Adventure Time

Vietnam: the finale

By Heather Horgen

Hanoi

Stuck in traffic with hundreds of motorbikes and cars, wondering how our taxi is going to cross this massive intersection with no traffic lights, and then he just drives straight into it all. But you swear there's no way the taxi isn't going to hit that motorbike, or that one, or this one... but he doesn't.

We made it to our hotel in the Old Quarter, and we had to find somewhere for dinner, but we all secretly prayed that we wouldn't have to cross any streets to get there. Welcome to Hanoi!

Our hotel was in the most charming and best alley in all of Hanoi. Boutique hotels, vegetable vendors, a hair salon, people's homes, and the best bowls of soup.

The streets around our hotel were packed with tourist booking offices, souvenir shops, food, shoe stores, art galleries and clothing stores. It's all a mix of retail and residential, with mothers feeding their babies dinner on the sidewalk while tourists shop for silk robes and knockoff Nikes.

Our hotel had some quirks, like when it stormed and we thought the roof was going to get blown off, or how only in the bathroom you could clearly hear the people in the next room talking. But it was clean and comfortable.

By the way, have I mentioned the motorbikes? They're everywhere, all the time, carrying everything. Here are just a few things you can transport on your motorbike: yourself, your friends, a coworker, jugs of water, bananas, gasoline, snacks, sleeping babies, your dog, a small tree, cardboard, ice.

temple of literature

The morning after we arrived in Hanoi we went to the Temple of Literature, which is a temple dedicated to Confucius, sages, and scholars. It was beautiful and had many pavilions and relics to admire.

There was a calligrapher, and you could have him write anything you wanted on a scroll. Ninh had a scroll made for good luck and fortune, and the calligrapher made everyone stand out of the way so the sun could shine on the scroll as he wrote.

Look at these happy people!

secret spots

After the temple, we wanted to sit and have some coffee. I had heard about this cool hipster coffee shop, and somehow, we spotted the sign in between the t-shirt store and tailor shop. You have to walk through the tailor shop to the back to get to the coffee shop. And then you're in this quiet courtyard surrounded by apartments, and there's a fat cat and a rooster who live there. You can walk up 3 flights of spiral staircase, past the family altar, to see views of Hoan Kiem Lake and enjoy the breeze.

Uncle ho

"Was Ho Chi Minh a Communist stooge, or a nationalist savior, or both, or neither?" - Tim O'Brien

Ho Chi Minh wished to be cremated, but instead, his body was embalmed and is now eternally on display at his mausoleum in Hanoi (except for the occasional periods when he's sent to Russia for "maintenance").

Every day thousands of people wait in line to see Uncle Ho. We waited in line for two hours with school groups and families in their Sunday best. No cameras, no talking, no shorts, no hands in your pockets, no stopping. Uncle Ho lies like a wax figure in his climate-controlled cold and dimly lit tomb, under glass. Is he really just a wax figure? Debatable.

Waiting in line for two hours sounds like a terrible way to spend your vacation. But I would do it again, because the school kids were constantly entertaining us. They were fascinated with us foreigners and wanted to take selfies and practice speaking English. My dad was an especially big hit with the kids.

are you going to eat that?

In Hanoi people are eating all the time, everywhere. There's food vendors walking the sidewalks selling fresh fruit and fried doughnuts. There are one-room restaurants overflowing onto the sidewalks where customers eat on tiny plastic stools. The bend in our alley had one of these restaurants - Boss Lady cooking and serving food, Boss Man walking around with a wad of money.

Tom found the best dessert in Hanoi and lo and behold it was at the end of our alley. Crushed ice with jelly and sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk. We ate there every day and Tom always got two at a time.

Planning our trip, I read that you shouldn't eat anything that's not cooked, like fresh vegetables and herbs. (Not true). I read that you shouldn't eat street food, and that you'll probably get sick. (Not true, not true). With all of this in the back of my mind I was expecting the food to be like, average and lukewarm and probably make me violently ill.

The first street food bowl of noodles I ate changed me. Fresh and bright, piping hot, savory and citrusy and salty and sour and a little sweet, with fried fish and crispy shallots and crushed peanuts. Food in Vietnam is complex, but not fussy, and it all makes sense.

