Hanoi-ing Orange

Man I hate that Orange. Unfortunately Korean kids love it. "Teachuh. Annoying Orangey today?" Fiiine (damn it). What was I talking about again?

Hanoi-ing Orange

Ah yes. Hanoi. Sweet Hanoi. Paris's younger sibling (albeit adopted from Vietnam). Full of elderly French tourists, motorbikes, and bún chả. Second-largest city in Vietnam. Gateway to Ha Long Bay. Capital of French Indonesia for the first 50 years of the 20th century. And then again of North Vietnam for the next 20. Bombed during the Vietnam War. And one of New York Times "Places To Go in 2010." Sweet, sweet Hanoi.


Arriving in chilly Hanoi (~50 degrees F) from Bangkok (~90 degrees F), we couldn't have possibly felt more out of place. We went from Chang tank tops, flip flops, and fedoras to attire from a Finnish funeral in February. It felt like the locals from the Hunger Games' Capitol had crashed Pleasantville. (You know what I'm talkin' about). You can imagine our shorts, sleeveless shirts, and sandals got some looks. 

As you can see, Hanoi is much more North than Bangkok, i.e. way colder

After putting some pants and a dark shirt on, we cabbed it into the city. Initial reactions were:
-everything looks dark here
-why are motorbikes literally bumping against our windows?
-why are there 4 people on that motorbike?
-does everyone have a motorbike?
-this looks very shabby
-Jules, why did we come to Hanoi again?

Boy oh boy did we misgauge our first impressions of Hanoi. It was probably the combined 8 hours of sleep the past 3 days making irrational judgments. Or the fact that were judging the outskirts of the city. Regardless, Hanoi is one of the coolest cities I've ever been to. It felt like a quaint old French town centered around a small, European lake (whatever that means) with virtually no buildings over 4 stories, more motorbikes than inhabitants (think about that one), and no chains whatsoever. No fast food restaurants, no giant Nikes, no 7-Elevens (we WERE in the Old Quarter though...). It was bizarro Korea and we were loving every minute of it (and I'm Korea's #1 fan). 


Walking around and getting a feel for things, I'd say it felt like what I imagine industrial America to be like. People wake up at the crack of dawn to start working. Women, children, old people, everyone. You want apples, you go to the lady selling produce. You want nails, you go to the nail store. You want bread, you...get the picture. Stores open early and close late. People wake to work and work to wake. That sounds like present-day America right? (and I'm America's #1 fan as well!)


Backing up. After checking into our hostel, Little Hanoi (which by the way is one of the highest rated hostels on hostelworld; was more hotel than hostel; fully-furnished private rooms w/ bathroom; came with omelette, baguette, coffee/juice breakfast every morning; coffee/juice ready every time you set foot in the door; owner speaks fluent English and set up our Ha Long Bay cruise; did I mention it cost $10 per night!!!), we tried to hit the ground running. We were dead tired from the overnight flight and still hadn't really slept much the past 4-5 nights. But that's what vacations are supposed to be right? (owe you another M&D)

I wouldn't say any one Hanoi site blew us away by any means, but after walking around the narrow streets, watching the people, eating the street food, and taking it all in, we decided Hanoi was a special place. I-would-come-back-here-for-an-extended-period-of-time special. Here are some pics from the rest of the day.

At night, the lake was all lit up because of the Lunar New Year, or Tết, as it's called in Vietnam (pronounced Tet). Feeling like we hadn't done enough touristy things, we even bought tickets for a tacky water puppet show. The audience was mainly older French couples and it definitely seemed catered towards them. Felt like China meets Disney's "It's a Small World" and goes to a Blue Man Group show (that sounds wayyyy more awesome than it actually was).

After "witnessing magic", we decided to quell our hunger by eating some phở (pronounced "fuh" as in fudge or f***) at a local bún chả (pronounced boon cha) "restaurant". I say "restaurant" because it was a lady sitting on a corner, making her specialty, bún chả, and nothing else, with a few small tables set up. She could handle a capacity of probably 10 people. No more. It was a way cooler experience than any "real" restaurant could offer us.

Our time in Hanoi was unfortunately cut short because of the 2 days Ha Long Bay required. But I hope I find myself back coming back here because, simply, Hanoi is cool.