As soon as our flight reached Vietnam, we noticed a lot of differences from Cambodia. We were now in a communist country! After the man from the information booth in the airport helped us by calling a cab, the cab driver ran into the airport to get us and left his car outside. As we met his car outside with him, there was an police officer that spoke to him sternly in Vietnamese. Apparently he was not allowed to park the car right in front of the airport, and everything ended up being ok but it took a while for us to leave. Keith made me aware of this and reminded me that we could not argue with anyone for any reason. Geez! What a wake-up call as to where we were! On the way to our hotel, I noticed that there were so many more city buildings, businesses, sky scrapers, etc. compared with Cambodia. It looked more like a busy and somewhat old city, rather than a jungle-like environment and 3rd world country. It was interesting to us too that every single business was closed down for the night. We found out later that everything closes by 10pm, and this is the time that people go to sleep, and then wake up early. This was similar in Cambodia, except for downtown Siem Reap.
Well, we got in around midnight to our hotel, and although we were both very tired, I was so entertained by the 3 people that worked at our hotel. One of them took all our bags and led us to our room. It was a very nice room, looked brand new and had everything from a fancy bathroom with hot water in the shower, to a fridge with bottled water, beer and pop, and a large closet, a safe, and free internet downstairs. Plus breakfast was served in the morning on the 7th floor. The Vietnamese young man (maybe our age?) made it a point to tell us how to work everything in our room…from the shower, to using the safe, to using the TV and telling us what was in the fridge, telling us he would help us tomorrow morning with getting to what we wanted to see in the area, to showing us how to put on the lights (lol), and then moving the two single beds together for us! It was so funny to watch and I told Keith “He was so cute!” as soon as he left the room. Hehehe I already loved Vietnam!
The breakfast the next morning was delicious! There were a few options that we could choose from on the menu, but both Keith and I ordered the banana pancake, which also came with a banana on the side, oj, and this delicious Vietnamese coffee, which they are known for. The room where we ate breakfast also gave a great view of the city and all the (now) busy streets with so much transportation going in all directions. We first took a short walk over to the business that we booked our Halong Bay cruise the following day for. After we confirmed that tour, a Vietnamese woman on the street immediately tried to sell us some fruit she was carrying on a wooden balance over her shoulder. When we said “no thanks”, she literally put it over Keith’s shoulder and encouraged us to take a picture. We were so confused because we had just entered the busy streets and a whole new lifestyle, and ended up taking the picture and buying some pineapple from her. Lol Keith was asked many more times the next few days, but we didn’t get caught up in the trick the next time! We noticed throughout the day that there were not as many beggars, and people (besides that woman with the fruit) seemed to accept your no and move on. We respected that they were just trying to make a living and they didn’t come off as an annoyance because they would usually only ask once if we’d like to buy something.
Hanoi was definitely filled with lots of artsy people, and tons of travelers/backpackers. We spent the day walking around the city, stopping into cafes for sandwiches and Vietnamese dishes, coffee, ice-cream and Vietnamese tea= all unbelievably delicious! I think Vietnamese food is by far my favorite. The dishes are all filled with tons of veggies, usually seafood or chicken, and they tend to have this lemon and salt/pepper flavor with fish sauce seasoning that is incredible and has a unique taste to it.
Oohh, and the transportation was very unusual and funny. The tourists could take a cart that looked similar to a wheel-chair, which was pulled by a Vietnamese man pushing you from behind on a bicycle! It was hilarious, especially since all the travelers looked like they were sitting in a wheelchair! Keith and I made sure to tip our guy since we were probably heavy for him to push! :)
We stopped into the many markets, and I even bought a purse and Keith bought me a gorgeous cashmere scarf (Hanoi is known for their scarves). We also went to many art galleries, and even bought a few small smooth paintings and some photography. The woman who worked at the photography gallery we talked to for about 1 ½ hours! She was the kindest person ever and shared so many stories of what some of the photos represent. One famous photo had about 4 older woman who were sitting on the floor on a carpet, laughing and eating fruit from what looked like a picnic basket. She told us that there are 3 types of fruit they are eating. One of them makes your teeth black (it is a Vietnamese fruit that really exists, but only elders will eat the fruit because people care more about white teeth these days).
