Hanoi

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is a vibrant city where you can find a lot of history, temples, architecture, busy street life, and rich cultural heritage. We stayed five nights at the Skyline Boutique Hotel (no website) in the middle of the city center.

One of the more memorable visits we did was at the Train Street where every tourist in the city seems to come to watch trains pass incredibly close to cafes and houses. During times with no trains you can walk around on the tracks or have a drink right next to the tracks. Once the train is about to roll in, they move the tables and all the people back to let the train through. However, “moving back” means just by the necessary amount, you could still touch the train while sitting there.

We also paid the Army Museum a visit, which they just recently moved way outside of the city. When going there, we expected to be about the only ones in a small location with a few war planes because of its location and just being newly opened. Boy were we wrong! We arrived at probably one of the most massive buildings serving as a museum and one bus after the other dropping off visitors. While the place was still being developed, it was interesting to see some old planes, helicopters, and other vehicles and of course the impressive building itself. After our visit, we took a taxi (Grab) back to the city but came to an abrupt stop on a highway about midway to the city. The reason: the car ran out of gas. And when we said the museum was way outside of the city, it’s not like one full tank is not sufficient but an empty one sure isn’t. So we got out and waited for a bit before our driver could stop a delivery driver on a scooter whom he gave a couple of empty pet bottles and asked him to get some gasoline. Sure enough, after a while he showed up with full bottles and our trip continued. This time with a short detour to a gas station before dropping us off.

A unique cultural experience was the Thang Long Water Puppet Show, which is impressive to watch even without understanding much of the story being told (ask us how we know).

Speaking of culture, Christmas was getting closer and the related sales were also happening in Hanoi. There are at least a couple of streets that only consist of shops selling Christmas decorations. This felt kind of surreal given that we were wearing T-shirts and shorts and still sweat our asses off. Also, unlike what we are used to, some of the Christmas decorations in Vietnam seem to be a bit more shiny and of different color than what we are used to. But if you are into pink Christmas trees, this is the place to get one.

One of the personal highlights for Marina was meeting her Yoga friend, Julie, whom she had met in Laos.

Besides that, we went to “The Note Coffee”, a charming spot covered in colorful sticky notes. We were also writing some notes and pinned them on the wall. That was great fun!
Nearby, St. Joseph’s Cathedral impressed us with its neo-Gothic architecture. At Hoa Lo Prison, we learned about Vietnam’s complex history. We visited various temples such as Chua Quan Su Temple (not so touristy, a lot of locals praying), Ngoc Son Temple (very touristy) and the Temple of Literature. Further places we visited were the Tran Quoc Pagoda, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and the One Pillar Pagoda.

Overall, the city of Hanoi felt a bit too oppressive and noisy for us. There were quite a lot of people and always tons of scooters which all seem to be out to get you. It sure didn’t help that all the sidewalks are typically blocked forcing you to walk in the streets. So we were looking forward to going to a more rural area again.

Here is a list of good restaurants & cafés and in Hanoi:
- Katze Vegan and Vegetarian (traditional Vietnamese food, you get a lot of plates of food even though you didn’t order them)
- Paolo and Chi Pizzeria Old Quarter (yummi Pizzas)
- Ivegan (great vegan bowls, burger, fries)
- Always Café (Harry Potter café)
- The Note Coffee (Café where you can write a note and pin it at the wall.)Read more