Vietnam 2024 – Trip Report 10

Friday 20 September – Hanoi

Friday 20 September

Awake at 7.30am, which ain’t going to happen, and then all of a sudden, it’s 8.45am.

Downstairs just after 9.00am, and it’s fried eggs, fruit, and some juice.

Back up to get ready for nothing in particular, and then back down for a quick chat with Jenny.  She knows about the expected arrival of the print, some time today, so will keep an eye out.

Outside by 10.00am, and up to Hang Bong.  The loose plan is the Mausoleum, and maybe even West Lake, but with it already warming up, we may not make it that far.

Almost to the railway line, and we feel like we’ve spent the whole time dodging stuff on the footpath.

Of course we have, as you always do in Hanoi, but sometimes it just feels more in your way than others.

But it’s not a complaint.

We reach the railway line, and then somehow stray from Dien Bien Phu Street.

It wasn’t intentional; I’ll put it down to my brain switching off; and it doesn’t matter anyway, as walking the ‘wrong’ street often results in finding good stuff.

And it just so happens that we do.  It’s not overly significant or impressive, but we’ve managed to find the ‘entrance’ to Ga Hanoi (Hanoi railway station) and the rail yards.

I didn’t even know there was an ‘entrance’, thinking that the track simply ran into the station, but seeing as there’s a gate that can be closed across the track, then, well, I guess they made it an entrance.

And probably an exit, too.

Anyway, it was nice to ‘find’ something.

The ‘entrance’ to Ga Hanoi.

On we go, and the street becomes meat grinder / grain mill street on one side, and knives, machetes, padlocks, scissors, pliers, the heads of gardening implements street, on the other side.

It fascinates me, and always has done, but also impresses me, as people fix stuff, rather than throw stuff away.

The heat is becoming a thing, and in the interests of marital happiness, a nearby coffee cart is utilised.

He hands me a menu, and seeing càphê nâu đá listed, I forgo the urge to ask for cà phê sữa đá, and give it to him in my bestest Vietnamese.

I get a confused look.

Shattered, I then point to the menu.

“Ahhhh, nâu đá”, he says, saying it the same way that I did.

I’m used to it, and in the end, it probably makes the times when they understand immediately, just that little bit better.

We take a seat on the footpath, càphê nâu đá’s (20 000 Dong) savoured, and world, which is pretty local up here, watched.

It’s a constant stream of bikes and cars, most going the correct way down the one-way street, with a number of bikes also making their way through a narrow laneway in front of us.

I love these lanes, and I love how everyone waits their turn, seeing as it’s very much a ‘one bike at a time’, scenario.

Coffee done, and rather than correct our error to continue with the loose plan that was the Mausoleum, I make the executive decision that it’s going to be streets unknown.

Back down past ‘Hardware bits and pieces street’, and then off to the right and along the road that runs behind the station.

It’s a bit industrial, but maybe more commercial, which is perhaps not surprising, due to the area’s proximity to the train station.

We walk past a number of large-ish printing type places, as well as drinks distributors, with pellets and pellets of water and soft drink stacked high.

It’s like a different world, and one that feels so far removed from the Old Quarter.

Google Maps is consulted, and it appears that there is a lake on the other side of the buildings on the right.

We find a narrow lane, one which we would never have walked down in the early days, and sure enough, we find the lake.

It’s a reasonable sized lake, surrounded by houses and buildings, but also one that is fairly typical of many Vietnamese city lakes, in that it’s not overly picturesque, nor inviting.

Not that I would swim in a city lake anyway.

There is a temptation to walk some of it, but with the sun and the heat now very much a thing, we retreat to the relatively shaded road we were just on.

The ‘industrial’ feel gives way to smaller commercial places like shops and food places, along with a number of bia hoi establishments, which at 11.00am, are already rather busy.

We continue on, leaving behind the larger, more refined, for want of a better word, commercial side of things, and find ourselves in a much smaller local community environment.

Local markets, street vendors, lots of friendly kids calling out ‘hello’, along with small hems that very much remind of Saigon.

I love it.

The sights of Hanoi.

Google Maps gets us back to a main road, which just happens to be Nguyen Khuyen, the road we actually sat on while enjoying our earlier càphê nâu đá.

Back then it was just some street, its name of no real importance, but we have now been educated.

The heat is a big thing, and with it now being 12.00pm, the decision is made to do something about lunch.  But more importantly, try and find somewhere to sit.

We find a bánh mì place, and take a chance, with bánh mì opla for Lisa, while I go with a bánh mì with chicken.

The opla, apparently, is not bad, but the chicken one is rather ordinary, while we sit outside on the footpath.

As we do, the kids at the school opposite, swarm out for their lunch break, and we’re soon surrounded.

Not because of any real interest in us, although we did get a few looks, but because our bánh mì place of choice, clearly exists to capture the student market.