The Duck Soup Lady was also in our alley. She had no restaurant; she set up a pot of boiling soup right in the alley and her customers (the line was always long) got takeaway.

We took a street food tour through the Old Quarter at night, and walked by "beer corner" where hundreds of young people come to hang out and drink 3.2 beer. Our tour guide yelled "sticky rice!" when crossing the street to make sure we all stayed together and made it across in one piece.

Hanoi was new experiences, new tastes, new memories. Doing all this together made our trip more meaningful, and just having this time to be together was special. Especially to have this time and to share these experiences with Kim Anh and Hoang Anh; we may never have that opportunity again.

sending love

Sometimes Hanoi smelled like sewage or bloody raw meat on the verge of rotting, or something... and motorbike exhaust and oil and old rain. And sometimes it's incense and charcoal grills and fresh vegetables and herbs. But I fell in love with Hanoi. There's so much personality and energy. It's old and new. It's eccentric and chaotic and friendly.

Never change, Hanoi.

ha long bay

the dragon legend

We sailed out of the harbor at noon, and our tour guide introduced himself as we cruised along into Bai Tu Long Bay by more and more karsts (rock formations) jutting straight up out of the calm waters.

"My Vietnamese name is [something hard to pronounce] but you call me Kenny G."

Kenny G was hilarious and ran a tight ship (jokes, jokes...) and even performed an elaborate magic trick at dinner.

Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and there are hundreds of companies operating "junk boat" tours. You, like me, might think that a junk boat sounds like a scrappy old wooden vessel that enamored tourists call "authentic." And then I found the Dragon Legend cruise. Whirlpool bathtubs in every cabin, silk robes, friendly staff, fresh seafood for dinner and the best views.

After a family-style lunch of steamed fish, salads, prawns, and fresh fruit, Kenny G gave us 3 options for activities: kayaking, go on the "slow boat" for more sightseeing and photos, or stay on the ship. We chose the slow boat.

The crew took us on the small boat, closer to the rocks and through narrow passages. We didn't see any swimming monkeys though. Kenny G said it was too cold for the monkeys, they're sleeping in the brush. (Seriously - monkeys live on the karsts and they can swim! Freaky.)

According to legend, dragons descended to Earth to help the Vietnamese fight enemy invaders, and Ha Long means "descending dragon."

The Dragon Legend anchored for the night, in the company of a few other junks. Because it's a protected area, only a certain number of boats are allowed in the bay and Indochina Junk is one of the only companies allowed in.

At dinner, Kenny introduced the rest of the ship's crew - all who happen to be talented musicians. They performed a Vietnamese folk song, singing and playing traditional instruments.

After dinner, we enjoyed the peace of the dark night; not one ripple in the water, no motorbikes, no honking, no barking dogs, no city sounds.

The next morning we had to head back to shore. We sailed through a narrow passage, and stopped for a short hike up one of the larger rocks. The steep trail went up the rock formation and led to a large cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites.

The hike also gave us great views!

On the sandy beach, two men in suits loitered near the trail entrance and I saw Kenny G casually hand over a wad of cash. Keepers of the karst? Government payoff?

We would love to visit Vietnam again, and we would love to stay two nights on the Dragon Legend. We would be sure to ask for the same tour guide, and we'll remember what he said: "When you come back, ask for me, Kenny G. Not my little brother, Kenny H."

last night in hanoi

We came back from Ha Long Bay to stay one more night in Hanoi before going home. We went back to the jelly dessert drink place for one more (or two for Tom). Ninh met the owner, a real boss lady who yells at people for parking their mopeds in the wrong place. We walked through the Old Quarter. We had dinner at a fancy Vietnamese restaurant. Van and I watched an old, bad, Meryl Streep movie while we packed.

goodbye

As a group one last time, Van, Tom, Ninh, my mom, my dad, and I arrived at Noi Bai airport on Tuesday morning. Kim Anh and Hoang Anh checked in for their flights back to Saigon. It really hit us then, we may never see Kim Anh or Hoang Anh again, and this may be Ninh's last time in Vietnam. I hope not, but we don't know what our circumstances will be in the future. We all loved having them with us on this trip, and it was hard to say goodbye.