Although we took a car from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, we decided to go by train on the way back, for cost, time and other reasons.
From prior experience, I had become concerned over the two weeks we had been in Vietnam that I might have a DVT in my leg and wanted to see a doctor as soon as we got to Hanoi.
I found a private clinic online that had English speaking doctors and made an appointment for the early afternoon, after we had dropped our luggage at the apartment we had rented for the next 5 days. [Upshot: the clinic was very modern and efficient and one test indicated no DVT but another one was slightly concerning, so the Hanoi doctor put me on blood thinners for the remainder of the trip.]
From Ninh Binh, we travelled on the standard HCMC to Hanoi train, made up of several sleeper cars and one regular passenger car, which we booked seats on. As soon as we boarded, we became aware of just how special our previous Vietnamese train experience had been—this was a well-worn car, with beat up seats and absolutely no frills: no ‘dining car’, no pretty violinist, no potted plants in the washroom.
It was less than a three hour journey, so it was completely bearable, and far better than sitting in traffic on a motorway, as we had done on the way down to Ninh Binh.
When we arrived in Hanoi, we caught a Grab to our apartment in the old city, though we could not for the life of us figure out where it was when we were dropped off.
We only saw small shops along the street—above one of which ( Anta Sports-a store selling only upmarket t-shirts) was located the apartment we had booked. (In the photo above, the apartment is behind the trees on the 6th floor of the very skinny fancifully-columned building!)
When we entered the shop, a young salesgirl handed me her phone, on the other end of which was the apartment manager telling me the apartment couldn’t be occupied since there was a ‘problem’ they were fixing and we’d have to go to a hotel for the night.
We were extremely unhappy about this, but she promised we’d have a nice hotel room with a big window and a balcony plus early check-in and breakfast, so we reluctantly agreed, and they put us in a cab and took us to the hotel.
Surprise, surprise, we did NOT have a balcony or a large window—it was a dinky little room with barely enough space for our bags, no seating and no view but we were willing to put up with it for one night.
Then, the apartment manager messaged that while we would be able to check in to an apartment in the original building the next day, we would have to move apartments on the following day—checking out at 10 and not being allowed into the new apartment until 2 pm, effectively making us ‘homeless’ during the hottest part of the day.
We now suspected she had double booked our apartment and we strenuously objected to moving again so we were allowed to stay in the dinky hotel room for 2 nights, finally moving in to the apartment on the third day.
We had really looked forward to a relaxing 5 days in a spacious apartment with our own kitchen and washer/dryer, so all of this was very disappointing, and we let the manager know how unhappy we were.
Because we contacted Booking.com to let them know what was going on, she threw in a free laundry service at the hotel, a free airport transfer at the end of our stay and knocked one night off our tariff, all of which we were happy to accept, but when we finally got into the apartment on the third day and saw how nice it was, we were sad we hadn’t been able to spend 5 nights there. (Yes, the washer/dryer was on the balcony! It worked great!)
In contrast, the hotel room was barely tolerable, but the hotel staff were lovely and the location of the hotel was fantastic-right in the middle of the old city, with a lively bunch of street stalls lining the alley on either side of its entrance door. (The glass door at right with the motor scooter in front was the front door of the hotel!)
We had heard a lot about the old quarter of Hanoi, and it definitely lived up to its billing.
Tree lined streets, winding alleyways, a vibrant food culture, colorful shops and stalls- it all added up to an exciting city to visit.
As we explored the city, we noticed that whole streets were devoted to one type of merchandise: ceramics in one, wooden goods in another, funeral monuments in a third and so on. One street had shop after shop that sold nothing but these golden lotus shaped lighting fixtures.
We loved seeing the many ‘portable shops’ — motorbike vendors like this one selling potted plants and another festooned with various brooms and dusters.
Beginning on the train into the city, we also saw dozens of ‘tube houses’ in Hanoi- not as elaborately designed as those we saw in the countryside, but even taller and skinnier.
There is quite a bit of French architecture around the old city as well, especially around West Lake like this one below.
In the French Quarter of the old city, I spotted a beautiful French chateau flying the American flag that I was all set to photograph when a VERY stern Vietnamese official screamed at me to stop (I complied, of course).
