Many scenes in Hanoi
I started exploring Hanoi under the moonlight. I didn’t go to hotel when I arrived. I and Hy did not go to West Lake which was surrounded by many luxurious hotels. We didn’t start with a romantic scene but with a historic one. We went to discover the history at Truc Bach. This was a famous lake in history. North Vietnam shot American soldier airplane down and one of American soldiers made a parachute jump to this lake and survived. He’s John MacCain. He maybe wanted to forget this memory but this story was portrayed at How Low Prison Museum. This photo showed a picture of a group of Vietnamese men help John MacCain up to the bank of the lake. He was in jail for five years and a half. All of his clothes and parachute still was exhibited in the museum.
We continued to the next remain of the history at Huu Tiep Lake. Its nickname was B-52 Lake because there were some B-52 warplane components in this lake.
Hoan Kiem Lake - Vietnam
Not only about history of war, but Hanoi also had a lot of shopping places, especially the northern of Hoan Kiem Lake. It was an old area which was very chaos. This was 36 Hang street of Hanoi. The streets names in this area would have started with Hang and what it sold after. For example Han Bun was a street which sold mung bean noodle , Hang ma sold paper, Hang Bac sold accessories and jewelries, Hang Dau sold shoes, some of streets still sold stuffs liked the name of them, some didn’t. However the street would have sold the same thing along that street which was the uniqueness of them.
I lost and lost many times. The map that Hy gave me didn’t help that much. The weather was hot and humid. After I lost again and again, I started to understand the connection of those streets. Finally when I took a break by drinking orange juice at Tamarind Café,I found the old house which I intended to find across the street. That was what I learned from that day, what you intended to find, you wouldn’t. What you didn’t intend to find, you would.
There were tons of crafts in Hanoi. They were all from villages around. Hanoi women still loved to wear tailor-made clothes, that’s why there were a lot of talented tailors in Hanoi. I found my favorite at Tan My. This shop made only nightgowns for three generations. There were satin gown, silk gown, and cotton one. This was the must shop for everyone who came to Hanoi. This price was high, but the quality was so worth the price.
Not all Vietnamese food was European, but food in Hanoi was the most European in the country. I had the last dinner in Hanoi with a French meal. The taste and the atmosphere made me feel like I was in Paris, except for 90 degrees weather.
Tags: B-52 Lake, Han Bun, Hanoi, Hoan Kiem Lake, How Low Prison Museum, Huu Tiep Lake, John MacCain, Tamarind Café, Truc Bach, Vietnam
Never Been Hanoi
I never traveled to Hanoi before, I went there in last June. Hy told me that in June, Hanoi would have been full of Vietnamese. Hanoi is the center of education of Vietnam, so students and parents nationwide would have come to Hanoi to take University entrance examination. I couldn’t tell myself that Hanoi was crowed or not, only who lived here could tell.
I knew Hanoi from many narratives, especially about slowliness and romanticness. Maybe it came from people behavior, big trees, lakes, bicycles, beautiful buildings or cold weather in winter that made people think of Hanoi in that way. I was walking around Europe area, the sound of horn from traffic was not much noisy as in Saigon. Hanoi was like an elegant woman to me.
Long Bien Bridge - Vietnam
Hy, my friend who worked as a chef here, introduced me to a pretty female guide. She took me to Long Bien Bridge. This bridge crossed Dang River, this was the first place that America dropped a bomb in Vietnam War. This bridge was a path for VietCong to transport rice from Hanoi to Hifong island and China. It was designed by the same architect as Eiffel Tower in Paris, Gustave. When I told this history to a girl, she didn’t know this before even she’s Vietnamese. Then We rode in the rain under our own raincoat to Saint Joseph Church. That was Sunday when we went there, we quietly watched people conducted their ceremony. The road next to a church is Nha Tho road. There were many little cafes in Parisian style around that road. There were also designer shops, both foreign and local, that’s hard not to stop by. Church and shopping, they were very different things just around the corner.
Banh Cuon
Hy had his turn to take me to eat street food. Banh Cuon is the first we tasted. The restaurant was very tiny, but Hy told me that the owner was a millionaire. That aunt who busily cooked Banh Cuon sold Banh Cuon until she was rich but she didn’t change anything to her restaurant. The secret receipt was in the flour. Banh Cuon of this place consisted of nine types of flour that no one knew what they were. We continued to the next place which is very near to the Banh Cuon one. It was Bun Bo Nam Bo. Pho from this place was impressive. I was very regret that I didn’t know we would have two dinners in a row like this, so I was full from the first place and could not eat much in the second place. However Hy had to have dinner with his family as the third dinner for him. I had no idea how he could do that!
I walked after dinner alone at night market, not far from where we ate. Don Huan Street was crowned with people holding cheap beer in hands. I was a little confused why so many people drinking beers here, it was like Kaosan Road in Thailand but Kaosan Road was way better. I had no choices but walking and photographing around.
Tags: Banh Cuon, Bun Bo Nam Bo, Dang River, Don Huan, Eiffel, Gustave, Hanoi, Hifong island, Kaosan Road, Long Bien Bridge, Nha Tho road, Parisian style, Saint Joseph Church, VietCong, Vietnamese
Travel with changes in Saigon
Many years ago, I wanted to go home on the first day I arrived Saigon. There were many reasons, annoying Cyclo (tricycle richshaw), chaotic street, loud horn noise, or endless price negotiation when shopping.
Saigon - Vietnam
I came to Saigon again with the second time in a same year. Park Hyatt came to Saigon in 2005 and that made everything here more expensive. My Vietnamese friends also said that. In the past, Saigon is the destination of backpackers. Banana chocolate pancake, hot Vietnamese coffee, Pho or noodle, Baguette, and many more, they were all in low price and you can find them to eat all day long. But this change in Saigon was not all bad, it brought many interesting things. I liked staying around District 1, Bui Vien Road, low-price accommodation spot for travelers. There were many good restaurants with low price. After enjoying food I enjoyed shopping around there. Furniture in Vietnamese style, Ao dia – Vietnamese traditional style, accessories and souvenirs were all there. There were not many restaurants and shops like this when I came to Saigon many years ago. Time passes, everything changes in a good way and a bad way. The best way is to accept and enjoy it.
Tags: Park Hyatt, Saigon, tricycle richshaw, Vietnam