Probably explains the ordinary quality of mine.

It doesn’t matter, it’s food, and it does the job.  But not as well as the bottles of flavoured tea, which were much needed, as sweat continued to run down the vast majority of my body.

Lunch done, all for 56 000 Dong, which also included a bottle of water, and our walk to wherever continues.

We find the Temple of Literature, reminding me of the irony of my original tattoo, and then we walk part way around it.

Another main road is reached, and the traffic is absolutely nuts, to the point that I’m really not sure how we’re going to cross, despite the fact that the intersection is controlled by traffic lights.

We do eventually make it after the leap of faith is taken, and we make our way in the general direction of the Mausoleum.

Even though this morning’s eggs and the lunch of chicken, are, kind of related, my stomach alerts me to the fact that they are currently not behaving that way.

Past the various embassies, and then to the turn off to the Mausoleum.  I’m tempted to give it a miss, partly due to the heat, and partly due to my current health issue, but we have a tradition to uphold.

We head over, take a selfie, and then retreat.

Just for old times’ sake.

Back down Dien Bien Phu, past the military museum and Mr Lenin, and then to the guard controlled railway line.

The flag tower at the Military Museum, which, incidentally, has now been moved; the museum, not the flag tower; to a new location.

A slight detour is made so as to walk down ‘food street’, and I manage, purely by accident, to find Puku Sports Bar.

I often hear about it, but I’d never stopped to actually see where it was, mainly because I have less than no interest, but it was, kind of, nice to find it.

Down the rest of ‘food street’, and while we’ve never eaten here, and only walked it a handful of times, it gives off the same vibe as all of those previous times, which is an underwhelming one.

We make it back to the Emerald around 1.00pm, after doing a water stop at the expensive-ish convenience store up the road, and have a chat with Jenny, and no, the print still hasn’t arrived.

Upstairs for a rest and recovery session, but not before spending quality time in the toilet.

Yeah, wasn’t great, but hopefully that’s it.

Rest had, and we head back out around 3.00pm.  Up to Affetto, seat taken on the footpath, cà phê sữa đá in hand, the usual world watched.

A group of four tourists out the front of the souvenir shop next door.  The pile of Tin Tin prints; next to the hand held fans – again, when did this become a thing?; are perused by one of the tourist women.

Not once, but twice.

It’s interesting, they have two sizes now.  The normal, which I guess is now the large, and a smaller size, which I guess are now, well, the small.

Cute, but I really don’t need anymore.

They’re perused again, her three companions wait patiently by.

She then starts on the magnets.

The shop owner brings out stools for her friends.

The peruser is blissfully oblivious to anything else going on around her.

Oh to be that way…..

A sale is eventually made.  But probably not enough to even cover the stool rental.

Coffees done (25 000 Dong each), we start making our way back towards the Emerald, but the long way, seeing as it’s not quite 4.00pm.

Down to Bao Khanh Street, our bánh mì skewer lady is there; we really need to go back; and then into Hang Hanh Street.

It looks a bit different.  Still good, but feels a bit more upmarket.

But then again, the Old Quarter, well, parts of it, look a bit different this year, too.

New shops, both trading and in the process of being fitted out.  But they’re shops that appear to be targeting the higher end.

More upmarket coffee shops.  An extra bespoke tailor shop, or two, which I hadn’t really noticed before.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, and I’m just noticing more this time?

Anyway, it’s still good, but it does make me wonder where it is all going to end up?

Past the old Artisan Boutique, that hasn’t been since some time before September 2019, and the Artisan Lakeview opposite, which now also isn’t.

The era had come to an end, which was our doing, post Covid, but now they’ve made it permanent.

The world has moved on.

We hit the massage places.  Not because we can see them, but because we can hear them.

“Hellooooo, massaaaage……?”, said in that whiney, high pitched way, that you imagine sounds exactly like a cat, should cats be able to talk.

It’s been a thing for a number of years, but it now feels more full on.

It annoys me.

But that probably has more to do with my age.

Back to the Emerald, Lisa dropped off, then up to Bat Dan.  The sky is pretty dark; it actually rained during our rest and recovery session; but doesn’t look too threatening at the moment.

Seat taken, beer arrives, as does the woman from last year, along with Viet Willie.

Viet Willie gives me a knowing smile, the woman does not.

I still have work to do.

Pyjama guy turns up, but this time in a taxi.  He hops out, leaving the door open, and heads across to the lotto store.

The taxi driver then also hops out, but only to walk around and close what pyjama guy should have closed.

PJ guy returns a few minutes later, says something to Willie, then hops back in the taxi, stopping briefly to spit on the ground, and then this time, actually closes the door himself.

Yes, he ‘fascinates’ me.

The afternoon rolls on, and it’s the same people, and the same sights, as they go about their lives.

