Vietnam day 5: Hanoi

I'll start this post with the things that I forgot to write about earlier this morning (yes, it's been a loong morning, starting my day at 2 am it appears!) My first bit is musings of all that can ride on the back of a moped. It might sound silly, but we've been incredibly impressed by how much volume and weight can go on the backside of a moped, and here's a few examples: crates of chickens and other animals in various states (not something I wish to discuss further), a pig (and not a delicate baby either), building materials like long stalks of bamboo and metal girding (think: Don Quixote with metal of over 15 feet on the shoulders of a lady),many loaves of bread, large bundles actually larger in size than a moped, and our favorites: another moped! and a huge water tank with probably several gallons of water in it! the moped swayed precariously back and forth, but continued it's move forward impressively.

We again were impressed by the mopeds driving straight into traffic, and it reminds me of a game of chicken of sorts. Several came straight at us, and their nerves of steel impressed as they certainly didn't hitail it out of the way quickly. Nor did pedestrians for that matter. Almost as if they have a confidence that they simply won't get hit, which is amazing given the sheer volume of people on the crowded streets and the fact that there doesn't appear to me to be any rules for driving except to go!

The Vietnamese people are incredibly happy, and everything is punctuated by clapping. On the boat when asked by Thinh if we liked our meal, and providing an affirmative reply, we received a full round of clapping from the crew. When asked if people enjoyed their swim, their positive response was greeted with proud clapping. In Halong Bay, anyone that met your eyes greeted you with a ready smile, and many were just simply smiling without realizing they were being watched. The vendors in Hanoi greet you with pushy gestures to buy their wares, but still with a smile.

And then there's the double wave. It's absolutely adorable, but many of the people in the fishing village that we waved at, replied with a vigorous double wave.

I also forgot to mention that in one of the textile shops that we went into to look at the silk, we were greeted by a very friendly black cat. "Mow.." then a solid stare. When he received no response he got much more vocal. "Mow, Meowww.. MEOWWW" and talked a steady stream for a few minutes, prompting me to decide he wasn't a rabid beast and pet him. I know, Barb, I know, but sometimes it's ok.

We ate breakfast at the hotel, which again was a nice mix of local breakfast food (noodles with beef and veggies, potatoes and bacon, etc.) and western (bread, pastries, yogurt, etc.) We laughed about the motorcycles zooming down the street at all hours last night, making it sound like a harley convention going on. We decided to head out of the old town to visit some of the sights today, and enjoyed the view of the lake from the 9th floor balcony before making our way out.

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I'll confess that my first meeting with Hanoi was not a love affair. The city is rather overwhelming with a mass of buildings, people and mopeds, and it's noisy, dirty, smelly and the smog can be cut with a knife leaving me to wonder if we'll end up with black lung disease. But I have to say that it definitely grows on you with a surprising charm. Hanoi is what it is, and makes no efforts to hide it. There's something about the honesty and directness that is truly charming.

Today we headed out across the old town area to the Temple of Literature. On the way and around the corner from it we found a really amazing non-profit textile place with hand-woven goodies in every shape and color. My friend got a bright big bag for his daughter, and I got a bunch of things including a little book with natural pages, a small woven picture frame, and several other things.

We made our way to the Temple of Literature, which was beautiful. There are several large courtyards surrounded by narrow red buildings with traditional asian roofs and beautiful gardens. There was a lot of really adorable topiary including cats, mice and other animals, as well as interesting shapes. The path was punctuated by some greenery with asian characters, symbols to honor the 1,000th anniversary of the city of Hanoi.

The Temple of Literature is a Temple of Confucius, and served as the first University in Vietnam. It began as a Confuciun temple and became a university in 1078 to serve members of the elite. The smell of incense filled the air, there were students sketching the rooflines, and people chanting and praying inside.

We had to cross a major street to continue which was rather.. exhilarating to say the least. We stopped at a coffee shop outside of the Army museum for a snack and coffee (they had delicious chocolate brownies covered in chocolate sauce singing my tune!) then made our way to the museum. It's known for having a tall tower with a good view of the city, though we wondered if we'd see much through the haze of smog. Unfortunately the museum was closed, so we'll never know! We then headed out and passed a funny scene with a rooster standing next to a food cart that had a fried egg and a cooked chicken inside!

