Spring Break in Vietnam: One last day in Hanoi

Originally I included this in my previous post about Ha Long Bay, but I decided it was just too long for one post. I must say that blogging over these past few weeks has really provided a great distraction from the stress of my spring concerts (more on that later). I wrote the previous post as well as this one while taking some much-needed time for R&R at a beach in Myanmar. I am so happy to say that my weekend trip to the beach helped me to rediscover some of that happiness and relaxation that I found last month in Vietnam.

I love the tempo of this city. So busy and full of life.

Anyway, to wrap up my adventures in Northern Vietnam, I spent one more day in Hanoi. I was sad to leave, but I really wanted to experience more of Vietnam, as I knew for certain that there would be many return visits to the north. So this is how I said goodbye to my new favorite city:

Saturday morning I ate another yummy made-to-order breakfast. And that coffee. Oh boy. That morning, I decided to take the Lonely Planet walking tour of Old Quarter (and now you don't have to... YOU'RE WELCOME). 

One of the best parts of this hotel: The breakfast!

The tour started at Hoan Kiem Lake, where I found this rather fascinating tree.

The book recommended Ngoc Son Temple. After much deliberation, I decided not to go into this temple on the lake. However, I think I will go in the future because I have heard a lot of things about it since, and I am very curious.

Street vendors setting up for Saturday shoppers.

Martyrs' Monument - old vs. new

Old Quarter is sort of set up in sections. Each street has a specialty. This street has only shoe shops.

I made my way to the Memorial House, which is a preserved traditional merchants' house, also known as a "tube house" because of its shape. The tube houses are long and skinny, and shop owners used to live in the back part of the house, as well as upstairs.

I started to notice these birds at a lot of places around Vietnam.

I read that the doorways have high steps like this to keep the bad spirits from entering the house and shop.

Upstairs had more living space - mostly sleeping quarters and common areas

In Vietnam, no matter which religion (if any) they practice, they pray to their ancestors. It is common to have a room to honor the ancestors somewhere in the house, or at least an alter like this.

Memorial House cat!

After the Memorial House, I wandered down more specialty streets and past some other markets until I got to Bach Ma Temple. At one point, I looked up and noticed how cool the architecture is above all of those specialty shops and crowded streets. From that point on, I basically spent my time gazing up as I wandered the streets.

Sidewalks here are not really for pedestrians. I quickly learned that they are more for motorbike parking. Generally, pedestrians walk along the street, and motor vehicles go around them.

Jewelry shop district

I bought a charm in that store. I will add it to my travel charm bracelet when I go home to the States.

Typical busy street on a busy Saturday in Hanoi. Notice the hat of the female vendor. I saw local people everywhere wearing these hats.

...which is exactly why I bought this charm for my travel bracelet. I was happy to find it and negotiate a good price for it in the jewelry district of Old Quarter. (The man was polite enough to put out his cigarette while he packaged up my new charm!)

Back to the walking tour... House 102 apparently has a fully functioning temple, but I wasn't drawn to go in.

Looking up

Apparently this is the street for beer and nightlife. Considering I went to bed by about 9 p.m. every night, I never saw this street in all of it's glory.

Bach Ma Temple is said to be the oldest temple in the city. It is very different than the temples that I see in Myanmar and Thailand. The building is short and flat, and there are lanterns everywhere. It is also very ornate inside, and the designs are very different as well.

One major difference with temples here in Vietnam is the dress code. I did not have to cover shoulders or knees, nor did I have to remove my shoes.

There is a lot of Chinese influence in Vietnam. You can see it here.

I noticed the doorways had high steps, just like the Memorial House. I wonder if it was for the same philosophy - to keep out the bad spirits?

This white horse is a relic to honor the horse that led the emperor to this site in the 11th century.

I noticed the guardians are different in each country, too.

More birds (I told you it was a thing!)

I continued to Cua O Qun Chuong, the well-preserved Old East Gate. Then I continued to the street market and to Dong Xuan Market. It was rather underwhelming compared to other markets I have seen in Southeast Asia. Don't get me wrong. It was big and bustling with activity, but it didn't really captivate me like others in Yangon and Bangkok. So I took a picture, strolled through, and continued on my way.

