Now that I am home, one of my regrets is that we did not spend more time in Vietnam. We had four half-days and one full day.
Hanoi was the surprise hit of the trip for me. Once I started looking around, I didn't get much sleep.
I expected to like Laos and I did, but I had no idea what Hanoi would be like. It was like a full on sensory assault, and I could not get enough of it. Even drinking coffee and eating my morning croissant at the little French Bakery next door, I made sure to sit at the window so I could just look.
I am thinking how to describe this.
I guess it was like Hanoi was so different, so exotic, not really familiar at all.
It was more crowded and chaotic than Bangkok, but Bangkok had a sort of "western" familiarity to it. It seemed to me that Hanoi was a total immersion in a different culture. Everywhere I looked there were things to stare at, people to admire, signs to laugh at or puzzle out. And colors... everything was so vibrant. I could literally walk the same street twice, an hour apart, and see so many new things that it was like I hadn't come that way before.
If you only have time to visit one city in this region, I would tell you to come here.
There is a great little French pastry shop right next door, and this is where I had breakfast every day. The Vietnamese coffee is thick and strong, like a super espresso.
I was surprised how big the trees were lining the streets. They gave everything a sort of "Park Like" feel, and made the crowded streets seem peaceful. The buildings are tall and narrow, all seem to have balconies.
We often walked out in the street, cars and motorcycles edging around us, because the sidewalks are crowded with people eating and vendors vending. To cross the street you just have to take a breath and head out at a steady pace, without flinching or hesitating. here are no breaks in traffic, lights mean nothing, but it is amazing to watch the traffic flow smoothly around people as they waded through. I felt like Moses, parting the waves of traffic. If you check out my InstaGram you can find a video reel of Michael, Woody and Dario "going with the flow."
There is a cathedral, loosely modeled on Notre Dame.
Ho Chi Minh's tomb and grounds are a fantastic monument.
We walked over to the Hỏa Lò Prison, originally built by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, later used by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. The American POWs called it the "Hanoi Hilton". Most of the museum (remember, this is the Vietnamese perspective) focuses on how they were unjustly imprisoned by the French. Two smaller rooms talk about the Vietnam war, and we saw the photos of John McCain and others. There is a surprisingly serene and somber memorial wall and flame; many people left flowers, burned incense, and cried.
I mean, wandering at night, the street food alone was just fantastic.
But we had the coolest 15 course food and wine pairing meal, seated at an elegant table, at Lamai Garden (for about $85 USD) one night, only to be followed the next day by simple yet excellent Banh Mi (sandwiches) and drinks at Banh Mi 25, where I paid about $20 to feed the five of us.
We walked maybe a mile over to a Michelin Recommended Bun Cha (pork soup and pork dumplings) place where we sat crowded shoulder to shoulder, back to back on little plastic stools in a hot little room and slurped up the most fantastic soup... for maybe $2 USD.
I was never disappointed in the food here.
Two really stood out to me for different reasons.
The first is The Haflington. This bar is hidden on a busy street, between bustling stores. A simple brass plaque, hung high over a doorway is easy to miss. The doorway leads to a bare, concrete alley, at the end of which are concrete stairs to another door. You are surely in the wrong place.
But it opens to a room totally done up in walnut, glass and leather. But this is only the whisky and cigar lounge. Up another set of stairs is the real bar, a museum of sorts, with a whale skeleton swimming over you and a solid wall of glass cabinets full of liqueurs.
The sheer surprise of this fantastical place is what sets it apart, not to mention the great cocktails.
The second bar is The Unicorn Pub. This is not a hidden place, but it is pretty chill inside. What sets it apart is the fantastic presentation of the drinks, from glass domes full of smoke to a tower of flaming cups.
If you go to Hanoi I would recommend contacting Vān Công Tú (or just Tú, like "two"). You can get him through his InstaGram here. He leads food and drink tours through Hanoi for a reasonable price. I did not go on one, but he is friends with Michael and Woody so I was able to spend an evening with him talking and drinking, and we have kept in touch since. He gave me some great tips of places to go. he also taught me the expression "Champagne O'Clock."
To see more photos and videos of stuff like the train barely missing me on Train Street, and the world famous Pho Cocktail being made in all its flaming glory, check out OldManWithaWhiskey.