6 Days in Vietnam: Arriving in Hanoi

I just finished editing, selecting, and posting my photos from my recent trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. As I sorted through them, I couldn’t keep from smiling. It really was a fantastic trip—a true holiday—and a great opportunity to see more of SE Asia. I don’t pause often enough to consider how cool it is that I live in Cambodia. That I’m a few hours plane ride to places like Thailand and Vietnam—and many more places I won’t get to visit (on this stint, anyway!). Never in my life did I think, or dream, of coming here. Yet, here I am.

Hanoi was beautiful. So green. So alive. So…different. Choosing Hanoi was kind of random. A couple of months ago I found a great deal on the discount airline, Air Asia. My roommate and travel buddy, Kerstin, and I made a quick decision and bought tickets that weekend before the deal expired. Then, we started to research Hanoi! The goal of this vacation was, essentially, to vacate. We’d been in Cambodia for five months and wanted to get out and see new places. Despite what I have previously written about being a ‘planner’ and ‘researcher’ (see posts on Koh Kong), my only planning for Hanoi was reserved for plane tickets, hostel reservations, and reading a tiny bit about a trip to Halong Bay (on the hostel website=not much). Kerstin did most of the reading up on Hanoi and told me it would be fun. That’s all I needed to hear!

I was (unusually) quick to blog about day one of our trip, a brief overnight in Bangkok. Seriously, I would have been content to relive that evening or something similar and call the vacation a success. It was pretty great. We did, however, have a plane to catch and a new country to explore! At 5am on Friday, we crawled into a taxi and set our sights on Vietnam. Driving to the airport in Bangkok before sunrise reminded me of the many similar rides I took to the airport in Rome, Italy. This would be the first of many instances where I wondered, “Where am I?” Eurasia has taken on a whole new meaning for me!

Please let us in?
Airports are airports. Yet, my experience in the Bangkok airport (smooth, uneventful, calm) was pretty nice compared to Hanoi! It seemed that we were never in the correct line! After running around in circles, we finally made it through customs. Thankfully, it was early in the day and we weren’t in a hurry. We also had the chance to chat with other Westerners as we all wondered what exactly we needed to do to get into Vietnam! With visas approved and passports stamped (I love getting my passport stamped!), we claimed our backpacks and exited the Hanoi airport in search of the “shuttle bus” that would take us into the city.

Despite the confusion with getting through customs, the transportation area of the Hanoi airport was quite organized! There were signs! And people in uniforms! We learned, after failed attempts to get information from random taxi drivers who approached us, that the people in the yellow dress shirts work for the airport! A very nice woman, in a yellow shirt, greeted us, asked where we were going, and directed us to the appropriate vehicle. We climbed into the front seats of a mini-bus that, once completely (and I mean every jump-seat) full, would take us into the heart of downtown Hanoi, just a few blocks from our hostel. At $2 a person, this was a great way to go!

Dodging a Scam
The mini-bus stopped a couple times as we made our way into Hanoi and most of the passengers, who were residents, got off before us. At the last stop, the driver and a helper, told the foreigners (me, Kerstin, and a German couple) to stay on and they would take us to our hotels. Nice!—or so we thought. The couple was dropped off first at their hotel. Then, the helper guy was asking us lots of questions about our hostel: did we have reservations (yes), did we get an email from Mark (um, maybe?) because he knows Mark and he’s a really nice guy, and so on. After driving a little further, we stopped on a street that wasn’t our hostel’s (I had been following street signs closely), another guy opened the van door and said he was from the hostel. I showed him our hostel confirmation and then he proceeded to tell me that they were full, but he knew another place that could take us. Um, what? I don’t think so! He pointed to a sign that said “Hostel” and said that was the place. I then told them that this was not the correct address and I wanted to go the “Hanoi Backpackers Hostel” on Ngo Treung Street. That’s when the helper guy said, “Oh, that hostel. Sorry, I was confused.” Yes, he was confused. And I was annoyed. The “helper” and the other guy got out. The driver then drove us a couple blocks, stopped at a random intersection, and we got out. Unfortunately, that “direct” ride to our hostel didn’t quite work out. But, we didn’t get sucked into a scam!


My First Cyclo Ride
Free from scammers, we stood on a corner and tried to figure out where we were and how to get to our hostel. Soon enough, a kind, older cyclo driver walked up to us and offered his helped. He said he knew the street and would gladly take us there in his cyclo! We crossed the street, saw the cyclo, and then wondered how in the world we were going to fit Kerstin, me, and four backpacks onto the little chair pushed by a bicycle! He insisted we could fit, so we climbed in! And, technically, we did fit—and I took pictures to document the fact! It was a slow ride those few blocks to the hostel, but I think our driver only had to get out and push twice. The $2 ride gave us a chance to relax and take in the street sights of lovely Hanoi! And this time, we made it all the way to the hostel—the right one at that! ...And I got my first cyclo ride! (I'd been wanting to ride on in Phnom Penh!)

Hello Hanoi!
Entering the hostel was like stepping into an alternate universe. We had entered “Backpacker World”—and I felt a little out of place. We checked into our room: a dorm-style room with bunk-beds, individual lockers, and a bathroom just for our room. This was definitely the cleanest hostel I’ve ever stayed in. At $7.50/night it was a great budget saver as well. While in “check in” mode, we signed up for the 3 Day/2 Night Tour of Halong Bay that we had checked on the hostel website. The Australian guy who signed us up (one of the owners) insured us that we were going to have a great time. We were ready!

At the airport in Phnom Penh, I stopped by the bookstore to purchase a street map of Hanoi. Instead, I paid a little more for a guide book (with really good maps). It was at the airport in Cambodia that I began my research of Hanoi. There was a whole section called “Cafés”. I’m pretty sure I read that section first! So, for lunch on our first day in Hanoi, we walked a couple of streets over from our hostel to Cafe Puku, a slightly hidden place popular with expats. The food was good, the atmosphere was chill, and we were just happy to finally be in Hanoi!

As soon as we began our street tour of the Old Quarter, I met one of the “tourist traps” found all Hanoi: I was “Yoked.” A sweet Vietnamese woman was selling bananas and pineapples from the yoke she carried on her shoulder. I’m used to street vendors, right? I smiled at her as she approached me and shook my head, “No, thank you!” Before I knew it, she had placed her yoke on my shoulder, put her hat on my head, and said “You want a picture?” Sigh. Since I was already set, I handed my camera to Kerstin for the picture. Then, because I’m nice, I bought two bananas (not the whole bunch that she offered me!) and vowed to stay away from all yokes for the rest of the trip! Even though I felt tricked into the whole thing, the picture is pretty cool!

Later that day we attended the popular Water Puppet Theater, a traditional Vietnamese art. Puppeteers stand in a waist-deep pool of water behind curtains. Beautiful music and song accompany the show as the puppets, on long poles, dance and swim in the water. It was fun to do something that was just about Vietnamese culture. I enjoyed just walking around--and being a place where we could walk! The sidewalks were wide and clean. There were lots of little shops to explore (and buy things!). There are lots of trees and parks in Hanoi. All the green was welcome sight! For dinner that evening we hit up another entry in my handy guidebook and enjoyed lots of new food! We took our shoes off, sat on cushions around a low table, and asked our waitress what to try! While the ingredients in Vietnamese food are very similar to those in Cambodia, the flavor was really different! After a yummy dinner, we found a cyclo to take us back to the hostel. Back at the dorm, I packed my bags for the trip to Halong Bay the next day. I climbed up into my bunk bed, chatted with my mom on Skype, and fell asleep fast! It had been a long day, but such a good one!