Old East Gate - I thought this was very cool

The street market reminds me a lot of others I have seen, right down to the plastic chairs

Dong Xuan Market

I continued weaving through the streets, where each had its own specialty item again. I read about this before coming to Hanoi, but it really did fascinate me how I would see shop after shop lining a street with certain items. As it approached late morning, I made my way back to the hotel to check out.

Straw and rope street

I love all the lanterns in this country <3

Blacksmiths do their work on the sidewalks

The street with herbs 

These lotus flower lanterns were quite charming. The lotus flower is very important in Vietnam.

When I was packing up my hotel room for the last time in Hanoi, I finally gave in to the alerts to update my phone. NEVER AGAIN WHEN TRAVELING. When it updated, it asked me for a passcode that they sent to one of my other devices "for better security." Thank goodness I had grabbed my iPad at the last minute when leaving Yangon. I sat in the lobby, trying desperately to connect to the wifi and repeating, "Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry." over and over again in my head. The phone wouldn't set up until it got some stupid code. After 25 long minutes and a lot of help from the kind people at the front desk, I was finally able to unlock my phone. The reason for the panic is that I didn't feel comfortable walking around without access to anything. I'm sure it was just a safety blanket, but one that I really needed at the time. As I said before, this was my biggest solo trip yet, so I felt the need to stay connected "just in case." I was also flying out that night and wanted to be sure to have updates in case my flight was delayed. (It was.)

Once I recovered from my stressful bought with technology, I ate lunch at another spot that my hotel recommended. I tried bami for the first time, which is basically a Vietnamese sub. It was absolutely delicious. I ate it happily in my tiny plastic chair next to the girl cutting the bread for the subs while listening to a grumpy couple from the UK complain about everything, including the lack of shopping malls in this city. I rolled my eyes and giggled to myself while I finished my lunch. Afterwards, I decided I needed to try coconut coffee. I had read about it, and my friends the night before had raved about it, so I wanted to see what it was all about. My only regret is that it took me so long to try it in the first place!

This frozen dessert-like coffee hit the spot on that hot, humid day.

And the view was pretty great too :-)

When we went to the jazz club the night before, my friend insisted that I needed to see the Hoa Lo Prison Museum. It was on my radar, but I hadn't decided if I was going or not until I had that conversation with him. After my coffee, I hailed a (metered) taxi and made my way down to the museum. 

The prison was originally built by the French and housed Vietnamese rebels. There were plaques and videos with revolutionary tales of the bravery of the prisoners under the horrible French oppression. Later the Vietnamese used it to imprison U.S. fighter pilots that they shot down during the war, when it got the nickname "The Hanoi Hilton." The most notable resident that I recognized was Senator John McCain, but there were many others as well.

Now, I try not to be political in these posts, so here is what I have to say about this visit: As I have said before, it is a very different experience to see history from the oppositions's point of view. The revolutionary stuff wasn't too jarring for me. However, I found it interesting that there was a noticeable change in atmosphere when I got to the room with the American POW part of the history. Those rooms had brighter lights and even had different music - it was more patriotic and bombastic. And, well, let's just say they told the story a lot differently than I learned in history class, when we watched interviews and read first-hand accounts from POWs. 

Again, I am glad I went. 

Something tells me this is a recent addition?

A mural of what the village looked like before the French built this prison.

Videos and plaques throughout the museum told the history of the prison

These statues were meant to demonstrate the living conditions of the male prisoners under the French regime.

Solitary confinement/death row

There was revolutionary artwork along many of the outside walls

This is the sewer where many Vietnamese prisoners escaped from the French. Later, Americans could not escape this way because the tunnels were too small for any of them to fit.

This room was very chilling. The guillotine was used for beheading prisoners.

Another outdoor memorial area with more artwork

This was the room with the stories of the Americans. Here, you can see John McCain's flight suit that he was wearing on the day he was captured and imprisoned. There was a book with faces and names of all the American "residents" that stayed here. There was also a lot of propaganda about what life was like in the prison. Tucked away in the corner, I also found a list of rules and regulations that all residents were required to follow. The last two items told very contrasting stories.

