Vietnam: Hanoi

We flew with Emirates, via Dubai.  we checked in to the Melia hotel in Hanoi and, despite being tired after 13 hours flying,  we wanted to get straight out to explore the town.  It is very busy with thousands of mopeds as well as cars and lorries and roads were tricky to cross but we quickly got used to it, traffic doesn' stop for you but goes round you so you just keep moving and don't step back!

Hanoi has a romantic, colonial fee.  The earlier French occupation is evident in the style of the buildings all around the old quarter of town where narrow streets are packed with rows of pretty, crumbling, pale ochre painted buildings with shops below and living accommodation above, their balconies crammed with flower pots, laundry and singing birds in cages.

We saw many street vendors selling food from bicycles or carrying yokes laden with fruit, eggs or noodles in bags.  Just about anything was available on the street, even a hair cut.

We found plenty of places to eat in the side streets around the old French quarter and ate well, enjoying stir fry or steamed vegetarian noodle dishes.   We did not eat from the glass cupboards around the streets like the one here though as in the heat they were like incubators.

Anywhere with a roof and a queue of  locals was a safe betand we got to experience the atmosphere of the town  by drinking beer in these little street vends.  You just pull up a tiny plastic stool and become part of the scenery.








We went to Ho Chi Minhs mausoleum, where he lies flanked by 4 soldiers aroud his coffin who change over every hour to provide constant protection.  W were told how he brought Buddhism from India and how he lived a peaceful life, empowering his people and ensuring improved standards of education for all, he is revered by the Vietnamese people and likened to Ghandi.  The houses he lived in were in the same grounds and were surprisingly minimalist with only his essential needs, heavy wood floors and furniture, no ornamentation or distraction.

 Groups of excited chattering Chinese women  grabbed me for selfies, apparently they had not seen  many westerners. The Vietnamese school children we encountered  were delightfully curious and invited me to join their school photos.

People here can make money from recycling, we often saw people taking paper/plastic from the roadside late at night. I asked about this and learned that the wealthy Duong family had abusiness in recycling, during the Northern Vietnamese control his family fled in the 70s  as refugees leaving everything behind, eventually building up a waste  recycling business from nothing over 3 years in the USA.  The then 15 year old Mr Duong is now a millionaire and at the invitation of the Vietnamese government, has returned and invested in recycling in his home country.    He is known and loved in Vietnam as 'The King of Trash' You can read about him here Duong Vietnamese Recycling Millionaire (Cal Waste Solutions/Duong family).

A meal for two with beer £6 in a locals cafe

Tipping is not expected and people don't want anything from you other than a chance to sell something at a fair price (whether you want it or not!), they were always friendly and most will try to speak English.

Useful tip:  if unsure of food, go where the locals are queueing, where it is fresh (alive) and being cooked in front of you. Street food is fine as long as you don't choose  meat that has been sitting in a glass box for hours.  I am veggie but had no trouble finding tofu dishes everywhere.

More posts to follow:  Victoria Express train, Sapa rice terraces, tribes and market, Halong Bay, Hoi An/beach and Saigon (in no particular order probably!)