The hạt dẻ guy with his microwave, the rubbish ladies, the fruit ladies who would put me to shame, and then the polystyrene guy with his bike loaded up.  Missed the damn photo again!

A cyclo driver is pulled over by the police just around the corner.

He’s forced to leave his cyclo on the side of the road, and is then escorted a few metres away for a discussion.

He’s smiling, but it appears a little put on.

Money is handed over, and as returns to his ‘bike’, he has a brief chat with a second cyclo driver who has come up Bat Dan.

The second cyclo rider promptly does a U-turn.

I don’t know, but my guess is they’re perhaps not allowed this far up.

Some underestimate his importance.  I do not.

My mate Thien is looking after me today, and each time he returns with a beer, he stops, seemingly wanting to talk to me.

But he appears to be unable to bring himself to say what he wants, and instead, frowns at me in a way that suggests he’s disgusted in me drinking all this beer.

It’s funny, and he makes me laugh, but I do feel for him, as he really does seem to want to have a conversation with me.

Again, if only I possessed the intelligence to be able to solve his problem.

Beers done, I head off about 6.00pm, dropping in for supplies, but not a Vietnamese lesson, with Linh not working again.

Into the Emerald, and Kate is at the desk.  The print has arrived.

I open it in front of her, and while I had seen the drawing before, it was on a tablet, and therefore not really a physical thing.

It looks different, and it now looks so much more real.

It’s a drawing of a photo, and while it’s an incredibly happy photo, it’s actually rather difficult to look at now without an overwhelming feeling of sadness.

I explain the significance of it to Kate, which, perhaps not surprisingly, wasn’t easy.

Upstairs to get ready, show the print to Lisa, and she’s a bit disappointed.  It’s darker than she thought it would be.

Back out at 7.00pm, and the easy option will be taken with phở bò around the corner.

Four doors down Hang Manh, and it starts raining.  Torrential raining.

If I was religious, I might say biblical.

We shelter under an awning, entertained by the whole impressiveness of the storm.

It eases, slightly, so I leave Lisa and head back for the ponchos.  Kate suggests an umbrella, which sounds far more appealing than plastic clothes.

Her offer is taken up.

Back to Lisa, the rain still hammering down, and we make our way around the corner in ankle deep water.

It takes me back to Tam Coc.  It’s fun.

Seat taken, several tarpaulins taking one for the team, and then BANG!

The night sky lights up, and as it does, it’s accompanied with the loudest crack of thunder I think I’ve ever heard.

It’s that loud, that people jump, then look at one another with shocked looks on their faces, before then laughing at what we just experienced.

Phở bò (50 000 Dong), as always, is excellent, as too the beers (20 000 Dong), but again, it’s all about where we are.

But tonight, made even better dealing with the environment that we’re doing it in, as well as the people we’re doing it with.

It feels like a kind of camaraderie thing.

Dinner done, and as we finish off our beers, one of the women pokes the tarpaulin to release the pooled water.

She’s successful, as the water comes gushing down, but in the process, a fair chunk of it lands on Lisa.

A shocked look or two returns, but then lots of laughter, as Lisa takes it the right way.

One of our more memorable dining experiences comes to an end, and we make our way up to Bat Dan.

They’re a bit busy, and we end up having to sit around the corner, looking in the direction of the train line.

That’s okay, but because we’re a little out of sight, we’re also out of mind.

We still manage to achieve some level of service, including being able to try a bag of real roasted peanuts (12 000 Dong), as opposed to those awful boiled or steamed ones, that are so soft and insipid, that they have the ability to turn you off peanuts for life.

The rain becomes a thing of the past, and Lisa heads off around 9.30pm.

Another beer is ordered, but never arrives.

Feeling more than a little neglected, I give up and go and pay the bill.

Not quite ready to return ‘home’, I head off down the road that runs next to the train line.

Past a really busy bia hoi place just around the corner, which tempts, but doesn’t win, me, and then onto a thịt chó ‘restaurant’, with half a puppy out on display, still awaiting consumption.

Under the train line, a smaller, and very quiet, bia hoi place offers its services, but I’ve reached a point where it all just feels like a waste of time.

Back into the Old Quarter, past Dong Xuan market, and back down to Stainless Steel Street, with the yellow chair touts not even bothering to look at me.

Into the Emerald, there’s three people waiting for the lift, and with the lift’s capacity being about three people, I ain’t waiting.

Up the stairs, meeting my lift waiters on the fifth floor, and then onto the bed for the usual.

A great walk seeing stuff we’ve not seen before, a stomach issue that looked like it may derail the day, a storm, and a dinner, that was up there with the best, and then the feeling of being ignored, to finish off the day.

That rollercoaster thing, that Vietnam, and holidays in general, can sometimes be.

Pin pulled at 12.00am.

Yep, too late again.

Cheers,

Scott