When I left the prison museum, I knew I was fairly close to the end of the walking tour that I had started earlier. I decided to make my way over there and do the reverse of the end of the tour to finish out my afternoon. I took what I thought was a tuk tuk but was later corrected - a tuk tuk is motorized, and this thing was man-powered. The guy quoted me a price for the ride, I immediately said, "No! That's too much," in a friendly, teasing tone, and offered half the price. The guy stopped suddenly and said, "Where [are] you from?" with a smile. I told him I was from America. He looked at me dubiously, and I followed up with, "But I live in Myanmar now." He chuckled, nodded, and said, "Oh yes. I see." I guess my negotiation skills are getting better, eh? He negotiated down to a much lower price, although he said he wouldn't go any lower because I'm "very big." I am assuming it was a vocabulary thing, and he clearly just means that I am tall... right?

The not-a-tuk-tuk with my new friend Duy (pronounced "Zwee")

I rode over to the end of the walking tour and finished my journey through the streets. I found myself very near to my hotel, but I still had a couple of hours to kill before my flight. It also looked like it was going to rain. I decided to get a well-earned foot massage. After all, the walking tour alone was 3.5 kilometers, so I had walked quite far that day!

St. Joseph's Cathedral

This area had a different feel than the Old Quarter that I was familiar with. The streets were a little wider, slightly less busy, and there were many trees lining the sidewalks.

The silk street was quite decadent (and very expensive-looking)

Toy shops

The street with Buddhist alters and statues

This little building caught my eye

Looking up again

After my foot massage in a tiny, slightly sketchy second-floor hole-in-the-wall, I decided to try one more pho place before leaving Hanoi. I walked over to Pho 10, where I ordered the half cooked and half raw beef pho. It was a gamble, but I had really enjoyed the pho I had at the other place with the raw beef thrown on top. It turned out for the best... it was so yummy! When I left, they laughed at me when I tipped the server guy. I shook it off and made my way back to my hotel, where a driver collected me and took me to the airport. Before I left, my favorite worker (and new friend) at the front desk gave me a gift. Apparently, the hotel gives "thank you" gifts to all of its guests, but she also had made me a special handmade card that I opened at the airport. It was so very sweet. 

My special card <3

I love how much taller I am than her in the drawing :-)

Special sweets from Hanoi

And thus ends my adventures in Northern Vietnam. Some travelers that I met along the way started their journey in the south and made their way north, but I am really glad that I took this opposite route. I think my feelings about the country would have been entirely different if I had not started my trip here. Although I was nervous about coming, I found the north incredibly charming. I definitely feel drawn to come back, and considering I am only a 2-hour flight away, I think that is very likely to happen in the near future!

Some take-aways from my first week in this amazing country:

• Before going, I read a mix of reviews of the people in Vietnam, especially in regards to their treatment toward Americans. Another person from my school was traveling to Vietnam as well, and she advised me to tell people that I'm from Canada. I am a terrible liar. In fact, I hate lying, so I never even considered doing this. I'd rather have people know the real me, and I am proud of where I am from (yes, even in the current state of things...). In the end, I had a few encounters with rude people, but I think you get that with any culture, really. For the most part, the Vietnamese that I met - especially the people in the north - were very kind and cordial, and they made me feel welcome in their country, despite the history between our peoples. 
• I like the intimacy of the group tours. You get to know people. "Where are you from? How long/where else have you been traveling/will you travel?" But then the real talk happens and you learn about the interesting stories behind the people in your group. Obviously there are exceptions. My least favorite: People who list countries they've visited just for the sake of bragging. But that doesn't happen very often (at least in my interactions).
• This was my first time having pho. Life: changed. #officiallyobsessed
• I absolutely cannot wait to come back to Hanoi!

Well, friends, we made it through Northern Vietnam and the end of my first week of Spring Break. Stay tuned for Week 2 of my Spring Break adventures, hopefully coming soon...