When we had finally made it to Vietnam after the visa debacle (to be explored in an forthcoming blog, probably to be entitled “What to Do When Things Go Wrong”), we stepped into a totally different world from the USA, Japan, or really anywhere I had ever been before.
Take Two - Action!
After believing we had resolved our visas, we booked another flight from Osaka to Hanoi, this time with a lay-over in Hong Kong. We had switched from using VietJet Air to Hong Kong Airlines, and everything went so much smoother. Check-in at Osaka-Kansai International Airport was a total breeze, they took our bags and checked them through to our destination. (I would NEVER recommend VietJet Air to my worst enemy, there was simply no help from them on any portion of the trip, and minimal responsiveness when we tried to make a change to our flight schedule. I think at some point we’ll rank all of the airlines and airports we traveled with and through to see which ones were the best, and which were the worst.) A quick note on Hong Kong International Airport, by the way; it is a beautiful airport with a great system, once you understand it. Hong Kong International was exceptionally modern, clean and well laid-out. They have small sections of the airport devoted to clearing thru-passengers through security quickly, and most identification checks are automated and quick (this was also the case in Japan and seemed to work well once again). The terminal in spacious and there are a good number of food and shopping options to choose from, and we enjoyed our time there, even though overcast and hazy skies prevented us from getting a true glimpse of the famous Hong Kong skyline. With our layover complete, we hopped back onto the plane en route for Hanoi.
When you land in Hanoi, you are greeted by a wall of haze and smog, the likes of which I have only heard about, usually in reference to China. In Hong Kong, you could already tell the air was heavier than it had been in Japan, and low clouds hung over Kowloon Bay. Hanoi is a completely different ball game altogether. The air was a grey color, despite the clouds above being genuinely pearl white. In fact, our friends told us that the air quality in the city of Hanoi is among the five worst in the world - just something to keep in mind when visiting here.
After landing, all passengers are directed to a massive and what appeared to be a generally disorganized queue for passport and visa clearance. Walking in felt like being part of cattle herd it was so crowded! But eventually, more officers lined up and the queue took on more structure. As we approached the counter, we felt a bit of anxiety about our visas, given what had happened just 24 hours previously. When we went through together, we had a stone-faced female officer looking at our documents. Our breath became shallower as she inspected them...
Thank God (or the bribes we paid to get our visas cleared faster), we made it through ok.
After making it through immigration, we were pretty much right in the thick of everything. The airport exit was just steps beyond immigration, and the lobby of the airport was a foreshadowing for what would be the rest of our Vietnam experience.
The lobby is filled with people, all going about their own business, with minimal structure or organization beyond a few rows of vendor stalls for car rental, currency exchange, small food items and souvenirs. Stepping outside, the entrance is a madness of people trying to get where they are going. Scam taxi drivers ask you where you’re going and get offended when you ignore or deny them. It was totally different than any arrival experience I’ve ever had at any airport. Once we’d gained our bearings and were able to actually think through the best course of action, we found the proper area for hailing a reputable taxi service and got in a car headed for our destination.
The road there was another lesson in what it’s like to be in Hanoi. There are scooters EVERYWHERE - and I mean everywhere; driving on the wrong side, weaving through traffic, turning corners and cutting off traffic at will. Coming from Tokyo, where everything is so structured and organized, it was certainly a culture shock. We had landed at dusk, and as we drove into the city and the lights lit up among the fog, there was something so otherworldly about the whole scene - it was like we’d stepped foot on another planet.
You Had Me in the First Half
After a 45 minute drive of white-knuckling, we arrived at our destination - a family friend (sister-in-law’s half-brother) had so kindly offered to host us on our arrival in the city. This was a very welcome offer indeed, and when we stepped inside their apartment we felt a sense of relief. They lived in the neighborhood known as Tay Ho, named for the lake situated north of the Old Quarter, where many expats live. The friends we stayed with both teach at an international school in the city center, and have lived in Hanoi for nearly three years, so we felt comfortable allowing them to show us around the city. If you ever have any friends, family or acquaintances living in a country you’re visiting, I would highly recommend linking up with them, or at least asking for suggestions - they will have so much useful knowledge and experience to share.
(Thanks to Sharon and Josh for being those people for us, we had a blast with you!)
