Hanoi & Ha Long Bay

Day 3: A Whirlwind of Mopeds
Our Hanoi adventure started with a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant. The options were varied, blending Vietnamese with western options (though those catered more to the Australian palate), and the service was friendly and welcoming. While at the table we also read through the Hanoi guidebook to figure out what we should do that day. The plan was to walk around the city, but our path had not been finalized. The book recommended several self-guided walking tours, and after reading a bit about them, we decided on one that would take us around the lake, around some other highlights, and end in one of the food markets.

The weather was hot and muggy (a theme that would persist through our stay), and the sky looked like it could start to rain at any moment. Our hotel was located just a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword), one of the more famous lakes in Hanoi. The rain runoff from the night before and the grey sky made the water look a little less than stellar, but it was clear to see that this was an important area to the city. The walkways surrounding the lake were flanked with very well maintained gardens where an army of gardeners seemed to be constantly working their way through, tending to them by hand, plant by plant.

After making our way around the lake, we started off following the page that I’d torn out of our book (I know, bad form, but neither K nor I had room to carry the whole book, so this was the best way). This self-guided tour took us through the narrow and chaotic streets of Hanoi. We wove our way through the streets rather than the sidewalks, as those were all occupied with parked scooters. Walking single file wasn’t the easiest for conversation, so we mostly just took in the surroundings. As the tour wrapped up it started to rain a bit and we ducked into an open-air market that was closing up for the day. Luckily the rain was short lived, and by the time we had walked our way though, it had let up. We backtracked almost all the way back to the hotel, but decided to stop in for a quick coffee as it was a little too early to head to lunch.

The coffee store looked out over a very busy intersection that at first glance seemed to be a common rotary (or roundabout), though slightly off-centered, but as we waited for our coffees to steep, it became abundantly clear that this wasn’t a typical intersection at all. Rather than all the cars and mopeds going in a single direction (which would make sense), everyone instead went directly from whatever road they were on to the road that they wanted to wind up at. This was a 5 way intersection with a fountain in the middle, and you had mopeds and cars (and pedestrians) weaving through on both sides going in all different directions. As I was watching all of this unfold, it was astounding that with all of these moving parts, no one ever seemed to run into each *Crash*! Well, not a huge crash, but two mopeds each trying to take the most direct route, but instead wound up trying to occupy the same space at the same time. Both drivers brushed themselves off, looked for any damage, didn’t seem to see any, and both went on their way.

For lunch we decided to copy Obama and Anthony Bourdain and get Bun Cha, a very traditional Vietnamese dish of grilled pork and rice noodles. The restaurant was one of the more traditional places, and we were the only white people in the joint (a great sign). Our food came out quickly, which made sense since the open “kitchen” was about 10 feet away. In the middle of the table was a basket of herbs, mostly a type of mint and cilantro. I wasn’t sure about some of the other greens, but they were tasty. We each got our own plate piled high with rice noodles, and a bowl containing grilled pork, some veggies, and an abundance of sauce/broth.

The combination of everything was deliciously delicate. Each item complimented but didn’t overpower the other, the charred pork balanced nicely with the salty/sweet sauce, the mint cut through some of the richness, and the noodles gave the dish more sustenance. We were very hungry by this point and both made a good show of crushing most of the food. We noticed, but didn’t order, a bottle in the beverage cooler with “Twitter” on its label. What it was, I have no idea, and can’t seem to find online, but it was entertaining that one could drink a social media platform.

After lunch we headed back out to the streets to continue our walking adventure. The first destination was St. Joseph Cathedral. Built in late 1800’s it is said to echo Notre Dame in Paris (makes sense considering Vietnam was a French colony). The building was very beautiful, though heavily weathered. We took our pictures and set off for our next stop, the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” A large portion of the compound was demolished in the 1990’s and only a few connected buildings remain. We followed the self-guided tour route, which took us through mock-ups of what the rest of the prison looked like. The history of the structure was very interesting, dating back to the French colonial days for political prisoners, to US POWs during the Vietnam War. There was a clear propaganda bias to the information presented. If one took the photos and texts at face value, it truly seemed that the “Hilton” nickname was warranted, and that not having a room service hamburger was pretty much the only thing that the POWs could possibly complain about… Obviously that conflicts greatly with what was reported by those imprisoned there. The general story was that the French were brutal and ruthless in their imprisonment of the Vietnamese people, and then the Vietnamese treated the Americans better than the average free Vietnamese citizen. Where the truth lies, I’m not really sure, but I don’t believe for a second that the “official” story is accurate.

Making our way back to the hotel, it was time to take a break in the air-conditioned room and rest and rehydrate. After a siesta and much needed showers, we headed down to the lobby to wait for our guides for the evening. Shortly before leaving, I had found a great number of recommendations for a “Hanoi Kids” tour. The free tours are more cultural exchanges, pairing up English-speaking visitors with college-aged locals who want to practice their English. We would get some local insight into the street foods of Hanoi, and they would get a free dinner and some English conversation.