I later learned it was the US ambassador’s residence. 😳
Near the old city is a pretty lake Ho Hoan Kiem whose island houses a historic Confucian temple that is lit up at night. Throngs of people go down to stroll its shores in the evening to enjoy the sight and its slightly cooler breezes.
There is another, larger lake northeast of the old town, West Lake, that we visited on one of my many SE Asian treks to find out-of-the-way GF bakeries. A causeway passes between West lake and a small recreational lake, Truc Bach, filled with swan shaped pedal boats. It was into this tiny body of water in the middle of Hanoi that John McCain landed when he ejected from his disabled jet.
Our Grab dropped us at the wrong location, and we had to walk around part of West Lake ( a very exclusive neighborhood where we could barely make out the buildings on the other side through the smog), but in the end we located the gf cafe and it did not disappoint. Once again, I indulged in waffles and took some delicious baguettes and muffins home with me.
We also observed a lot of propaganda-ish signs and posters all over the city, many with Ho Chi Minh—often in schools.
We did not get to see Ho Chi Minh himself as the mausoleum’s hours were very limited and we just never made it on time. We did make it to the Imperial Citadel, though there is really not that much to see other than a couple of buildings and some cool dragon stairs.
The high point was seeing and interacting with various Vietnamese school groups, all dressed up for something (we never learned what) including one girl who was gorgeously attired in a traditional costume and kindly allowed us to take pictures.
Near our apartment was one of Hanoi’s most unique sights—Train Street—which is basically train tracks lined with shops and cafes, over which actually trains rumble through several times a day on the weekends. We didn’t ever see a train go through, and they are careful to clear the tracks before one does pass by, but it still felt kind of dangerous to be standing on the tracks taking photos.
Hanoi was hot, but not quite as bad as Tam Coc had been, and towards the end of our stay, it even rained a bit and cooled down to the low 20s centigrade—temps we hadn’t seen since Taipei, and a very welcome relief.
We explored the area around both our accommodations, and were fascinated by the sidewalk barber right in front of our apartment, so Tom decided to take the plunge and get his hair cut there. The young barber did a fantastic job. He worked on Tom’s hair and beard for about 35-40 minutes and charged 70, 000 VND-the equivalent of $2.75 USD (When we gave him a 100,000 VND note –still less than $5–and told him to keep the change he seemed both grateful and incredibly surprised.) The adorable little pug who sat under the chair most of the time was an added bonus.
On one of the streets near the hotel was an historic house that has been returned to its original layout and furnishing style. Although quite unprepossessing from the exterior (it is the house on the left in the photo below), it was very elegant and attractive inside and reminded us of the ancient houses in Hoi An, albeit much more restrained in decor.
One of the highlights of our stay (somewhat surprisingly) was the Vietnamese water puppet show- a big tourist draw for sure, but as we became aware in the various museums we visited, something that embodies an essential element of Vietnamese culture.
It began in the rice paddies as entertainment for villagers and entire families and villages became adept at carving and operating the puppets.
The ‘stage’ is a pond of water, the backdrop a pagoda on stilts, below which hang opaque screens. The puppeteers work out of sight behind the screens standing in waist-deep water and manipulating the puppets using wires and rods, all cleverly hidden underwater.
Apparently it’s incredibly difficult, and troupes of puppeteers closely guard the secrets of their craft.
There is a small number of stock characters and the skits illustrate village life and Vietnamese myths and legends accompanied by Vietnamese instruments, singers and narrators.
There are fire breathing dragons, phoenixes that mate and have a baby, fishermen, duck keepers who get outsmarted by a wily fox, dancing fairies, rice planting, solemn processions of scholars and much more. The show was about an hour long and it was captivating start to finish.
We hadn’t really intended to visit many museums in Hanoi, but ended up going to three, and all were highly enlightening. First up was the ‘Hanoi Hilton’, (technically called the Hoa Lo Prison Relic) built as the prison ‘Maison Centrale’ during the French colonial period and remaining a prison for American POW pilots during the Vietnam War. It is where John Mc Cain spent five years in captivity.
The displays showing the treatment of Vietnamese revolutionaries under the French was chilling and horrifying, and probably not that exaggerated.