In their three years in Hanoi, they had been wanting to try a restaurant in the Old Quarter called T.U.N.G. Dining, a fine-dining restaurant with Michelin’s recognition. They took us into the heart of the Old Town, past the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, which was illuminated brilliantly and stood in a large square guarded by military men, and into the French Quarter of Old Town. We sat down in a private room and began a 17-course tasting menu, trying everything from Hamachi to Foie Gras, 'Amaebi' to 'Dracontomelon' (don’t know what either of those are???) and everything you could think of in between. T.U.N.G. is an acronym which describes the restaurant’s philosophy, standing for “twisted, unique, natural and gastronomic”; all of the dishes were these things and more. Some of us liked the experience, while others didn’t so much (looking at you, Catherine), but one thing was for sure - we would never have another dinner quite like that. After a brief stroll to settle our stomachs, we headed back for a well-earned rest.
The following day we woke up pretty late after our late evening (and several glasses of wine) the night before. We started slow, and had a late breakfast of Pho (our first of many noodles) at Spicy Pho Bay in Tay Ho, a favorite of our hosts. Sure enough, it was delicious and extremely affordable. By the afternoon we had made our way into the Old Quarter to see what was one of the highlights of our time in Hanoi - Train Street.
We’d seen a ton of stuff on social media about this place over the years. The VNR and other independent train companies run trains headed north through a narrow street carved in the city center, coming exceptionally close to the buildings and cafes that are there. It’s unclear if the train tracks were laid before the buildings or vice versa, but it was so unique that we had to check it out for ourselves. It was a Sunday afternoon and the street was buzzing with activity. Apparently you need to be “invited” by a cafe employee to enter the street, which we were promptly as soon as we arrived. We were seated right along the train tracks, after walking along them for a few hundred yards, and sat in tiny stools at a tiny table (a staple of Vietnam and Hanoi in particular) and ordered a bunch of different drinks, from watermelon juice to beer and of course, the famous egg coffee (which was absolutely delicious and an absolute must try). We sat there for hours, chatting, people watching and enjoying the sun-lit day, which our friends mentioned as a rarity for that time of year in Hanoi.
It was a lovely day, and as three hours passed the anticipation for the train’s arrival grew. Our patience was rewarded around quarter after three, when we were alerted to something happening as the cafe workers cleared off the tracks and visitors placed coins on them for good luck. As we all sat back away from the tracks and readied our cameras, the blare of a train horn sounded, and slowly a blue and red painted engine car crept towards us at first and then seemed to speed by, mere inches from our face. It was a surreal and incredible experience to feel so close to something so big, and all of us loved it.
After that experience, we decided it was time for some more coffee. As a note to all who’ve never been to Vietnam - coffee culture here is STRONG. You’ll find more coffee spots and cafes here than most other places in the world, and the patisseries and pastry shops are some of the best in the world, thanks to the history of French colonialism in the region. (More on this later.)
Our friends brought us to one of their favorite coffee spots in the city, called Hanoi Coffee Station. From there, we enjoyed some very late brunch and peanut butter coffees, a blended style coffee which tasted like ice-cream, while enjoying the view of the streets. Like many places here, one has to take those few extra steps to find the right entrance - for this place, the hidden entrance was down an alley and up some exterior stairs. The coffee ice cream was refreshing after the sun-filled day and the avocado toast was similarly scrumptious.
Then we moved on to dinner, this time at another Michelin Guide recommended haunt called Highway 4. This place offers VERY traditional Vietnamese dishes - we sampled fried slender fish for example - and has a cool atmosphere to enjoy, usually alongside locals. After another unique meal, we retired once again to the apartment.
The following day was a Monday, and our hosts had to work, so we decided to set out on a mission to find the best coffee shop in Tay Ho (if it was in all of Hanoi we would need to stay for a year or more to try them all). We spent time walking around the neighborhood, trying a variety of different coffees, pastries and other foods; some places we tried were Legacy Cafe, Pausa Cafe (our favorite, mostly for the food), and Lacaf Cafe. Others were the Hanoi-famous Maison Marou, with amazing pain au chocolat, and apparently hot chocolate to die for which we didn’t get the chance to try, and Maldives Cafe, right on the lake with a view toward the Old Quarter. We stuffed ourselves on coffees, juices, pastries, breads and sandwiches, but we were also able to work off quite a bit of the calories just by walking around the neighborhood. We then met with our hosts for one final dinner in Tay Ho, at Chao Ban, another traditional Vietnamese restaurant, which served chicken, beef, rice, noodles and a pork belly stew which was among the highlights of all our meals in Hanoi.
