Hectic Hanoi

The first thing you learn in Hanoi is how to cross the street. Walk slowly, with purpose, making no sudden changes in direction. Extra points for using other pedestrians as human shields, and for waving your hand at the oncoming traffic in the universal sign for "please, don't run me over." 

Hanoi is overflowing with with motorbikes. Whole families of four ride on one bike, with toddlers standing unbelted and unhelmeted on their parents' laps. There are few traffic lights or lane designations, and where they do exist, they are treated much more as suggestions than mandates. There is no point in waiting for a lull in traffic as this almost never happens; you have to just charge out into the fray and hope for the best.

The view from City View Cafe (see below).

School's Out at the school across the street from our hotel, which means traffic jam for an hour!

We got our first introduction to Hanoi traffic with "Miss Moon" of Hanoi street food tours. Our group spent three hours wandering around Hanoi's Old Quarter, sampling dishes from hole-in-the-wall shops and sidewalk venders that we would likely never found or have been brave enough to try on our own.  To cross the busy streets, Miss Moon explained that we should stick together in a bunch like sticky rice, and would periodically yell "STICKY RICE" to get us to group up.

Miss Moon showing us Hanoi's street food.

Katherine tries "pillow cakes" and fried spring rolls.

The food in the city is phenomenal, both in quality and cost. Any dish that costs over a dollar is probably a tourist rip off. Our favorite dish was bun cha, a barbecued pork noodle soup. 

At the bun cha restaurant.  It was so good, we went back for our last lunch in town.

Bun Cha!  Bacon-like strips and barbecued patties in a tangy/sweet soup with chunks of pickled green papaya and carrots.

The next morning we were met at our hotel by a guide from Hanoi Kids, an organization that pairs local students who want to practice their English with tourists who want free city tours! Our very enthusiastic guide took us on a tour of the Hua Lo prison (aka the "Hanoi Hilton"). The prison museum mainly focuses on the brutal conditions in which the French colonists kept Vietnamese dissidents, but also has a room about the American soldiers who were held during the Vietnam war (described here as "the American war of destruction.").

French guillotine in Hua Lo prison.

The uniform John McCain was wearing when he was shot down during the Vietnam War and brought to the Hua Lo prison.

We also visited the Temple of Literature, a thousand year old structure with beautiful gardens:

Our tour guide took us to a restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Hue, which was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty. The dishes were definitely more intricate and delicate than the Hanoi street food.

Later that day, we went to a water puppet show. Performers stand in several feet of water, directing their puppets from behind a curtain. It is a very traditional Vietnamese art, and was accompanied by musicians. 

We stopped off at City View Cafe, a touristy rooftop bar, after the show and spent some time watching people and traffic coming and going in the square below:

Afterward, we walked through a night market and ended up in the Bia Hoi street area. Bia Hoi is a fresh beer made without preservatives, and is meant to be drunk a few hours after brewing. We kept going past the touristy bars and ended up on a street crowded with locals who were all eating plates of what looked to be popcorn chicken. We sat down and tried to order by pointing at people's plates. Our waitress pointed at an English translation on the menu to show that it was actually fried fermented spring rolls. They actually tasted kind of like chicken!

For 5000 dong (about 25 cents), you get a cup of local beer to go!

When we saw all the locals, we figured we'd come to the right place.

Tiger beer, fried fermented spring rolls, cheese sticks, and various dipping sauces,

The next day we spent the majority of our time wandering around the city, visiting several museums, lakes, and temples.

Trấn Quốc Pagoda, the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi.

At the Huc Bridge on Hoàn Kiếm Lake, near the Hanoi Old Quarter.

Finally, for our final dinner, we went for a popular dish called "cha ca," which is a fish dish cooked on a hot plate with heaps of dill and scallions in front of you. We were the only tourists in the restaurant and although everyone else was left to handle the cooking on their own, our waitress took pity on us and showed us what to do. It was one of the best meals we had in Hanoi.

The cha ca spread: good thing the waitress showed us how to assemble everything.

The secret to a good cha ca: loads of dill and scallions.

On our last morning, we did a little window shopping, got some egg coffee (a Hanoi speciality -- coffee with egg yolk foam), and a second helping of bun cha.  We headed to the airport and off we went to Hoi An!  (We had some technical difficulties in Hoi An, so we're actually in Ho Chi Minh City now, and are a bit behind on blogging.  More soon!)