Hanoi - More than Meets the Eye.
What an oddly beautiful, charming city.
And I say that lovingly, really.
When I landed in Hanoi after nearly twenty four hours of travel, I felt like I was more sleep walking than I was actually awake. While I had a mercilessly seamless day of travel, my flights over to the country were brutal nonetheless. Yet as I was made my way into the city that night, what struck me was, A) how many people live in Hanoi, B) how even though the city may seem run down in appearance, given a second glance you can see the beauty beneath, and C) there’s something there for everyone to see, do, experience.
And in the few days that followed, my curiosity about the city only grew. With each day that I walked around the city, more little alleyways, shops, and parts of town that I hadn’t already discovered appeared, giving me glances into how multifaceted the Vietnamese culture is.
It didn’t help that I was in the city during Tet - the Vietnamese New Year.It definitely started things off with a bang.
Literally.
Day 1
Landing in Hanoi, the hostel I had made a reservation with sent a driver to pick me up from the airport, continuing my seamless travel day. After getting dropped off and checking in, the hostess told me that it was their new year (Tet) beginning that night at midnight - one hour from then. What a coincidence. When I had originally planned the trip, I had no idea that I was planning it during Tet, much less that Tet is the largest holiday in Vietnam’s yearly calendar.
So I dropped my bags off and ran up to the roof of the hostel where a group of other travelers were standing, all waiting for the New Years fireworks to begin.
And while I was nearly delirious from exhaustion, standing on the rooftop with a beer in hand, knowing how I had stumbled into being in Vietnam during their biggest holiday of the year - well. It was one of those “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade” moments.
I went to sleep that night knowing the next day would be just as adventurous as the first. If only I knew.
Day 2
So there are quite a few perks of staying in a hostel. To list just a few:
You get to meet tons of other travelers from all around the globe, all with the same excitement and love for travel as you.
Your hostel will oftentimes help you plan parts of your trip, coordinating transportation and excursions for you to go on.
If you choose the right one, breakfast is free.
That last one is a big perk, especially for someone who loves breakfast as much as I do.
Waking up my first morning, I stumbled downstairs to grab said free breakfast, sitting down with couple of guys from South Africa. That morning’s conversation was mainly about the vote that had taken place in the country just the day before to strip their president of his power, relinquishing it to a successor.
It was neat to talk with people who actually knew the implications of the vote and who could tell me - an outsider to most of it - all about it. Refer to point one above of perks that come with staying in a hostel.
I left to go cruising around the city shortly after, armed with my camera and phone to help with navigating. Walking around the main city center, I stumbled upon this ancient temple set on an island in the middle of a lake. Walking around snapping pictures, taking in all of the Tet festivities, I reached into the front pocket of my bag to grab my phone to navigate to the next part of the city.
Grasping around, finding nothing, my stomach dropped. My phone wasn’t there.
Come to find out, my phone wasn’t anywhere, save for the hand of the person who had managed to swipe it from the front pocket of my backpack as I walked around, completely distracted by what was going on around me.
This is partially on me, seeing as I was the one dumb enough to put it in a pocket on the front side of the backpack, facing away from me. Backpacking 101 (or simple common sense) should tell you not to do that.
Well. I did it, and now I’m paying the consequences.
So learn from my mistake, people.
After scrambling around trying to get my phone wiped and changing the passwords to the financial apps I had installed on it, I managed to sit down at a pho shop to catch my breath and eat one of my favorite Vietnamese meals. For those of you who don’t know what pho is, click here to discover what it is.
Truly life-changing. I’m being only slightly dramatic.Having spent the majority of the day walking around the city, I came back to the hostel a little earlier than I had planned to. I guess I was still catching up with the jet lag. In the main lobby of the hostel, I found out that every night starting at 7PM they serve free beer from a keg to whenever it runs out.
Pho earlier that evening and now free beer? I was in heaven.I sat down with a guy from Canada who told me he was from the northernmost actual city in the country, with its current temperature close to negative eighty degrees. He had been on the road for the past two months all throughout SEA, with this trip actually being his first one out of Canada.
Here he was doing the damn thing, and I loved hearing his story.
Goes to show that travel truly is possible, even to those who’ve never done it before.
Day 3
My last day in Hanoi, but a great day, nonetheless. I had managed to catch up on a bit of sleep that night and walked around the city a bit more than I had the day previous. And while I had gotten plenty of steps in the day previous, I had seen more of the touristy parts of town. My last day I wanted to see a side of the city that was a little more off the beaten track.
It wasn’t hard to find.
Sure, I had a list of things I had written down to potentially see. Museums, shops, etc. But one of my favorite parts of traveling is the spontaneity of it. Of being able to wake up one day without any idea what your plan is and setting off nonetheless, not knowing what you’re going to see or do, but knowing that it’ll probably be pretty epic, whatever it is.I managed to find my way to an old railway station which overlooked the eastern part of the city, a tea shop nestled in what looked like a tree (literally), and down all sorts of small alleyways crammed with street vendors and mom and pop stores. Looking down at my watch, I was surprised to see that I had been walking around for five hours and hadn’t even noticed it. I settled down for dinner that night and ordered a hot pot - a dish where you tell them what you want, and they bring the raw ingredients out to you. On a burner they set in front of you, you cook those ingredients, making however much you want of whatever you want. Kind of like your own personal hibachi grill. Typically it’s a dish you do for a large party of people, so for just the party of me, there were plenty of leftovers...but tasty nonetheless.
I boarded a sleeper bus that night and set off for Lao Chai in the hopes of getting some hiking done in the northern part of country. I can’t wait to share more of that with you soon. It’s been amazing.For your own reference - if at all interested - I’m going to include those places I stay throughout my trip and the pros and cons of each. Use my suggestions as you will. I hope they help.
Where I stayed: Republik Backpackers Hostel
Pros:
Amazing atmosphere with tons of travelers from all over.
Free breakfast starting at 7AM and free beer starting at 7PM every night until the keg runs out.
Clean bathrooms.
Will book your bus and train tickets for you.
Cons:
Music from the bar downstairs can be loud when trying to sleep.