The next day, it was time to bid our hosts farewell as they traveled for the Tet holiday, or Vietnamese New Year. Did I forget to mention this? Oh yeah, it was Tet during our visit to Hanoi, apparently the busiest time of year in Vietnam, as families reunite, buy gifts and burn offerings for good fortune in the New Year. If I thought it was crowded when we arrived, I was about to see what it really looked like. Anyway, to allow our hosts some time to prepare for a well-earned vacation, we decided now was as good a time as any to book a trip to Ha Long Bay, an extremely unique archipelago due east of the city, just off the coast of Vietnam. (See blog post entitled “Vietnam Part II”, coming soon.)
Back to Hanoi
After our three day excursion to Ha Long Bay, we returned to experience the Tet Celebrations in Hanoi, this time staying at a family run hotel in the Old Quarter to be closer to the action. Our host told us that she was working the holiday for us, which left us with mixed feelings of guilt and appreciation as we trudged several flights of stairs to the top of the hotel to our room. When we arrived, we were underwhelmed, but such is the way of things when booking online (shrugging emoji, crying laughing emoji).
Anyway, this evening we decided to walk around the Old Quarter a bit to take in the atmosphere, since we’d really only spent a day here. The vibe had changed quite a bit since leaving for the bay. By now, preparations for Tet celebrations were in full swing, with many people driving around ordering festive plants and decorations, gifts, and so on. Street vendors and pop-up markets seemed to be around every corner. It wasn’t uncommon to see three or more people on scooters in the city center (the most we saw I think was five, including a small dog). I mean it was pure chaos on a level I have never seen and probably won’t ever see again.
So we walked down crowded and busy streets to Bancong, just north of Hoan Kiem in the center of the city. There we had some more traditional food, including a delicious Bun Cha and Vietnamese fried noodles, as well as a pretty good tiramisu cake for dessert. Then we headed for Hoan Kiem Lake, around which the Old and French Quarters are situated, but were waylaid by Hello Hanoi Restaurant, which, strangely enough, was up some stairs in the back of a clothing shop. We enjoyed a few drinks and the festive lantern decorations they had there, and then after a long day of travel, decided to turn in.
By now it was Friday, and the rush in the city was the greatest today. Having not seen any of the historic or religious sites the city had to offer, we decided to venture beyond the Old Quarter to take in some of them. Unfortunately, it being the holiday, many of Hanoi’s sights, including the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh and the Imperial Citadel, are closed to visitors. We were able to see a few temples, however, including the Quan Thanh Temple and the Tran Quoc Pagoda, both of which are unique and beautiful. At Quan Thanh, a raw grey stone temple houses plain statues of the Buddha, and faithful come to given offerings of food, money, alcohol and incense, as well as burn their prayers. At Tran Quoc, color predominates, and the tall pagoda is starkly clear amid the waters of the lake that surround it. Reverent visitors behave in much the same way to Quan Thanh, bowing and prostrating themselves before the images of the Buddha and his aspects.
After our trip to the temples, we were hungry and grabbed a matcha bun from a street vendor on a quiet alleyway on our way back to the Old Quarter - it was the best bun we had in Hanoi. Many Vietnamese dishes, and buns particularly, use pork, pate and quail eggs for flavor, but we are simple westerners just looking for some carbs, so the relatively plain matcha bun was a welcome departure from this standard.
Tonight promised fireworks and New Year’s celebrations, and we spent the afternoon around Hoan Kiem Lake, taking in the atmosphere of joy and reunion which could be felt among the families of Hanoi. We were able to try a good deal of different foods, including ban mi from a street vendor, a cheesy waffle, and a dry ice dessert called kem khoi - this multi-colored dish came out steaming from the vendor, and as you bit into each of the different pieces, your mouth was blasted by a dry cold sensation, making it extremely entertaining to eat. We saw children playing, families taking pictures and the park around the lake decorated with all sorts of different types of fun art installations. Men and women were dressed in their finest, women often wearing red and white ao dai, the traditional Vietnamese garment. It was a truly fun experience to be a part of.