We next stopped at the one-pillar pagoda, a beautiful building with, yes, you've got it, one pillar! It is a historic Buddhist temple and one of the best-known structures in Vietnam. It was built by an emperor around the year 1,000 who was childless and longed for a son. he then had a dream and married a peasant girl who granted his wish, and he built the temple in gratitude. There was a walkway around the pagoda to see it from all sides, and it's a beautiful and interesting place. There are steps to the top, however, a sign states that people with shorts cannot enter so we admired it from the side. A woman was chanting and praying in front of the pagoda, swirling with the scent of incense. I'll say I've never really liked incense much, but it sure does beat the smell of Hanoi! There were two guards standing next to it hysterically laughing at some tourists that walked by.

There was a food cart nearby and my friend went to get some water. The woman saw his interest and yelled out 'free bananas!' For the cost of $1 american he got a 1.5 liter bottle of water and two bananas! The fruit here (I'm not sure if I've mentioned it) is simply incredible and has a flavor and a sweetness like nothing I've had. I particularly like the pineapple, which is quite small, the bananas, which are small too, and the watermelon. Sure cures my sweet tooth!

We noticed the Ho Chi Minh Museum was closed on Friday and went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which was also closed as Ho Chi Minh, who's dead, mind you, is in Russia being restored. Apparently it happens two months out of the year, and this is his month for a little touch up. There were marching guards outside and they did a brief version of the changing of the guard for us before marching off.

We stopped in another temple wandering in this part of town, and came across the two German guys from our Halong Bay cruise! How strange to run into people we knew in such a large and crowded city, especially in a place not all that well known! We walked along a lake for a little bit and came across a fleet of swan boats, which looked adorable then decided to head back to the hotel. We decided to take a cyclo, the little carts pushed typically by tiny and scrappy old vietnamese men. What an experience that was! We shot pictures and video of it, with cars and mopeds whirling all around us and at us. The seat was so narrow we couldn't sit flat down on it, but it was fun!

We stopped at the Don Xuan market which was an absolute mad house of three floors. There was a bag section, a kitchen section, a shoe section, a clothing section and a fabric section and it was absolutely crowded with people and wares. As we made our way back to the hotel, we saw a woman selling the designer face masks we've seen on some of the moped riders. Some even match their designer helmets!

I needed a nap after the evening I had-- had a reaction to the anti-malaria drug and woke at 2 extremely dizzy with the spins, which got worse every time I tried to lay back down. As a result, I didn't. I was dizzy much of the day as well, unfortunately, and my stomach was a bit off as a result. So, I'm a little nervous not taking the meds for Siem Reap, Cambodia, which is where we decided to get them for (it's a low to moderate risk of malaria), I decided to go off the meds. It was not a fun experience at all! I was able to sleep a little bit then we headed back through the maze of streets, people and mopeds to a restaurant called Bitet, that someone I know recommended. Bitet means beef steak. We never ever would have found it were it not the for the recommendation (thanks Sandy!) It's in the old section and there's a sign above a long, very very long, alley way. We walked and walked then entered through the kitchen to a small restaurant filled only with locals. We both decided to get the traditional beef steak, which was two pieces of thin cut fried steak and fries. We got some tea and french bread, which was fresh and really good, and dug in. It was delicious and covered with a brown sauce of onions and meat drippings. Surely the least healthy meal we've had, and quite tasty!

We wandered around the maze of streets peeking into the shops for gifts then wandered to the lake. We crossed the bridge to walk over the Lake of the Restored Sword. It's a large lake in the center of the old city, and has a bright red bridge that crosses to a little temple. We decided to then stop for coffee and found a cute tiny little cafe off the beaten path to give us a brief respite from the mopeds. The coffee was strong, sweet, and very good, and served in a cup inside a little bowl of hot water. There was the punctuation of yips from her little chihuahua sporting the largest ears I've seen on a small dog. It looked like a chihuahua deer mix!

We then went to the Water Puppet show, one of the top attractions in Hanoi. It was very crowded and they sure packed us into the small theater. Our tickets were at 9:15 pm, if that gives you any idea of how quickly they sell out! We bought them yesterday. The seats were quite packed in and my friend had to fold himself up to sit there, but it was worth it. A small band played interesting, very different music, there were two female singers with beautiful ethereal voices, and a male voice that told the stories in Vietnamese. The water puppets danced around in their songs and stories, really telling a lot about the culture. It's a thousand-plus year tradition and they do tour the world.

We made our way back to the hotel for some rest after a long and fun day. I found the trick of a good night's sleep in a noisy city and put the air on.. wow! What a difference! The city drifted away..

Sam