Our guides were right on time; both looked very young, but were studying in the local colleges. We exchanged greetings, and they made sure that we didn’t have any dietary restrictions or preferences before we took off. The first few minutes were a little awkward while making small talk, but our Northeastern networking skills paid off and it wasn’t long until we had a lively conversation going. Our first stop was just a few streets down from our hotel. We sat on tiny plastic stools on the sidewalk while our guides ordered a green mango salad. I really enjoyed the clean and bright flavors of the tart mango, salty/sweet fish sauce dressing, cooling mint, and roasted peanuts. Sitting on the tiny plastic stools wasn’t as much fun, and for a little while I was seriously concerned that I was going to break it.

Our next stop was a bit more of a walk, and about 15 minutes later we arrived at a more legitimate operation (meaning that they had seating both on and off of the sidewalk). This time we were having Xo Xeo, a combination of mashed up mung beans on top of sticky rice, topped with stuff. The stuff was varied from fried eggs, fried shallots, meat “floss,” Chinese sausage, and many other options. Having never experienced this, we let our guides order. They chose two bowls, both with a number of toppings, and explained that this was also a popular breakfast food. I was skeptical of the meat “floss” but it was very good, kind of like finely shredded teriyaki beef jerky. Combine that with some sticky rice, a little egg, and some mung bean, and I could definitely see this as a great breakfast (or really, for any meal).

Once we’d finished our food we headed back out. As we neared the market K and I had stopped by earlier, the street had transformed and small bars spilled out into the streets. Each was packed with young locals drinking the fresh Bia Hoi (the popular local beer) and having fun. We didn’t stop, as neither of our guides drank, but it was fun to see a different side of the city.

The last stop of the evening was for something on the sweeter side, egg coffee. Our hosts were very interested in the US political scene, especially as Obama was in town for an official visit. It was interesting to hear their understanding of US politics, and sometimes challenging to explain how the system worked. We also asked about their opinions of the Vietnamese system, and though there was some obvious discomfort, they shared some on-message sentiments, but were also slightly critical of some policies. While we were in our discussions, our beverages arrived. Somewhere between a latte and sabayon, the rich and frothy concoction was a great way to end the evening. Once the coffee was gone, and we had gotten some further restaurant recommendations, we walked back to our hotel before saying goodnight to our guides and heading back to the room to hit the hay.

Day 4: Off to Ha Long Bay
Waking up a little on the early side, we got ready and then packed our overnight bags as we were headed to Ha Long Bay and would be spending the night aboard a boat. Rather than check out and store our luggage only to check in the next day (and to protect ourselves in case bad weather canceled our trip), we decided to just keep our room (it helped that the hotel was very inexpensive). This caused a little confusion when the van came to pick us up after breakfast, but after a short conversation with the front desk they understood what we were doing (I don’t know if they would have reported us missing or something if they saw that we hadn’t been back to the room between housekeeping visits).

The van that came to pick us up was very luxurious with all captains chairs, wifi, and a plush interior. After boarding our driver attempted to close the door, but the motorized door wouldn’t close all the way. It took about 10 min of him pushing, pulling, shoving and wrestling with the door until he had it mostly closed. We drove like this for a few minutes and picked up another guest before pulling over to the side of the road. There we sat for 5, 10, 15 minutes (which felt like an eternity) before a new van showed up, and we were told that this was the new van since the door was broken in the one we were on. The new van was nowhere near as nice as the old one, complete with narrow bench seats. There were several more stops in the city to pick up more people (the van almost completely filling up), before heading out on one of the massive highways. The highway was short-lived, and we soon pulled off onto a two lane road where we crawled along avoiding pedestrians, potholes, and countless scooters. The drive was bumpy and slow, and took us almost 2hrs before we finally pulled up to the dock.

Once at the dock we were led into a medium-sized dining room where a number of other people were waiting. After some hydration we were told to make our way down to the water where we would board launches to take us to the boat. Already the views were pretty amazing, and we were only on the very inner harbor, so we were both every excited for the cruise. A short ride later we pulled alongside our home for the night and with the help of the crew, hopped on board. All the guests were taken into the dining room where we met our very enthusiastic cruise manager/activity director (not sure of his official title, but he was running the show) who went over the safety rules, guidelines, and the schedule for the rest of the day and tomorrow. Already the boat was underway, and everyone was half listening and half gazing through the windows. We were given our room keys and told that our first stop would be at an island with a cave we could explore, or a beach to hang out on. After dropping our stuff off in the room (which was much more spacious than expected), we made our way to the open-air top deck where we took in the 360-degree views. The only problem with being topside was the intense heat, as there was almost no breeze to be felt despite the boat keeping up a decent pace. We bounced around from the dining room (cold water and AC), to our room (AC and a bed to lie on while looking out the windows), and the top deck (best views, but so hot) for the majority of the 60-90 minute steam to the island.