After taking some respite from the buzz of the New Year’s celebration, we returned to the lake one final time to witness what was one of the best fireworks displays I’d ever seen, held over the lake with multiple launch points. If there was any fireworks show that ever came close to Disney’s spectacles, this was it. As we walked back, we saw numerous fires, both open and in stoves - this seems to be a traditional way of celebrating Tet, in which believers burn offerings, sometimes including fake money, and prayers to give themselves good fortune and health in the New Year. This year is the year of Dragon, and the word we’d heard was that this year would be a good one for business (something we are going to need when we get back to the States!). Exhausted and feeling fulfilled, we were able to fall asleep quite quickly when we’d returned to the hotel.
New Year’s Day for Tet is much like New Year’s Day in the US - not many people are out, and it is usually a day for spending quality time with friends, family and loved ones. So as we set out that morning, we were stunned by the absolute dearth of people on the streets, especially coming from where we’d been the past few days. It honestly felt like a ghost town, which if we’re being real here, was a welcome change. Walking was far less harrowing and crossing the streets far less intimidating.
We had wanted to see if the train would show up for us one more time, and as we arrived at Train Street that morning we were in a totally different scenario, far calmer than it had been the week before. We found a seat and saw the train roll by at a quarter to ten, this time with hardly anyone else around. It was just as incredible as the first time. After our train fix was satisfied, we took some time at different cafes to get some work done with photo editing, post and blog writing, and further trip planning. By the end of the day, we’d gotten what we needed to accomplished, and turned in for an early night in anticipation for our train ride toward Ninh Binh in the morning.
Closing Thoughts
If we’d known better, we’d have spent our time in Hanoi completely differently. The city is buzzing with activity at all times (more or less), it is dirty, raw, smoggy, and chaotic. If you’ve never experienced something like this, it will be a shock to the system. Tet Celebrations are only more chaotic and frenzied, and inconvenient in some ways, especially if you want to see some of the more historic sites of the city.
But at the same time, the city is beautiful and amazing in many ways. It is incredible to watch things work while being so chaotic and energetic, and the historic sites have a time-worn appeal, as they’ve endured so much change and strife over the centuries. This resiliency to hardship is also manifested in Hanoi’s people, who continue to work and move and even have fun despite the challenges in their lives (though they are certainly helped by the availability of coffee everywhere they go). The food is categorically Vietnamese, varied and delicious in all of its manifestations, and the French twist to the city is a welcome addition to an already outstanding cuisine. If we learned anything in our week in Hanoi, it was to never write off a city just because it doesn’t meet your expectations - in fact, that is the best time to learn about the culture and character of a place.
Recommended Spots
Hotels:
Disclaimer: These are affiliate links to hotels and apartments we think would be great options for your visit to Hanoi. That just means we will receive a small percentage on commission if you book through our link! :)
In Old Quarter
Luxury Range:
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
Capella Hanoi
Intercontinental Hanoi Landmark72 by IHG
Mid Range:
Grand Hotel du Lac Hanoi
The Oriental Jade Hotel
Peridot Grand Luxury Boutique Hotel
Budget Range:
Hanoi Emerald Waters Hotel Valley
Hanoi L’Heritage Diamond Hotel & Spa
Luxury Old Quarter Hotel & Gym
In Tay Ho
Luxury Range:
Somerset West Point Hanoi
Elegant Mansion 88
Sheraton Hanoi Hotel
Mid Range:
Oakwood Residence Hanoi
Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake by IHG
Elegant Suites Westlake
Budget Range:
White Lotus Hotel Apartment 2
Sweet Dreams Homestay Westlake Hanoi
VNAHOMES Aparthotel
Cafes and Patisseries:
In Old Quarter:
Maison Marou, Hanoi Coffee Station, Ca Bop, Tranquil Books & Coffee, Melbie Cafe & Bakery
In Tay Ho:
Maison Marou, Legacy Cafe, Pausa Cafe, Maldives Cafe, Lacaf
Restaurants:
In the Old Quarter
TUNG Dining, Highway4, Bancong, Hello Hanoi, Ban Mi Pho, Banh Mi 25
In Tay Ho
Spicy Pho Bay, Avos & Mango, Chao Ban
Foods to Try:
Pho, Banh Mi, Bun Cha, Kem Khoi, Cheesy Waffle
Things to Do:
Train Street - “The Railway Cafe”, Ho Chi Minh’s House, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Tran Quoc Pagoda, One Pillar Pagoda, Quan Thanh Temple, Hoan Kiem Lake, Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo Prison Relic, Hanoi Opera House, Hanoi Heritage House, Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Presidential Place