A month in Vietnam: Part 1 - Hanoi

One of the main perks of teaching at a university is the long holidays, and here in China they're especially good. We get about a month and a half off in the winter and the summer, so a total of three months of paid holiday in the year, which is amazing and makes me feel incredibly lucky. 

My coworkers insisted that for the winter holiday, which runs mid-January through the beginning of March, it's best to just get out of China and head somewhere south. The main reason for this is that Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, happens in February and most places in China really shut down around that time. Not to mention transportation and lodging will be more expensive and booked out than usual. So we decided to take their advice and spent all of February traveling through Vietnam.

So good to see Will again!

Anna's brother Will flew out from the U.K. to meet up with us in Hanoi and spent the entire month traveling around with us. It was his second time visiting us overseas, after he came to see us in South Korea a couple years ago. It was great to see him, and not just because he makes a great international pack mule. (In S. Korea we sent him home with one of our spare suitcases loaded up with stuff we needed transported, and sadly the suitcase happened to have broken wheels, which meant it had to be dragged and hauled all over the place; and in Hanoi we got him to bring us new cell phones from the U.K. - so it's kind of amazing he still wants to come visit us anymore...)

I'll be breaking down the Vietnam trip by locations. Our itinerary was basically: arrive in Hanoi in the north, catch a flight to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, and then slowly work our way back north again to Hanoi. 

Hello, Hanoi traffic! Even more exciting around Tet, when people strap actual trees on their bikes

Anna and I took the bus down to Hanoi from Nanning, which takes around 6 hours. Crossing the border was a little time consuming but otherwise not bad (on the way south; the way back north into China was a completely different story). It was surprising how immediately after crossing the border I could really feel that I was in a different country. The architecture, the written language, the clothing, the people, even the landscape felt very different as soon as we entered Vietnam. There were already fewer karst peaks on the Vietnam side, just lots of rolling hills and rice fields.

Hanoi in February was just slightly chilly, and despite the horrible pollution, we got a couple sunny days. The pollution and the noise of the motorbikes was one of the first things I noticed about the city. In Nanning, motorbikes have been banned in order to cut back on pollution, so instead people here drive e-bikes, or electronic bikes. They are much quieter, slower and cleaner than motorbikes, which were my least favorite thing about Vietnam, especially as the drivers are also far more aggressive there than in China. One guy clipped my arm with his mirror as he flew by me on the sidewalk to get around the rush hour traffic, just an hour after we arrived in Hanoi.

Despite the pollution and traffic, I liked Hanoi. There were a lot of interesting neighborhoods to walk around, quiet spots, and amazing food. We stayed at the Republik Backpackers' Hostel which had a great central location and explored from there. It was cool to be there in February because everywhere we went we could see decorations for Tet (the lunar New Year) and there was a kind of festival atmosphere similar to the Christmas season back home.

Tet decorations on sale in Hanoi

One of the main touristy spots to walk around is by Ho Hoan Lake (Hồ Hoàn Kiếm). Around the lake you can find food, cafes, shopping, and plenty of quiet places to sit and take a break from the motorbike traffic. Nearby you can find King Roti, a tiny little shop that sells little round buns, freshly baked, and filled with coffee, vanilla, and chocolate flavored sauce that's hot and melted inside. Another thing not to miss is the Egg Coffee, a Hanoi specialty, which is essentially a shot of strong coffee with a kind of meringue filling up the rest of the mug. It comes in a variety of flavors now, too, in case you're not a fan of coffee. 

Ho Hoan Lake

King Roti pastry buns

Egg Coffee! So good...

Just look at all that beautiful egg-y foam

We befriended a fellow backpacker at the hostel and followed him on a foodie adventure one evening, which led us to possibly the best pho shop in Hanoi, Pho Gia Truyen. It had a line of locals out the door and down the block, and was a very simple shop with the usual low tables and plastic stools that you see around Vietnam. It was definitely the best beef pho I've ever eaten and well worth a wait in the line.

Pho Gia Truyen

Another amazing dish was Bun Cha. It was seasoned pork in a broth that was both light and flavorful, with a pile of noodles and fresh herbs that you could add to the broth. The restaurant we ate at (and I'm sorry, I've lost track of the name) served it with a kind of crabcake that had been grilled.

Delicious, delicious bun cha

Crabcake that came with our bun cha

And my last food recommendation is Xoi Xeo, sticky rice cooked with saffron and served with seasoned meat, crispy fried shallots, and a paste made from beans. There were a variety of meat choices, but I highly recommend the cinnamon pork, it was amazing.

Xoi Xeo with cinnamon pork

For more food recommendations and locations, this blog post was really helpful: https://www.authenticfoodquest.com/vietnamese-food-must-eat-in-hanoi/

We also really enjoyed walking around the much larger West Lake (Hồ Tây), which had great views of the city and some really lovely quiet neighborhoods. If you head south from the lake, you can get to some other famous landmarks like the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the park around his old house in Hanoi. The park was worth paying to see if you have time.

Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum in Hanoi

Temple on West Lake

One of the lovely, quiet neighborhoods on West Lake

Coffee break!

Another historic site you can visit is the Hỏa Lò Prison, otherwise known as the Hanoi Hilton. It's a harrowing look at the suffering the Vietnamese people went through during various periods of occupation and war, which is something that is hard to forget as you travel in Vietnam. It was built by the French in the late 19th century and mainly used to hold political prisoners who were promoting resistance against French colonialism. People there were held in deplorable conditions and torture and execution were common. The prison was also a famous camp for American prisoners of war during the Vietnam War and famously held senator John McCain. 

Hoa Lo Prison, aka the Hanoi Hilton

Example of how Vietnamese prisoners were crowded into tiny spaces

How some prisoners escaped via tunnels

Probably my favorite museum we visited in Vietnam was the Vietnamese Women's Museum. It's absolutely worth the ticket price. It showcases what life is like for Vietnamese women, from minority people and their unique cultures to the women who travel into Hanoi each day from the countryside to sell food and other products in the street. There's a short documentary about these working women that was really powerful to watch, explaining the risks they take each day and the poverty that drives them to continue such a difficult lifestyle. I also loved seeing the traditional clothing on display and the exhibit on folk religion.

Traditional clothing on display at the Vietnamese Women's Museum

Working women's display

Folk religion altar

More on Vietnam coming soon!