Hanoi, Vietnam

Random thoughts and observations from the 5 days we spent in and around Hanoi, Vietnam:

Ron described Hanoi as gritty, and I think that is the perfect word. There are a lot of people, there is a lot of pollution (litter and air pollution from coal and wood fires and diesel engines) and the noise is incredible. I was surprised the first morning to hear what sounded like a public broadcast at 7:30 in the morning. It started with music followed by what appeared to be a series of announcements. I heard it again around 4 (maybe 4:30) PM. I asked, and sure enough the broadcasts come from trucks that provide regional news so that everyone is informed. Apparently this started during the war and has continued ever since.

The traffic in Hanoi is incredible. It seems to behave like a school of fish. It is rare to see anyone stop (other than tourists, that is). The pedestrians, scooters, motorbikes, cars , vans, trucks and buses all seems to flow around each other without having to stop and without any accidents (that I saw, although I am told there are a lot of accidents). I was very comfortable walking in this environment – it seems the trick is to be very clear on your intention and then to carry it out slowly (so be predictable and don’t move too fast). I noticed that the motorized vehicles (for the most part) did not go fast, which I think is wonderful. In Ottawa, everyone seems to be in such a hurry when they are driving!

Hanoi has a college course in hospitality, and it seemed like everyone we met was either a student of the program or a graduate. Hospitality seems to be taken very seriously in Hanoi; the customer service was excellent and they seem serious about continuing to improve it.

We met a Canadian woman named Darlene from a small town north of Vancouver in British Columbia. She is 78 years old and goes to Hanoi for 6 months every year (October to April). She has been adopted by the young hotel staff in about 6 different small hotels. She has taken on a few jobs – the “egg” cook at breakfast, and she picks up post cards to be mailed from the 6 hotels on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The hotel staff all call her ”Mama” and “Gramma” and invite her to their weddings and other important events in their lives. She loves it and I can see why. She is surrounded by her adopted "family" and has an active role in all of their lives. It was inspiring to meet her.

We went on an overnight boat tour in Halong Bay. What a beautiful setting! It reminded me very much of home, although the cliffs rising up out of the water were even more spectacular than say the Thousand Islands at home. Our first stop was a tour of limestone caves in one of the mountains. It was spectacular (huge) and did make me wonder whether there are caves in any of the other mountains.

We then went to a nearby floating village and rented kayaks and toured the area. The scenario was beautiful. The people living in the floating villages are too poor to afford to live on land. The next day we saw a floating village that had a floating school and floating hospital, but the first floating village we saw was too far away to use those services, and so does without. It was very sobering to see the poverty.

The countryside between Hanoi and Halong bay consisted of suburbs, rice fields and farmland (complete with water buffalo and chickens), factories and villages. Like Hanoi, the buildings are very narrow and relatively tall (say 3 stories). Apparently the Vietnamese (at least around Hanoi) are taxed on the amount of road frontage they own, so they are ingenious at having tiny building fronts at street level with larger space behind or above. There is some impressive architecture, but there are also a lot of shacks.

For all my looking, I only saw two horses (ponies). One was a white shaggy cob pulling a cart in the suburbs of Hanoi. One was a white shaggy cob in the countryside. In general, the animals in Hanoi seem well-taken care of. Nothing is too fat, but nor are they too thin.

I did not have trouble finding vegetarian food in Hanoi. The bread tends to be white crusty baguettes, but there are lots of vegetarian options. However, I suspect MSG is very prevalent and was having mild allergic reactions (itchy hives on my back, which is standard for me when I am reacting to one or more things). I suspect the pollution, combined with the MSG and too much white starch was my problem.

We went to see a Water Puppet show at a theatre beside the lake, and I was very impressed. They did a really good job emulating the movements and behaviours of animals. The birds and phoenix, serpents, dragons, water buffaloes and cats were really well done. It was a joy to watch the show. It was narrated and accompanied by live traditional music.

It has been interesting to see that so far Asia seems to have less of a disposable culture. Even the airport at Seoul, Korea had real dishes in the food court, and in Hanoi they used cloth bags for laundry bags at the hotel. It was clear that any container (cardboard box, Ikea bag) was reused over and over again, if at all possible. Here in Laos, they use woven baskets for picking up street garbage. I am encouraged by this.

I was in Hanoi with Ron and Queenie (Quyen , whom Ron used to work with). They went to see a temple on the lake which I was not interested in, so I sat on the shore of the lake to people watch. It was exhausting, because people (mostly teenagers) kept trying to sell me postcards or books. I was pleasantly surprised to be asked by one teenager to help him with his English. He showed me his text book (which scared me – the grammar was tough!) and we practiced a couple of exercises. Then he asked me to read and correct an essay he had written about his pet Duck. It was a charming story (he was clearly an animal lover, which won me over) and I was very impressed with his knowledge of English. For example, I said “we would normally say ‘whether’ here” and he wrote down ‘whether’ and didn’t hesitate on the spelling. It was really fun to help him.