visit to the water puppet show and then a Vietnamese coffee. The cafe was specially memorable - entry was by a squeeze along a narrow shoulder width alley way, and then up flights of rickety stairs into a first floor space with a tiny balcony. You could enjoy your coffee on the balcony while looking at the view over the lake and marvelling at the traffic chaos on the road below. If you're in Hanoi and need refreshment, the cafe is called "HaNoi Time" and serves coffee and foods. While we didn't have any foods, we did have Vietnamese coffee sweetened with condensed milk, and also tried "egg coffee". Egg coffee is actually not bad. We have the recipe and it's definitely one we'll try at home!

Waterpuppets!

Discreet entrance to the HN Time cafe.

Squeeze along here folks for your coffee and foods!

So, first impressions of Hanoi? On the drive from the airport to town the main impressions were of the sticky heat and air pollution. It was very hazy and fumy. Later we were told that the haze is a feature of the weather at this time of the year and not air pollution at all! All the same, being downtown was reminiscent of walking through the fumy Mt Victoria tunnel and it just seemed to need a good Wellington breeze to blow it all away! On the upside it is a huge, fascinating, bustling, city of 8 million people and 4 million motorbikes with heaps to see and experience. With so many people all the space is well used. Footpaths are for selling all sorts of goods, including fresh fish and meat open to the flies and fumes, and for mini retaurants where "pho" and other dishes are cooked over gas burners and eaten seated on low plastic stools while passers by walk around you. Everyone we've come across so far has been super friendly and welcoming, and  we're looking forward to a really enjoyable time here.

Sidewalk restaurant and scooter park.

Stayed 2 nights at Intercontinental Westlake, Hanoi.
Ate at Grandma's, Koto, and Milan.