Hanoi

After another overnight train ride (soft sleeper, more sleep) we arrived at 0530 in Hanoi.  With nothing scheduled yet, we headed for the neighborhood where the travel agency was located.  Everything was shut down of course,  so we went to the lake in the center of downtown.  It was just getting light, but things were bustling.  By the lake, many groups of people were doing Tai Chi or other exercise programs.  Someone in the group would bring a boom box, set it up with Vietnamese music playing, and start exercises.  Some groups were more organized than others, and all had different forms of workouts.  Lots of individuals also worked out, slapping their limbs, jogging in place, or stretching. 

About 0630 we decided to find some breakfast, and found a lakeside restaurant with early opening and a great view.  Another bowl of Pho and some coffee, and we were ready for the day.

We found Handspan Travel in the old city and started making arrangements.  We would leave the same night for the northern mountain town of Sapa for hiking; after four days we would return and go to Halong Bay for kayaking; spend two days in Hanoi and then return to Ho Chi Minh City.  We also arranged a tour of the Mekong Delta with Handspan.  Handspan is one of many agencies that provide guides, transportation, and other services for travelers to Vietnam, and has a good reputation for good service and equipment at reasonable prices.

The old town of Hanoi is a fascinating group of narrow streets, jammed with people on foot and motorbike.  The street level is retail, with houses in the upper levels.  There are wide sidewalks, but they are taken over as bike parking and outdoor cafes, so one must walk down the side of the street.

The town maintains an ancient tradition of grouping retail trades together.  There’s silk street, leather street, metalwork and hardware street, bamboo street, appliance street.  A fascinating array of materials on display.  What wasn’t on display was going by on bicycle or motorbike – birds, fish, veggies for sale; pipe, furniture, boxes being moved; food peddlers of all sorts.  Some people carried mobile cookpots – stove on one end of the carry pole and food to cook on the other; others carried fruits or vegetables to sell to occupants or passers-by.  Yes, they use carry poles with baskets on each end, and wear conical bamboo hats.  Bicycles and motorbikes are converted for hauling every imaginable item.  And the riders, most dressed for the workday, many carrying children, flowed continuously down the streets.

Mostly, we wandered the streets, amazed by the sights of ordinary Vietnamese life.  Also, the streets were laid out in an odd pattern and it was not unusual to take a while to navigate back to the hotel.  It made one hungry, and there was plenty of excellent food to be had.  Not far from the ocean, the seafood was plentiful and excellent.  Sometimes fried, but more often grilled or steamed, we had more shrimp, crab, squid and fish than we had in some time.  With light seasonings, the preparations were always different, completely unlike Chinese food and better than most Vietnamese restaurants at home.  More on food later; we’re off to the train station and the mountains. 

Lots of pics on Flickr of scooters, food and people of Hanoi.