It is official! Summer 2019 will be spent in Vietnam and maybe a few other countries. That means that there’s going to be a lot of new content coming from me. This time, I’m traveling lighter and am not bringing a computer along to edit videos on the go so those will periodically come out when I return. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping you updated with my travels through this blog!
At the moment there is no set return date. I got a one way ticket and will just bum around for awhile. I actually didn’t even get my plane ticket until 5 days before leaving. This is a case of do as I say and not as I do because buying plane tickets so close to the departure date just means that you’re probably going to be paying more than if you purchased in advance. But in this case, buying a one way ticket gives the perception that it’s not all that expensive.
Previously, whenever I go to Vietnam, I would fly with Eva Air. This time, there were some worker strikes occurring that caused a lot of issues with Eva flights. So instead, I went with Korean Air. This is a different experience because the flight departed at 1 pm. When flying with Eva, it’s usually an early AM red eye flight. With Korean Air, I was also not able to pick my own seat. Now that I do a decent amount of flying, I’ve become very particular about where I sit so this was a bit of an annoyance.
To change things up, this time I’m spending some time in northern Vietnam and what better starting point than the capitol city, Hanoi. I actually don’t know if I’ve ever been to Hanoi before. I may have been when I was a child but definitely not in my adult life. Because Hanoi is such a large city, I expected it to be like Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). In some ways, it is. It is definitely populated and busy like HCMC, but it has its own spirit.
There’s something that you should know about me. I was born in Vietnam and immigrated to America when I was 7/8 years old. I can still speak Vietnamese because that’s all that I spoke with my family growing up, but I would say that my vocabulary reflects that of a child. I don’t know much beyond basic words and only enough to get me through a simple conversation. I can work my way through complicated subjects, but it’ll take some talking in circles and describing concepts. You should also know that my family comes from southern Vietnam. This is important because the speech of the two sections of Vietnam can sound very different. Consider northern Vietnam as British English and southern Vietnam as American English. The British tend to pronounce everything as written while the Americans play with the words in a way. To me, this is similar to the northern and southern Vietnamese dialect. The way that I pronounce some words sound nothing like how they are written. Northern Vietnamese people also have an accent and sometimes it can be extremely strong. Because of this, sometimes I cannot even understand northern Vietnamese people even though we are technically speaking the same language. This was actually my biggest concern for this trip but when in doubt, speak English and act like a foreigner. Most larger places will be able to speak enough English to be able to sell you things and give you service.
In Hanoi, I stayed at the Ancient Lane Hotel and paid $182 for 7 days / 6 nights. The hotel is tucked away in a little alley of the Old Quarter of Hanoi. It is right in the midst of the local culture. In the morning, the surrounding space is extremely busy as there is a local market literally within 10 or so steps from the hotel doors. At night, the space turns into small in home restaurants. This is the type of accommodation that will allow you to see an authentic local experience.
One thing that I really enjoyed about this particular location is its relatively close walking distance from many popular attractions. From here, you can walk to Hoàn Kiếm Lake, Train Street, St. Joseph's Cathedral and the night market.
Hồ Hoàn Kiếm (Hoàn Kiếm Lake) is a popular local attraction. Besides the lake itself being a popular place to just hang out, you can also cross the Cầu Thê Húc and visit the Đền Ngọc Sơn (Temple of the Jade Mountain). This costs 30,000 Vietnamese Dong and I think it’s worth it. The temple itself is not all that big but it does provide you with a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Train Street is just as the name implies, a street that happens to have a train track running through it. Aside from that, many people have set up homes and business along the sides of the track. Most of these businesses are eateries but because this is such a popular location, prices tend to be slightly higher than other places. Note that Train Street essentially runs along the entire train track. Different portions of the track can provide completely different experiences. The track is also still active but the train only runs at certain times of the day. The times will be dependent on the portion of the track that you visit.
Nhà Thờ Lớn Hà Nội (St. Joseph's Cathedral) is another popular location in the area. To be honest, I did not find it to be all that impressive. From the outside, the cathedral looked unkept and dilapidated as the paint is peeling and the structure just exuded a certain rundown feel. When I went, there were gates that denied entrance into the cathedral. I asked some locals and was told that it only opens on the weekend so take note if you want to get inside. Even though I find it unimpressive, I would still recommend you check it out because it’s free and why not? Unless you’re on a tight schedule, then something is better than nothing.
The Hanoi Night Market is another popular attraction that is note worthy. This is something that occurs every weekend beginning at 6 pm when the city streets begin to get blocked off to create one giant outdoor market. I only got the chance to go once and I think I did it wrong. First of all, I went at 6pm and I don’t really recommend doing this unless you want to see the stalls being setup. It takes quite awhile to get everything going so go a bit later at like 7/8 pm. I began at the Hàng Đào street entrance and just walked along it. From what I saw, there were a lot of stalls selling merchandise and not a lot of food like I was hoping for and saw on the internet. For me, this was quite disappointing. After leaving and doing more research, it turns out that there was so much more to the market and so many subsections. The night market is quite large and certain sections specialize in certain things. Some sections have more merchandise while others have more food.
Hanoi is an amazing city, but it can get repetitive. It’s a lot of buildings, vehicles and people. During this trip, I didn’t actually spend too much time in Hanoi. I personally just used Hanoi as a hub for other explorations as it’s located relatively close to many other interesting cities and parts of Vietnam. I would leave Hanoi and come back until it was time to leave again. Even so, the little time that I spent in Hanoi has left such a strong impression. It is one of those places that I would definitely want to visit again. If you ever get the opportunity to travel to Hanoi, just do it. It’s an experience unlike any other and is a city that should be on your bucket list.
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