Hanoi…..our first steps and a nighttime street food tour

November 16th, 2019

We actually slept pretty well and woke up feeling remarkably gung-ho!! The hotel is well located to visit the Old Quarter > a nice though not luxurious room, comfortable bed…with lots of hot water…Cad 55 per nite including a copious breakfast and super pleasant staff

 

Pretty decent breakfast and with the weather promising to be nice, we feel quite stoked…..The game plan today is to take it one step at a time….a bit of a walkabout around the Old Quarter with the first order of business to score some local currency DONG, a Vietnamese SIM card and pay the balance on an upcoming tour.

The Old Quarter is pretty hectic, as we have read the sooner you reconcile yourself to the extreme level of traffic (scooters on steroids), hustle & bustle and sales folks who do not understand the word NO, the sooner you will get into the rhythm of this city.

With our “housekeeping chores completed”, it is time for some exploration. BTW you can see why cell phones are ubiquitous here > we paid 200m Dong (11 CAD) for 30 days of internet, data etc……take that TELUS thieves!!

It being the weekend, a number of the streets are pedestrian only and it is fun to see families enjoying themselves…. a real carnival atmosphere! The parents seem to take joy from having some free time with their kids.

There were bunches of kids in matching tee shirts with their teachers, fulfilling their assignments….by interviewing tourists in English, our lot was quite good, it shows that a considerable effort is being made by the school authorities.

We are concentrating our walkabout on the Old City ….as can be expected there is every type of activity on the streets and while there are some persistent pedicab drivers the drama seems overrated. I did get surprised by one guy who pointed at my boots, then dropped to his knees in front of me pulling at the rubber toe piece and trying to inject glue > a firm NO put an end to that mini scam.

There are a few local temples en route and these are havens of quiet….it is nice to escape the tumult on the streets for a few minutes…..

Lunch is at Banh Mi 25, which only serves banh mi> sort of a Subway sandwich but constructed with a tasty, crusty small baguette, mayo, fresh herbs and pate in our case (there being many other filling possibilities)……

…….quite tasty especially when chased down with a couple of Hanoi Bia’s….all for the princely sum of 75m Dong (Cad 4.25)….a conversation with a couple on a business trip from Shanghai > working on moving their sock business to Vietnam to circumvent Trump’s tariffs was free and interesting: they understood world events, had decent English and were clearly aggressive in a positive way.

The French colonial influence is still visible in many places including the Notre Dame Cathedral (unfortunately closed for renovations):

For the bikers reading our blog you too can get this machine (I suspect a reproduction):

Although fun, the jet lag started to kick and it was time for a siesta as dinner plans revolved around a 3-hour Vietnamese Street Food On Foot Tour starting at 18:00. The tour travels through the Old Quarter which comes alive in the evening, led by an Applied Languages major: great English, pleasant and knowledgeable about the ingredients, origins etc. of the different dishes. We were 5 in the group and ended up at 5 “restos” tasting local specialties: nem lui= grilled pork rolls, banh xeo = sizzling rice pancakes, bun cha = kebab rice noodles (YUM), banh cuo = steamed rice pancakes, finishing up with egg coffee (coffee with sugar, sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks frothed and placed on top of the coffee) > I haven’t had coffee in 3 years, but could not resist DEELICIOUS  > someone should market this in Canada, a definite winner !!

Some of these places we most definitely would NOT have entered on our own, it certainly gives one added appreciation of our lifestyle, some of these folks live in pretty crappy quarters……….. a bonus was getting an e-mail from Hue aka Sunflower detailing what we ate with the coordinates of the restos should we decide to go again ….USD 25 each but money well spent.

Since there was no beer/wine served we indulged on the way back to the hotel and then crashed….a very good day…we are happy with our jet-lag recovery.