Hanoi – Live Life Epic

December 11, 2017December 11, 2017

Day 41: Tam Biet Vietnam

We dropped off Rambo and Groot and thanked them for their service. 4,000 km of incredible riding through Laos and Northern Vietnam.

We enjoyed a lazy day in Hanoi. We took in the Women’s Museum, which was surprisingly good. The English translations were well done and the museum offered great insight into the role of Women in Vietnamese society today and historically. We learned about the hundreds of Vietnamese street vendors, all women, who sell their wares from bicycles and baskets. Fruit, flowers, fried treats. These women come from remote villages in search of work. Up at between 2-4 am to purchase their daily goods from the night market, they spend all day chasing down tourists to buy their wares. They make a couple of dollars a day before retiring to a shared dorm at a cost of 35 cents/day. They return to their villages every few weeks to see their families and pay the bills. These women can only grow enough food on their small family farms to feed their families for a few months. To provide food, clothing and to allow their kids to go to school, they must work in Hanoi selling what they can for a small profit. The men back in the villages, tending to the livestock.

After the museum we enjoyed a traditional Vietnamese treat served on roadside stalls throughout Hanoi. Fruit, red bean jelly and green jelly in a milky sauce. Delicious.

To kill some time before “The Village”, a cultural show playing at the Hanoi Opera House, we hit Pizza 4P’s for cocktails and a cheeseboard. With immaculate service and great food, this place is our go too.

We were skeptical about seeing “The Village”. We were disappointed with every cultural show we saw in Ireland and Laos, and figured this would be another disappointment. However after watching a short promotional video, we decided this had potential. It turned out to be great. The show was extremely professional, the acrobats skilled and the show well choreographed. A day in the life of a small village, something we had witnessed so often during our month in Vietnam, as told through music, dance and acrobatics, set within a beautiful and simple stage design.

Dinner was green papaya salad with dried beef and dumplings. I will miss this meal. This has become my favourite dish in Vietnam.

December 10, 2017

Day 40: Life’s This Game of Inches

Ready to move onto Cambodia and the sun, we left our nice but cold Homestay and charged forward to Hanoi. The road started off fast and fun, the scenery still lush and green. We passed the usual craziness, dogs being brutally stuffed into “too small” cages destined for a market, a group of street racers, careening around corners on their sport bikes, oblivious to the preciousness of life – theirs and ours.

After 100 km we hit the freeway, and traffic and chaos and suicidal drivers and murderous drivers. Another 120 km we hit high speed games of chicken, played between truck and scooter, scooter and scooter. Ahh Hanoi. How I missed thee and your crazy ways. Your stench, your lively buzz, your drive to kill me. Yes I missed thee.

When we left Hanoi we went from the streets of Old Quarter on a lazy, but busy Saturday to the crazy freeways in what felt like a few adrenaline filled minutes. Today we seemed to spend hours stuck in Sunday traffic, dodging completely unaware and oblivious drivers, playing games of chess at 80 km/hr with your life as the prize. Cars, trucks and scooters whizzing by from all directions, merely inches from a serious or fatal crash. I couldn’t help but think of the movie “Any Given Sunday” and the perfect metaphor for life and football and motorcycling in Hanoi.

“But, you only learn that when you start losin’ stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game – life or football – the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it.”

I love Hanoi. It was good to be back.

After checking into the wonderful Serenity Diamond Hotel it was time to celebrate with a proper meal. Pizza and beer. That could only mean Pizza 4P’s. After several “Heart of Darkness” beers, a devine pizza loaded with cheese and “apple pie” pizza with ice cream, we were ready to tackle the streets of Hanoi and its wonderful Sunday market / street festival by foot. It’s not everyday you see a bunch of skinny Santa’s dancing to Gangnam Style, adults double Dutch skipping, kareoke in the streets (okay, I lied. We did see that everyday), street performances and other festivities that made us happy to be back in the modern world.

November 5, 2017

Vietnam Day 3 – Egg Coffee & Hanoi Hilton

Another great day in Hanoi, but I am ready to watch the busy streets of Hanoi fade away to be replaced by open road. I can’t wait to get on two wheels!

After spending an hour or so completing our contracts for our rental motorcycles, which we pick up tomorrow, we headed out for our last day of exploring Hanoi.

Today we hit the big attractions:

– Hoa Lo Prison (aka Hanoi Hilton Hotel). You have to check out the prison given it’s historical significance, but it certainly isn’t a highlight. The exhibits largely focus on Vietnamese political prisoners. The most interesting part of the museum is the insight into the Communist Party of Vietnam.

– Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We watched the changing of the guard at 3:00 PM at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Note: The HCM Mausoleum and museum are closed Friday’s.

– Tay Ho. We walked 1 km of the 17 km shoreline of West Lake and visited the Tran Quốc Pagoda, the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi. Reminder, it is poor taste to wear shorts or sleeveless shirts in a Buddhist temple so dress accordingly.

– Weekend Night Market Old Quarter. A typical street market selling various gadgets, clothes and toys.

– Dong Xuan Market. Crazy experience – worth a walk through of this wholesale goods market.

Great Eats:

– Cafe Pho Co. Egg yolk coffee. Creamy dreamy “Tiramisu” for breakfast? Yes please. Delicious!

– Hanoi Social Club. Foodie guides call out Hanoi Social Club for its funky atmosphere and great food. I can see why it is highly rated as the food is very good, and offers a nice change from the local fare. We feasted on a chicken roti wrap and a tempeh reuben sandwich, both delicious.

– Green Farm. Dinner was at the highly rated Green Farm restaurant in Old Quarter. This restaurant is also highly rated for a reason. The service was outstanding and the food (both Vietnamese and Western) is excellent. Again this caters to tourists, so although very good, lacks the experience of the establishments we enjoyed on our food tour.