Once anchored we again boarded the launches which would take us to shore. The entrance to the caves was only accessible via a trek up steep, narrow, and definitely not USA code-compliant steps. There were about 20 of us who wanted to explore the caves, and it took a little while until we all reached the top. Our guide had a little difficulty explaining everything in English, but she was able to show us around the stalagmites and ‘tites, giving us the mythology of Ha Long Bay and the rock formations around the cave (though I wonder how many were made up for the tourists…). It took a minute or two for our eyes to adjust after exiting the cave (no way I was taking the stairs until I could see clearly), and we then made our way down to the beach. Some people had stayed on the boat, but most had decided to hit the beach (along with guests of a different boat anchored alongside ours). The water was very warm, and small fishes darted around our feet as we walked along the shore. The whole island excursion was only about an hour, and we had taken up most of it with the cave, so we didn’t have much time for the beach before being called back to the boat, as it was time to steam to our overnight anchoring spot. Again the views were incredible and we spent most of the time on the top deck watching the islands pass by.

An announcement was made throughout the boat that anyone who wanted to go kayaking should meet at the stern once we stopped. Though it was unintentional, I had booked our room to include kayaking for both of us, so once the throttles started to be pulled back we made our way downstairs to see who else was going. There weren’t many others, a mother and daughter, a Scottish couple, and our fearless activity director. Each twosome got into a double kayak, while our guide had his own. Not to brag, but K and I were definitely the best kayak team (the mother/daughter combo probably the worst), so we took an early lead. After watching them struggle for a few minutes, the decision was made that the mother would switch to our guides boat, and the daughter would ride solo. This sped things up a little which was nice while crossing from island to island. K and I would often find ourselves ahead of the group and take the opportunity to coast and really take in the amazing scenery. In addition to being beautiful, the whole place had a tranquility to it, the only man made noise was our kayak cutting through the water, and the small splashes of the paddles. Other than that it was dead calm. While not specifically planned, our time out in the kayaks was at the top of our lists of highlights from the whole trip. Too soon it was time to head back to the boat in order to shower and change for a cooking demonstration and dinner.

That evening’s demonstration was making fried spring rolls (though our portion was just doing the wrapping). The ingredients and method were explained, as well a brief overview of Vietnamese cuisine. First up were the women in the audience. There wasn’t enough space for everyone to go at once, so K ended up sharing a station with the mother from our kayak trip earlier. It took a few adjustments, but both of them were able to roll some very pretty looking eggrolls. Donning the gloves, I took a stab at one, and putting my culinary degree to good use, rolled what I would call a pretty perfect egg roll. Not to pat myself on the back too much, but even our instructor was impressed. As everyone was rolling, some of the crew were manning a small fryer and starting to cook what we’d made. After our appetizers, happy hour continued, and while bellied up to the bar we ran into the Scottish couple from kayaking earlier. At first we talked about how unexpectedly amazing the kayaking had been, and then started chatting about where we were from/what brought us to Vietnam/where we were headed next. They had been traveling around Asia for the past few weeks, and only a stop or two away from heading home. After about 30 min of talking dinner was announced, so we made our way down below.

The main dining room had been set so each couple or group could dine alone, and K and I were seated closer to the edge of the room, rather than right in the center of the action. While eating, our guide was giving some more information about the area and the activities planned for the rest of the night and the following day. Suddenly the entire crew appeared at the front of the dining room, and the music was turned up. The next thing we knew, there was a choreographed dance number being performed (though with a lackluster attitude by most of the crew). Following the routine, our guide again took the microphone and started singing a song in Vietnamese, and then switched to karaoke. After a few more songs, he started to ask who else wanted to take a turn. The room was silent as everyone glanced around seeing who would take up the offer. Luckily, being out of the center of attention, we didn’t have anyone come over to our table and put us on the spot. One couple started to make moves to leave the room, but the second they stood up our host came right over and asked if they wanted to sing… They didn’t, but while they were talking K and I (along with several other couples) were able to sneak out.

Making our way back topside we grabbed another drink and enjoyed the peaceful night. Two other boats had anchored in the same area, and we could hear the faint murmur of conversations carrying over the water. Once again our friends (the Scottish couple) joined us, and we quickly conversed about how awkward the singing requests had been. There were some activities planned for that night (in addition to the impromptu karaoke), including squid fishing. I had never been squid fishing, and was intrigued (though very tired). The crew had pulled one of the smaller boats around side and had set up some very bright pointing into the water. There were a number of very simple rods (no reels, and basic lures), which were jigged by fellow travelers. After watching for about 5 min and giving it a go for another 10 or so (all the while no one saw or caught a squid), I decided that sleep would be much more preferable, and we headed back to the cabin, completely exhausted from our long day.