My Brief Time in Hanoi

  
I've been wanting to go to this place ever since I started traveling around Southeast Asia. I've read about it in countless blogs and on the infamous tripadvisor and I knew I had to visit someday. I set my sights on the northern and central part of the country and initially wanted to go to either Sapa, Hoi An or Hue but the lack of available flights and the weird flight schedules (CebuPac flies only on Tuesdays and Thursdays) made me pass up on the opportunity a number of times. But I never stopped talking about it and sharing it to my closest friends that I wanted to visit Hanoi. Then one day my girlfriend gave me one of the most special gifts I received so far in my life such that the overwhelming feeling took me back to a time when I still looked forward to opening gifts under an illuminated tree and believed it came from a jolly old cheerful white-bearded man.

Anyway, Hanoi did not disappoint. It was a city which had a balance of everything I wanted in one place. Rich culture, cheap but amazing food and most of all, interesting and friendly people. 

The structures have been well preserved owing to the city's willingness to adapt and reuse old buildings. The french quarter with wide and spacious roads and charming occupation era architecture contrasted with the narrow alleys of the old quarter; every nook and cranny pulsating with life. It's like walking around the well paved roads of Intramuros and Escolta then eventually finding your way to the convoluted streets of Binondo.

I particularly liked visiting the Ho Chi Minh complex and staying there in the square in front of the mausoleum. The vastness of the place is just refreshing to the eyes especially when they are trained on a single structure at the center of it all. It just exudes reverence and respect. A fitting and proper memorial for a national icon. It's as if  just by looking at it I am already inspired to do magnificent things.

Kien and Edward from Hanoikids toured us around the political complex and while most the affluent and luxurious colonial buildings were preserved, it was pointed out to us that Ho Chi Minh led a very simple an humble life. He never resided in those palaces but instead preferred simple living quarters where he had a single bed, a dining room, and a study with a radio and portraits of Lenin and Marx. He would relax by the pond outside his house and feed the fishes. He had an interesting way of summoning them, he would clap three times and the fish would come out of the water. We also visited the museum but to somehow get a crash course on the history of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh but the information was just too much for me to retain.

After the tour we rested for a while then watched the Thang Long Water Puppet theater. It was a great show but it was unfortunate that my camera battery died by the time the show started.



The next morning we walked a couple of hundred meters to visit the Tran Quoc Pagoda. We took a few pictures outside before proceeding to our next tour. We weren't allowed inside since I was wearing a pair of shorts. While there are remaining temples in the city, we were told that most of the population are free thinkers.

In the afternoon we toured around the Temple of Literature and the French Quarter with Trang and Tai of Hanoikids. The Temple of Literature is the oldest university in Hanoi. Nowadays it has been converted in a museum. The Temple looks like a park lush with greenery and flowers. The presence of centuries-old structures added a meditative and relaxing mood. 

After the visit to the Temple, we went straight to the French Quarter. This part of the tour escaped me as I was busy talking with our tour guide. Tai is currently a student and aspiring to be in the banking industry when he graduates so he was interested in how banking works in my country. We made a stop by the Hanoi Opera House to rest then continued walking on until we reached the Old Quarter. The French Quarter was a typical affluent neighborhood surrounded by five-star hotels and boutique shops for luxury brands, nothing of which piqued my interest. 

As the day ended we just stayed by the beer corner and ate some snacks and I myself had a few drinks. We shared about our country as well and we were much surprised to know that we had a lot of things in common. We were cautious at first because they had a very different political system compared to ours but somehow being with them felt like we were never in a foreign place. Maybe it's because we shared the same love for street food or because most of the places we were shown or we were told about resembled something we have in our country as well. Or maybe because they were about the same age as we were and we instantly felt an affinity with them.

 

On our last day we went back to some of the other places we missed like the The Huc Bridge and ate some of the local fare which were recommended to us. We also went shopping for cheap stuff and suffice it to say we brought home a big haul.

 All in all, Hanoi is as familiar as it can be. It's like meeting someone you've never met in your life yet the experience was just all too familiar you thought you've known this person (or in this case the city) for a long time. I never expected to feel so secure in such a foreign place.

I've heard about its more frenetic cousin, Saigon, but I've never been there so I can't say much about that city. All I know is that Hanoi is one of rare cities I would go back to over and over again.

I just want to thank my friends from Hanoikids: Lê Trung Kiên, Nguyen Quang Thang, Rồng Con and Le Hong Trang for this very unforgettable experience. They were awesome.