The story went somewhat like this:
There was a man who fell in love with a woman. He had an identical twin. The man got married to the woman, but one day the woman confused the two men and went and hugged and kissed her husband’s twin brother. The husband saw this from far away, and went to the mountains sad, alone and depressed. He ended up killing himself, and then the woman heard him in the mountains, went and found him and understood the confusion and mistake she had made. She felt horrible and also killed herself. The brother ran after the woman, saw the tragedy, crying in the mountains for the two of them. The story then goes that the woman turned into the fruit that makes your teeth rot/ or turn black.
Not sure if this was exactly what she said, because it was difficult to understand at times because of the language barrier, but that was the jist of it. Anyways, after talking to her for so long, she gave us her e-mail and told us she would love to have us over at her family’s house out in the country in the future when we come back to visit. She hopes to share more stories about her culture and country in Vietnam and wants us to try an authentic home-cooked Vietnamese meal! We already did e-mail her and hope to stay in touch and possibly visit her again in the future…maybe during one of the next few winters, since we have more areas to still see in Vietnam.
During that same day, we spent some time walking around the beautiful lake in the middle of the city. It was a romantic place for couples to sit on a bench and look at the reflection of the trees, bushes and other buildings in the lake, share some ice-cream or a fruit smoothie, or just reflect on life. There were also many wedding photos being taken by professional photographers, from at least 3 different wedding couples. I took a few pictures of them. It was very romantic and such a pretty location.
In the center of the lake, there is a pagoda (a type of small temple). We went inside and learned about the huge turtles that live in the lake. Check out the picture. They’re gigantic! Apparently, it is very difficult to see one because they only come out every once in a while. The turtle is part of traditional Vietnamese folk stories since they represent patience and strength of the people.
One frustrating, but funny thing that happened that day was having my debit card (which later I realized was my credit card/ must have been tired!) stuck in the ATM machine. I had spent too much time trying to figure out how many bills to take out with converting the money in my head, and since they only give you about 30 seconds, 2 times the card was shot back out at me! Finally the card was stuck inside and I had to go into the bank’s office to retrieve my card! The only problem is that because of the rules or laws set up here, I had to get permission from an officer to get my card back. They told me to come back by 4:30 (1 ½ hours) to find out if I can get my card back! I was pretty frustrated, but Keith calmed me down and reminded me of the communist gov’t, (lol) so we went to a coffee house, walked more around the lake and relaxed until I could come and show them my passport (that I had to go back to my hotel to get) in order to get back my card. It ended up being funny…later...after I got it back! Haha
Well, we went to an amazing Vietnamese water puppet show that night, which is very popular among tourists visiting the country, as well as the Vietnamese people. The ticket only cost $3 for close-up seats, which was so confusing because the show was extremely popular (the entire small theatre was filled) and the show went for about an 1 ½.
There was a group of Vietnamese playing traditional music on a small stage to the side. In the center, there was a big red temple and a small pond in front of it. This was where the show took place. It was magical to see so many beautiful and crafty puppets perform different scenes and stories. The entire time Keith and I wondered how the performers were able to move the puppets so well without showing any hands or sticks to move them. Later we found out the performers were behind the temple and used long poles under the water to make the puppets dance, jump, hop, etc. It was so interesting and neat to watch! I have a few videos and pictures to show you. One story was of a fisherman trying to catch fish by hand and net, except that he accidently kept bobbing the net over his wife’s head (who was also working in the water). Another story was of two big dragons that were playing ball together in the water and hitting back and forth to one another…very cool! We both absolutely loved the entertainment for the night!
After the show, we walked more around the lake, checked out some of the markets, and then headed back to our hotel as everything started closing up. The next day was our Halong bay cruise which we had read, seen pictures and heard so much about! We couldn’t wait!
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