EatLovePray - the blog

Having completed our exploration of the central coast we arrived at Hanoi, the scenic, buzzing, cramped, charming, capitol of Vietnam. Although Saigon is the country's largest city (there are as many motorcycles in Saigon - 7 million - as people in Hanoi), Hanoi certainly feels the most densely populated; perhaps due to its backpacker central being located in the Old Quarter - a heaping pile of shops, guesthouses, travel agencies, restaurants, and street food stalls that cater to tourists and locals alike served by a vascular network of winding streets and alleys that is constantly clogged by the plaque of motorcycles and other vehicles fighting with pedestrians to squeeze through the narrow passageways.

There is a clear distinction between Northern and Southern Vietnam, one that creates culinary, philosophical, cultural, and even violent tension. The best way we can think of for describing the split is to compare (and contrast) Saigon and Hanoi - the two metropolises that serve as the economic, cultural, and demographic hubs for their respective geographical sectors. While Saigon feels open, metropolitan and, at times, affluent, Hanoi is shrouded in a cloistered martiality held together by the scowls of uniformed military and police officials on many street corners. The well-maintained old Colonial French architecture of apartments, shops, and hotels lend a manicured charm to the wide boulevards in Saigon, while the slowly deteriorating facades of many buildings in Hanoi tinge the city with a patina that is equal parts poverty and a disinterest in cosmetic appearances. It is telling that the most well kept part of the city is probably the Ho Chi Minh Masoleum Complex. However, despite its stark appearance, Hanoi is certainly abuzz with activity, be it the steady stream of traffic, the sounds of haggling from the stalls of its 10+ block-wide night market, or the friendly chatter and laughter of locals and travelers hanging out in one of the many bia hoi (draft beer) sidewalk dispensaries all across the Old Quarter.

One of the Many Street Corners Occupied By Armed Military Guards

Hiding From the Sun While Walking Through the Old Quarter

We Did Say the City Is Alive, Didn't We?

We spent one day in Hanoi getting our sea legs after a night in a sleeper bus and a day touring around Tam Coc, and then a second day walking around the city to hit the touristic highlights. We started by taking a circuitous route from the Old Quarter to the Ho Chi Minh ~~Irony~~ Masoleum Complex to visit the Leninesque final resting place of the Vietnamese-Communist-leader-turned-deity. It's hilariously bizzare that a man who galvanized the country to fight for a cause that places the state above personal importance and riches is now enshrined in a multi-acre estate that is the most opulent site we saw in the entire city. Ho Chi Minh's body lays preserved in a glass case and if you told us that it was a wax replica instead of the real thing, we would not be surprised. The throng of guards patrolling the building would not let us violate the sanctity of the burial hall by taking pictures, so we had to settle for shots of the building from the outside and of some of the other sights in the complex.

The Long Line Waiting to Enter the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

A Battalion of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Guards Leaving Their Post At Closing Time

From HCM's final resting place (save for the month or two he spends in Russia for upkeep), we ventured along to some other tourist sights, including the Temple of Literature - an ancient university compound, and wrapped up the day by catching a water-puppet theater show. The show was just short and novel enough to remain an interesting cultural experience worth attending rather than one that you go to strictly out of the guilty uncultured sensation that foregoing it may stir up.

A Floral Book Display At the Temple of Literature

Water Puppet Show

Street Food Update:

Our favorite eating spot in Hanoi was a multi-tiered, heavily patroned, local joint that served bowls of glutinous rice with a myriad of toppings. Here is a shot of the rice with peanuts (which looked and tasted like mashed potatoes), fried onions, and a hard-boiled egg. On the side is a spicy/sweet pickled cucumber salad.

Here are some more food-related shots:

One of the Most Expensive Dishes We Ate, But Way
Worth It - a $4 Banana and Chocolate Crepe

Premium Weasel Coffee - the Coffee Beans Are Eaten
and Passed By the Weasel Prior to Roasting

Vietnam Is the Knockoff Capitol of the World - Here Is What
We Can Only Guess Is Their Version of Capri Sun

We'll wrap up Vietnam in a long post later on.

The central part of Vietnam, a thin backbone that hugs the coast and connects the north (Hanoi) to the south (Saigon) is dotted with many cities and towns worth a visit. On our way up to the capitol, we made stops in the ancient town of Hoi An, the city of Hue, and the picturesque countryside around Ninh Binh.

