After our time in Hoi An and Hue, we took a quick plane ride to Hanoi and stayed in the old quarter for five days.
Hanoi, now the countries capital, was the base for the "red revolution" that swept the country after the defeat of the foreign invaders in the "American War". Similar to most Vietnamese cities, most of the engineering was borrowed from the French so the city has a quaint, small street feel, which can be easily walked. However, due to the small streets, the sidewalk becomes a chameleon like place, changing shapes and forms to suit the occupants needs, but never actually functioning as a sidewalk (we will provide further evidence in a future post).
The things we enjoyed most about Hanoi were visiting the various shopping districts, eating a myriad of local street vendor favorites, exploring the remnants of the French influence (namely food), and drinking with the locals at the Bia Ho'i corner.
We actually celebrated a very romantic Valentine's day sitting on stools reminiscent of kindergarten (short and red plastic) drinking 17 cent drafts of locally fresh brewed beer, noshing on lovingly made spring rolls and fried peanuts while romantically snuggling to keep warm under the frigid conditions. Love was in the air, it was also on the ground as we dodged swarms of cockroaches and rats scampering about for our left overs (sounds romantic doesn't it).
Hanoi definitely had the best street foods we tried and a few of our favorites included:
As a diversion to eating our way through Hanoi, we took in a few of the temples, visited the mausoleum of the embalmed Ho Chi Min and saw the famous Water Puppet show. The Water Puppet's were very cute. The show involved a large pool of water and puppeteers standing behind a screen manipulating their ornate puppets by means of under water bamboo poles. These shows originated during the rainy season when locals took advantage of their two most abundant resources, flooded rice paddies and time, to breathe life into ancient stories. 
After we had our fill (literally and figuratively), we headed south for the famous Halong Bay. Halong Bay, or Descending Dragon Bay, is famous for it's 2000+ limestone islets, that jut up from the water for some spectacular scenery. As with most of the historic or beautiful sites in developing countries, Halong Bay has become somewhat of a TT, "tourist trap" and the only way to discover it is with thousands of your closest traveling friends by tour boat.
All the tour boats are Chinese Junks that have been specifically made on the bay to accommodate tourists. The main problem is the entire operation only has two licensed operators who can afford to build and own new boats (from the Chinese) and the local mafia controls them. The operators suck the cash flow from the boat with no maintenance for 5-7 years and then sells them to unlicensed operators who bribe the local officials to operate. So choosing a reputable operating is key. AB was quite keen on an Australian outfit, Handspan, due to their impeccable reputation even though it cost about 35% more than comparable tours. After a four hour bus ride from Hanoi, we boarded our boat and started out on a strategically chosen route to avoid the throng of other tour operators in search of pristine scenery. As you can hopefully see from the photos we found it and it was magnificent. Fresh, local sea food was served on board, which we enjoyed in the company of our fellow passengers, specifically a similarly travel minded Brazilian couple. After eating, we took the opportunity to kayak around the bay, checking out the floating fishing villages (the children in the photo are rowing to school) and finally doing our own squid fishing (AB caught the only. Isn't it cute- we had to throw him back bc the kitchen wouldn't cook it for us.) before heading to bed.
As one of our previous posts eluded, the next day tragedy struck. Traveling back to the dock, we passed a recently submerged ship buzzing with activity. Our crew was very skittish and would not divulge what transpired the night before, although it was clear they knew what happened. Only after ML accessed the news wires via her BB did we find out that the boat sank in the early morning hours, killing 12 foreign passengers. Our crew said the boat was in very poor condition and many locals advised tourists not to take it. Once we arrived back at our hostel, we found out one of the victims was a thirty year old man, whom AB briefly befriend the previous night, upon his arrival. Proof yet again that life is transitory, so live it up. Also, unfortunately you get what you pay for.
It is worth noting that one of our trip manifestos was violated in our choice to visit Hanoi, namely we don't visit anywhere below 60 degrees. When we decided on this trip, living out of a backpack for months on end produced a vexing problem- you have enough room to pack for only one season, which given the snow you are all currently experiencing, we naturally decided on summer wear! So after a trip to Vietnam's knock off version of American Eagle, we bought some cheap winter gear (please note AB's stunning $10 jacket) and set forth to experience Hanoi.