– King Roti. Dessert was sweet buns from highly rated King Roti. These delicious buns filled with vanilla (our favourite), chocolate or matcha definitely hit the spot after a day spent walking.

Transport Lessons:

– Uber is by far the cheapest way to get around! 15,000 dong for a 10 minute ride.
So, not going to lie. I am terrified about tomorrow. Watching the utter chaos of driving the streets of Hanoi is mind boggling. Imagine a narrow road – just wide enough for two vehicles to pass. Just wide enough. Not North American wide, I’m talking the width of two cars plus a foot, period. Now imagine three dozen scooters, a handful of cars, several bicycles and pedestrians fighting their way through this street in both directions. No traffic rules, I mean none. You will see scooters driving into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the street. Vehicles stopping without warning, or cutting directly across the path of traffic. Insane! Yes I am terrified of having to navigate this strange city, on a new motorcycle, with no discernible traffic laws, along with millions of other vehicles. Terrified. But hey, it’s gonna be epic!

November 2, 2017

Vietnam Day 2 – Hanoi Street Food Walking Tour and Scams

Breakfast of dragon fruit, passion fruit and Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Delicious!

One of the big attractions of Vietnam is its food culture. What better way to explore the city and its street food than a street food walking tour. After a light breakfast we headed off to explore the streets of Old Quarter and its salivating street foods with Ms. Moon as our guide (hanoistreetfoodtour.com). It was a fantastic tour and we enjoyed bun cha (BBQ pork), green papaya salad, steam cake, pillow cake, spring rolls, fermented pork, mixed tropical fruits, Hanoi beer, glass noodles or Mien (made of a root vegetable) with octopus cake, egg coffee and apricot rice wine. It was all terrific, with the green papaya salad being my favourite.

First, a lesson on where to eat:

– Look for a certificate on the wall. Establishments with a certificate have undergone local inspection for food safety and offer the same price to both locals and foreigners. The water and ice should be safe for consumption (I.e bottled or filtered water), but I would ask to make sure.

Rice crepe with beef, mushrooms and shallots.

Glass noodles with beef and octopus cake.

Spring rolls, pilllow cake and fried chicken!

Next a lesson on scams:

– There is no such thing as a “free taste”. If offered anything free, say no. The ladies selling mystery fried balls will more or less force a fried thing in your mouth then demand you pay for a bag of these “goodies”. The food tour guide said the locals won’t eat these treats as the source of their grease is a great mystery.

– Watch for men trying to glue or shine your shoes. They will demand money if you stop long enough to let them get a drop of glue on your shoes.

– Watch for the women carrying goods from long sticks. They will take your picture with the stick of goods and demand money.

– Tipping. Although tipping is not customary in Vietnam, people will demand a tip from foreigners. Our masseuse, taxi driver and bicycle taxi driver all demanded a tip. Only the massage ladies were successful.

Next a lesson on etiquette:

– Public displays of affection, such as kissing or holding hands, is frowned upon. It is considered very rude and you may be ridiculed if caught breaking this rule.

– Do your shopping in the afternoon. It is considered bad luck by shopkeepers to lose a sale before noon. It’s okay if you are going to make a purchase, but browsing can bring bad luck to the shopkeeper.

– Always offer and accept gifts with both hands. The rules are slightly more complicated than this (and depend on age), but using both hands is a good rule of thumb.

Next was a lesson on Vietnamese:

– The word “thit” when pronounced correctly is meat. When pronounced incorrectly is f*ck. So don’t go around asking for thit unless you are fairly confident in your language skills.

– Learning “thank you” was equally challenging. I tend to tell people to shut up. The difference is “come on” as an English person would ask you to join them (aka “shut up” in Vietnamese), vs two very distinct sounds “come ung”. To make the “ung” sound you need to stretch your moth into a big , wide smile. Now you got it!

Next was the Long Bien Bridge, the highlight of our day. The bridge was constructed from 1899 to 1903 and is an impressive 1.7 km long. It was designed by none other than Gustav Eiffel. That’s right the same designer as the Eiffel Tower. Today it serves as a major crossing for scooters and motorcycles, and from it the views are incredible. We went at sunset – which I highly recommend.

From here off to Beer Corner and dinner of Nom Thit Bo Kho (green papaya salad with dried beef) from Long Vi Dung on 23 Hoan Kiem. Yum! 70,000 dong (approx $4 CAD) for two delicious salads.

November 1, 2017

Vietnam Day 1

Arrived in Hanoi today, Wednesday November 1st, 2017. Weird that we left on Monday and arrived on Wednesday- missing out on Tuesday (Halloween) altogether!

– Cab ride from airport to the Old Quarter was $18 USD in a nice, clean Toyota Corolla. If the driver asks you for money or a ticket for the toll road, shrug your shoulders. We had no ticket and refused to give him money until we were at our hotel and it wasn’t a problem.

– Air Asiana was great. The service was great, the airplane was clean and the media service was great. Not a bad 30 hour trip at all. We did have to go through security at every transit point, which was odd. Go figure the Canadian’s took away our extra liquids (we were over our 1 quart bag by two small bottles), and no other airport security (USA and Korea) even asked us to remove our liquids.

– Got SIM cards at the gioi di dong – the big yellow store. 3 GB cost $8USD and is good for 30 days. We also added 40 minutes of local calls for 100,000 dong.

– The rooster outside our hotel window doesn’t care what time it is. He likes to remind us of his presence constantly.

– Dinner at Pizza 4P’s and Pho for lunch. Pizza 4P’s really is fantastic! The service was amazing and the pizza with homemade cheese is great!

– Hotel is great – so far all is good! Looking forward to getting on the bikes in a few days!