Hoi An is a small town, but it is renowned for its ancient quarter, nice beaches, and tailor shops selling custom-made threads. Since we opted to skip on the last two offerings, we did not linger long in the Hoi An, but we did spend enough time there to see the sights of the old town, take a cooking class, and make a pilgrimage to Marble Mountain. Hoi An's old town is pretty much what one would expect a stretch of blocks preserved purely for the spectacle of tourists to be. It's mildly architecturally interesting with a few worthwhile destinations and many pedestrian ones and it's busting at the seams with souvenir shops and other tourist money pits. Our cooking class consisted of a walk through the local market, a boat ride to our school's riverside property, and the actual lesson. We learned how to make spring rolls (again), a Hoi An specialty of a crepe wrapped in rice paper, and an eggplant clay pot dish. We also learned how to make rice paper (both fresh and dried) from scratch, a skill we hope to put to use often. Finally, we hired a private car to take us to Marble Mountain - a collection of temples, pagodas, and caves situated atop, around, and within what was a former island that has been turned into a mountain by the receding ocean. We explored the sights all around the mountain and climbed to the top to get a panoramic view of the ocean and the surrounding urban and rural areas.

A Building Emblematic of the Architecture in Old Town Hoi An

A Lovely Doorway In the Old Town

The Front of a Tailor Shop

Locals Riding Through Hoi An

More Old-Town Architecture

A Fishing Boat Docked At the River

Lanterns for Sale In the Night Market

Fresh Produce At the Market

Herb Garden At Our Cooking School

Avi Constructing the Salad Inside a Pineapple

Avi Participating In Cooking Demo On Vietnamese "TV" (i.e. Overhead Mirror)

Our Expertly Crafted Spring Rolls

Posing With Our Handiwork

Making the Rice Flour Crepe

The Crepe Rolled in Rice Paper

Cooking the Eggplant Clay Pot Dish

Our Attempt At Food Decoration

The Way Up Marble Mountain

Rach Posing In a Cave Opening

Avi Doing the Same

Rach Standing At a Marble Mountain Temple Gate

A Buddha Statue Inside a Cave Temple

Standing on the Elevator Bridge With a Pagoda Background - We Took the Elevator DOWN

The City View of Danang Atop Marble Mountain

Marble Statues for Sale

Of Course We Had to Throw In One More Food Shot - Passionfruit and Chocolate Mousse In a Hoi An Cafe

From Hoi An we moved up to the city of Hue, which we found to be mostly lackluster. We did walk around the citadel - housing the Nguyen Empire's forbidden city - and took a boat tour of the tombs around the city, but the grandeur of most of these places had long faded before we arrived and for the most part, they have fallen victim to the weeds and other squatters of nature that are the hallmarks of neglect and disrepair. One of the bright spots, however, was our tour guide - a quirky effeminate man with a keen interest in palm reading and a love for all things American, but especially Desperate Housewives, Angelina Jolie's lips, and J-Lo's ass. He took a stab at reading our fortunes and we found out that Avi will live to 85 and that we'll stay together through the end of our lives, but not without suffering some infidelities along the way. He also tried to read our past and although we don't remember exactly what he told us, the accuracy with which he interpreted the past makes us less than worried about his predictions for our future.

Entrance To the Citadel

Golden Statue Greets You Inside

One of the Few Intact Pieces Within the Citadel Compound

Wide Shot of the Grounds Inside

A Pretty Gazebo - We're Not Sure of Its Significance

The First Piece To Be Restored In The Citadel: A Tennis Court From the 60's. Go Figure...

One of the Many Gates

A Closeup On the Gate Doors

Kites Being Flown Outside the Citadel

Hue's Riverfront At Night

Ditto

Pagoda At a Riverside Temple

We Stumbled Upon a Vietnamese Music Video Shoot

Older Female Devotees Resting At the Temple

Warrior Statue At the Emperor's Tomb

Us Posing At the Tomb Site

Our Quirky/Awesome Tour Guide

On our way from Hue to Hanoi we stopped for a day in the city of Ninh Binh to take in the surrounding countryside. This is a highly recommended excursion! We met up with a Chilean traveler and the three of us rented a group of moto drivers for the day. We started off with Tam Coc - a stretch of fields, water, and rocky spires that is known as "Halong Bay on land" and after seeing the splendid site, we cannot argue with the moniker. Tam Coc is verdant (the many rice paddies), dramatic (the mounds that jut out amongst the fields to encroach upon the sky), serene (the 6 kilometer round trip boat ride on the lazy river that meanders through the countryside), and other-worldly (the dark and silent caves through which you pass along the way). After a two-hour boat ride, we climbed up one of the many spires to get a bird's eye view of the area. We then moved on to the Bai Dinh Pagoda, the largest pagoda in SE Asia. The complex is a giant rectangle along the gentle slope of a mountainside. The walls of the two flanks that climb up the mountain are honeycombed with thousands of small golden Buddha statues protected by glass cases and the top side houses three gigantic statues of Buddhas in different poses. We wrapped up the day with a rain-soaked tour of two small temples at Hoa Lu and a ride back to town.