1 night in hanoi
This weekend I decided to try some solo travel a little further than the alleys and streets of Hong Kong… I got up way too early on a Saturday morning and just a few hours later was in Hanoi, Vietnam. To find my AirBnB I first walked through a restaurant and out their back door, down various one-person wide gaps between buildings, through people’s outdoor kitchens (with spring rolls on the go in a fry pan) and ended up outside a grandmas bedroom. It was quite the introduction to Hanoi! First stop was exploring the city and a quest for Banh Mi (if you haven’t had one of these sandwiches add it to your bucket list) for lunch. The old part of the city is lovely and very walkable, it was also rather quiet which I found odd but later discovered it was due to the heat that everyone was just staying inside for the hottest part of the day. I probably should have considered that option as the rather extreme heat caused some unpleasant reaction between my feet and my sandals, and after not too long I was battling blisters. I would not let that stand between me and lunch though and found myself a lovely spot for a delicious sandwich, luckily it wasn’t too big as I had a LOT more food coming my way.
Around 2pm I met up with Oliver, my motorcycle and food tour guide for the afternoon. We spent 3.5 hours riding around Hanoi while he showed me all the sights and told me about the city. Our tour took in:
Posing on the motorbike in front of a very French looking cathedral
A winding ride through the city pausing for a cup of tea in an alley with an (in use) train track running through it
The 4km long mosaic wall built for the city’s 1000th anniversary
Two crossings of the huge dirty river including one direction on a bridge where everyone drives on the wrong side of the road
The produce plantations that feed the city, bananas and kumquats for miles
Buying mangoes from a roadside stall that turned out to be some of the best Mangoes I have eaten
A fresh pineapple juice by a lake with a grounded B52 airplane sticking out of it
The mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh’s body would be (except its in Russia right now) which was right outside the government building and the precious “one pillar pagoda”
Purposely running across huge grass fields back to the motorbike while getting nailed by the sprinkler system (best cool down method of the day)
As if that wasn’t enough we then ditched the motorbike, and were joined by one other tourist for the walking street food tour part of the evening. We spent the next 3 hours eating our way around the old town of Hanoi, such delights as:
Crispy fish noodle soup with a hint of pineapple juice in the broth that was just right
A platter of pockets of goodness, floppy mince filled rice paper; crispy spring roll, a huge deep fried dumpling type thing; fried savoury dough and fried sweet dough filled with bean paste
The thinnest rice paper rolls, once with mince and one with egg in the middle, covered in crispy onions and dunked in sauce very un-skilfully with chopsticks while literally eating in someones living room
Bun Cha -beef bits with saucy goodness that you pile high with fresh herbs and rice noodles
A “dry chicken noodle” dish that sounded quite unappealing but was as yummy as all the rest
The perfect dessert for hot weather of chopped fresh fruit with half n half coconut cream and condensed milk poured over it, topped up with ice as you go to keep it cool
The finisher - “egg coffee” (or egg hot chocolate in my case), a meringue-y type mixture served over your drink and decorated with chocolate sauce, the very definition of decadance
I was full beyond full and sadly could not even manage to finish everything I was given along the way. It was all utterly yummy and I cannot recommend this tour highly enough if you are ever in Hanoi!
It was all I could do to roll myself back down the crazy route to my AirBnB peel my sandals (and half the skin on my feet) off and fall into bed. My goal for Sunday morning was to start the day with Pho, a traditional Vietnamese breakfast, I found a really good place and slurped my way through a huge serving of broth, noodles and beefy goodness. Not my usual brekky but I can see why people like it, definitely keeps you full for a long time! I then headed to a local craft store where you can learn how to make leather goods. I wanted a multi-currency wallet and have not been able to find a suitable one to buy, so thought I would make one. This took me longer than expected but my feet were so shredded from Saturday that I was actually happy to relax in some air con and not walk around too much. It was very meditative hand stitching the bits of leather together and the final result was actually pretty cool if I do say so myself. I just had time for one last feast of noodles, herbs and beef, followed by a Mango smoothie before I headed for the airport.
I loved Hanoi and cannot wait to go back for a longer period of time with comfier shoes!