Hanoi, now the countries capital, was the base for the "red revolution" that swept the country after the defeat of the foreign invaders in the "American War". Similar to most Vietnamese cities, most of the engineering was borrowed from the French so the city has a quaint, small street feel, which can be easily walked. However, due to the small streets, the sidewalk becomes a chameleon like place, changing shapes and forms to suit the occupants needs, but never actually functioning as a sidewalk (we will provide further evidence in a future post).
The things we enjoyed most about Hanoi were visiting the various shopping districts, eating a myriad of local street vendor favorites, exploring the remnants of the French influence (namely food), and drinking with the locals at the Bia Ho'i corner.
We actually celebrated a very romantic Valentine's day sitting on stools reminiscent of kindergarten (short and red plastic) drinking 17 cent drafts of locally fresh brewed beer, noshing on lovingly made spring rolls and fried peanuts while romantically snuggling to keep warm under the frigid conditions. Love was in the air, it was also on the ground as we dodged swarms of cockroaches and rats scampering about for our left overs (sounds romantic doesn't it).
Hanoi definitely had the best street foods we tried and a few of our favorites included:
- BUN BO NAM BO - Bun noodles with fried beef, sweet fish sauce, basil, cashew nuts and fried shallots. (throw in some hot chilies and this was by far our favorite, AB made sure it was hit last meal in Hanoi).
- NEM CHUA NUONG - Grilled spring rolls with noodles and pork, served with tart green mango and cucumber. (we also had a french pastry version that was sublime).
- BUN CHA - A dish of smoky, barbecued pork chunks with fish sauce and a large serving of cold bun noodles.
- BANH MI - A Vietnamese favorite, served on a very crispy french bread (made with rice flour) and filled with a selection of meats such as stewed beef, grilled pork, fried egg and finished off with cucumbers, carrots and cheese.
- NUOC MIA DA -Sugarcane juice ripped right from a fresh stalk as you watch, then served in a plastic bag with a straw.
- BANH CUON - Rolled up rice paper pancakes, steamed filled mushroom and sometimes pork and tapped with dried shallots.
- CHAO - Flavorful rice porridge, with pork and eggs (ML's favorite).
- NOM - Green papaya salad with beef, carrot and a fish sauce-based dressing.
After we had our fill (literally and figuratively), we headed south for the famous Halong Bay. Halong Bay, or Descending Dragon Bay, is famous for it's 2000+ limestone islets, that jut up from the water for some spectacular scenery. As with most of the historic or beautiful sites in developing countries, Halong Bay has become somewhat of a TT, "tourist trap" and the only way to discover it is with thousands of your closest traveling friends by tour boat.
All the tour boats are Chinese Junks that have been specifically made on the bay to accommodate tourists. The main problem is the entire operation only has two licensed operators who can afford to build and own new boats (from the Chinese) and the local mafia controls them. The operators suck the cash flow from the boat with no maintenance for 5-7 years and then sells them to unlicensed operators who bribe the local officials to operate. So choosing a reputable operating is key. AB was quite keen on an Australian outfit, Handspan, due to their impeccable reputation even though it cost about 35% more than comparable tours. After a four hour bus ride from Hanoi, we boarded our boat and started out on a strategically chosen route to avoid the throng of other tour operators in search of pristine scenery. As you can hopefully see from the photos we found it and it was magnificent. Fresh, local sea food was served on board, which we enjoyed in the company of our fellow passengers, specifically a similarly travel minded Brazilian couple. After eating, we took the opportunity to kayak around the bay, checking out the floating fishing villages (the children in the photo are rowing to school) and finally doing our own squid fishing (AB caught the only. Isn't it cute- we had to throw him back bc the kitchen wouldn't cook it for us.) before heading to bed.
As one of our previous posts eluded, the next day tragedy struck. Traveling back to the dock, we passed a recently submerged ship buzzing with activity. Our crew was very skittish and would not divulge what transpired the night before, although it was clear they knew what happened. Only after ML accessed the news wires via her BB did we find out that the boat sank in the early morning hours, killing 12 foreign passengers. Our crew said the boat was in very poor condition and many locals advised tourists not to take it. Once we arrived back at our hostel, we found out one of the victims was a thirty year old man, whom AB briefly befriend the previous night, upon his arrival. Proof yet again that life is transitory, so live it up. Also, unfortunately you get what you pay for.
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