I stayed in Ha Noi for 8 days at the InterContinental Landmark72 hotel. The hotel and office building is the tallest in Ha Noi with 72 floors. The hotel’s check-in was on the 62nd floor, my room was on the 70th floor and the executive lounge were I ate my meals was on the 71st floor. Going from the lobby of the building to the reception area always stopped up my ears. The hotel was really nice with all the bells and whistles. I had a nice view of the city on days when the smog/pollution wasn’t so high. I could always tell when I woke up if the air quality was healthy or not, based on visibility of my view. I’m glad I packed some masks because they were needed.
The traffic in Ha Noi is so chaotic. There doesn’t seem to be any reasoning on which way traffic is flowing or who has the right of way. Everyone just seems to be in the intersection and blowing their horns while moving along. It’s even worse when you try to cross the street. On one of my tours we walked through the Old Quarters. We were told to walk with confidence, don’t make eye contact with the drivers, and not to move backwards cause there will already be a motorbike or car moving in that space. I was glued to the guide every time we crossed the street. Walking has other hazards like having to walk in the streets because the sidewalks are filled with motorbikes, or stores and restaurants have taken over the spot of sidewalk.
The tour mentioned above was a food tour through Old Quarters. This actually turned out to be us visiting our guide’s family members. The fist stop was his mothers food stand. However, I must say, the food was good. We had dry noodles (without soup). I was skeptical but gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. Our next stop I believe were his aunties. He told us about the 2 women that owned the restaurant (sisters) and that one handles the meat and the other handles the soup/broth. One of the tour members jokingly asked… are these your aunties. He laughed it off, but we thought they were. We had noodles again and I could have done without this one. Our next stop was unique; we made our own individual Vietnamese wraps. I used to order these in Houston, but it was good to see how it was all put together. We first needed to use the lettuce to wet the rice paper, then add the ingredients (grilled pork, pickled slaw, noodles (bún), cucumbers, and herbs). We didn’t have peanut sauce, but what we had was good. This stop was no relations to our guide. Our last stop was dessert, which was coconut ice cream. I asked if this ice cream was unique to Vietnam. I asked because I hadn’t had any in Vietnam and remembered the unique ice cream I had in Turkey. The texture was almost like taffy where it was hard to pull apart, but the ice cream was good. Anyway, the ice cream here was simply vanilla ice cream with sprinkles of coconut… disappointing!! I’ve come to realize that Vietnamese people eat a diet of noodles and soup (a lot of different variations, but still just noodles and soup).
I got a chance to ride the hop on/off sightseeing bus and saw a couple of areas that I later visited on my own. One return visit was to the Temple of Literature. When I arrived I saw a large group of school kids dressed in what looked like graduation caps and gowns. Navigating my way through the crowd of students, I was able to see inside and around the temples. The students began to sing so I stopped to watch. As I turned to leave, there were 2 young girls asking if they could take a picture with me. I’ve heard of this from people who have visited China, but these girls nicely asked, whereas the folks in China will sneak a picture or stand near you and snap.
I asked why they wanted to take a picture with me and the one girl said… because you’re beautiful. These were some smart girls. They knew just what to say to get someone to agree. While we waited for the school photographer, I decided to take a selfie. The group of 2 turned into a group of 5 and they were typical girls laughing and posing instantly when they saw me raise the camera. I’m not sure what they plan to do with the picture since the school has ownership, but if you’re visiting Ha Noi one day and see my picture on some literature for the school, let me know.
One of the sites mentioned on the bus tour was the Trúc Bạch Lake (near the Westlake area — nice place to stay) where Senator John McCain’s plane was shot down and he was captured. I’m glad they didn’t get into the whole Vietnam war thing.
Ha Noi is a nice place to visit, just bring a supply of masks with you. The 2nd picture below looks like a cloudy day… no, that’s the smog!!!