But the part of the museum dedicated to the American pilots was laughably propagandistic. If you didn’t know any better, you would think after going through that part of the exhibition that life for the American POWs was all sunshine and rainbows.
They got to send and received letters from their loves ones! They got excellent medical care! They were served healthy, plentiful food! They sang Christmas carols! They played ping pong, basketball and other games!
A few of the pilots- those who had said nice things about their captors and the conditions–were featured in depth, but John McCain got only brief recognition, we assumed because his account of the torture he endured (which crippled him for life) did not comport with their narrative of benevolence and humanity.
We both exited the museum shaking our heads and muttering about what a load of propaganda that was.
But it was a visit to the Vietnam National Museum of History that gave me a real insight into the Vietnamese national mythologies and narratives, and was very helpful for putting the narration of the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ in perspective along the continuum of Vietnamese history.
The museum has a comprehensive collection of historical artifacts displayed very beautifully. Among those that really interested us was an impressive number of ancient bronze drums, dating from about 600 BCE that were fantastically preserved and showed remarkably detailed and intricate decorations.
Other things that caught my eye were an imperial headdress with ‘bunny ears’, some very happy looking elephants and a 1000 year old sandstone temple carving that looked like something out of the Simpsons.
On a more serious note, as I traveled through the exhibits, it became clear that Vietnam’s history is one long saga of invasion by much more powerful forces over many centuries—and little, scrappy Vietnam, ever the underdog, managed to drive them all out: the Mongols, the Chinese (more than once), the Japanese, the French and finally, the Americans.
It reminded me very much of Poland’s national mythologies of victimhood, dismantlement, and eventual triumph.
Such (hi)stories are powerful narratives that bind people together. So, the Vietnamese victory over the Americans was, according to their David vs Goliath reading of history, preordained, destined and one more example of their patriotic national character, which might bow under the yoke of a mightier power for a time, but will always triumph in the end. Getting a better understanding of Vietnam’s turbulent history was very useful in putting their reading of the Vietnam War into a larger and more nuanced context.
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology was the third, and perhaps most engaging museum we visited in Hanoi. A permanent exhibit showcases the many, many ethnic minorities in Vietnam, their customs, clothing, livelihoods, housing etc. I loved this bicycle laden with woven fishing pots, the display that detailed the process and all the elements that go into the making of a seemingly simple conical hat, and the wonderfully simple bamboo lunar calendar.
Outside is what the Scandinavians call a Skansen—an open-air museum of full scale houses and other historic buildings. It was fascinating to walk in and around the stilt houses, long houses, communal houses, and funerary houses on display and read about how they were used, decorated, and the rooms apportioned along strict hierarchical lines.
Though the stairs up to the very tall communal house were a bit challenging, it was completely worth it to see the amazing structure from the inside.
The wooden tomb of the Jarai ethnic group was particularly interesting (and graphic!) These structures are built one to three years after the death of a loved one (during which time the family continues to ‘feed’ the dead person through long tubes in the ground!) and are surrounded by elaborate carvings depicting the circle of life and human emotions. Once the structure is built over the grave, a huge ritual ceremony takes place as it is filled with goods for the after life and then it is ‘abandoned’–the dead can now enter the land of the gods and the living are released from responsibility for the dead.
There was also a reconstruction of a very clever rice thresher powered by water that operated independently while the villagers were out in the fields.
Other houses looked very much like the ones we had seen on our excursion into the mountains when we were in Ninh Binh, and it was kind of cool to see what they looked like inside.
The museum also displayed numerous water puppets, very much like the ones we had seen, and had a water puppet theater in the open-air section, giving an idea what such performances might look like in a village rice paddy setting.
On our last (drizzly) night in Vietnam, we splurged and had dinner at a French-Vietnamese restaurant housed in an old French colonial building. It was really excellent and the setting was lovely. The French-Asian fusion was a great way to finish our stay in Hanoi.
So, even though our visit to Hanoi started off on the wrong foot, we quickly got into the swing of the city, learned a few things, enjoyed the street life all around us, and REALLY enjoyed the little cooling trend we experienced on our final two days in Vietnam. Such temperate weather soon became a distant memory though, when we hopped over into Cambodia…
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