Vietnamese Whirl Part 1– Ahoy Hanoi!

Narrowly avoiding Typhoon Kalmaegi by a matter of days, we felt our luck was in, as we landed in a balmy, hazy and slightly chaotic Hanoi.  We’d chosen to return to the Far East for our winter sojourn this year and after a quick pitstop in our favourite little hotel near the airport in Bangkok, it was just a short hop to the bustling northern capital of Vietnam.

Our home for the next few weeks was a modern apartment in the Tay Ho (West Lake) area of northern Hanoi – popular with ex-pats and supposedly the best district for “lounging around and relaxing”. Since Ian’s quite good at both of these, I figured this sounded a good place to base ourselves! The taxi service “Grab” was fairly widespread here, and at a princely sum of £2.50 for the 20-minute ride into the old town, day trips to see the sights would be an easy option.

The area seemed to be an eclectic mix of old and new – multi storey apartment blocks were squeezed in between lovely old French colonial houses and our place was reached down a winding lane off of a busy road. Luckily our host had helpfully sent a video directing us to our destination, but then unhelpfully advised us that our booked apartment was still occupied. They put us up in a dingy ground floor apartment for the night, but thankfully we were moved to a much brighter 5^th floor flat the following day.

Our first outing was a walk around the shores of the lake to find an ATM and do some food shopping.  We soon discovered why the young man in the microbrewery the previous night, seemed incredulous when we told him we planned to walk the circumference of the lake.  It wasn’t so much the distance…but the skills involved in navigating around the cars and bikes parked on the walkways, while then attempting to cross the roads.  I knew from my previous visit to Ho Chi Minh City back in 2009, that the technique was to focus on a point on the opposite side and just go for it!  The bikes and cars seem to be able to just drive around you.  It works, but is hellishly scary!

Not being a huge fan of East Asian “vegetarian” food, I was relieved to find out that this area was home to a variety of different eateries, from Italian and Indian (my favourite!) to Algerian and Mexican.  There seemed to be a pub or microbrewery on every block, which pleased Ian – and those we tried were excellent – and very popular with the locals. We also looked forward to discovering the “speakeasies” which were supposedly concealed around the vicinity.

We had certainly struck lucky with the weather, as “winter” usually meant dull, humid days. I think the typhoon must have blown the clouds away as we were treated to bright sunshine and temperatures in the mid 20’s.  Bravely setting off by foot around the lake towards the old town, we made it as far as Chua Tran Quoc, the oldest pagoda in Vietnam at almost 1500 years old and was set on a small island reached by a causeway. Obviously very popular with tourists, we dodged the crowds and continued on the Quan Thahn Taoist temple which we admired from the outside.

With no particular route planned, we stumbled next upon a huge complex of ancient buildings, which turned out to be The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. This UNESCO World Heritage site was not only home to the former home of the rulers of Vietnam but also the 1967 Building and several underground bunkers used by Vietnam’s Communist Party and Ministry of Defence as their HQ during the war with the US. Informative signs and photos provided an interesting insight into the defence of North Vietnam and the ultimate victory which led to the end of the war.

Feeling a bit peckish, we set off to find somewhere that I could try some real Vietnamese food that didn’t contain meat – not an easy task!  After a quick Google search for “vegetarian friendly” restaurants we struck gold with a great little place called “Met” offering vegetarian as well as meat dishes…and cocktails!  Our lovely waitress, Luna, even gave me a quick lesson in making fresh spring rolls – I think I’ll need to practise my technique judging by the mess I made trying to eat one!

Next Stop: Halong the bay…