Getting our feet on the ground in Hanoi

It took an extra day, but we eventually made it to Hanoi.  We showed up in Medford for our evening flight on Jan 1st and learned it was to be delayed by about 20 mins.  No problem: we had a long layover in Seattle.  Then the delay was an hour, then two hours, and finally they announced that the flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem.  We took a taxi back home, non-destructively broke into the house (hadn't brought a key), and spent five hours the next morning rebooking all our flights.  Lisa drove us back to the airport that afternoon (thanks!), and we flew to Portland, Seattle, Taipei, and finally landed in Hanoi the morning of the 4th.  The hotel we'd reserved had a driver waiting for us at the airport, and by early afternoon we were taking much needed showers and heading out to explore this fascinating city.

Our hotel, the Hanoi Golden Moment, is in the old section of the city just a few blocks north of the lake Hoan Kiem.  Like Vietnamese food, the architecture here in the old city is a combination of traditional French and SE Asian styles.  There's a lovely walk around the lake, and on weekends the road paralleling it is closed to traffic so it's even more pleasant to stroll.

view from our hotel balcony

It is an understatement to describe this city as bustling.  Like most SE Asian cities, it's pleasantly chaotic.  Sidewalks are generally filled with a combination of tiny stools in front of pho stands, goods overflowing from shops, and parked motorbikes; walking is mostly in the street.  Of course the streets are also filled with streams of motorbikes, plus some cars, (generally small) trucks, and the occasional bus.  Very few intersections (only major ones) have lights, and ordinary traffic laws (like, driving on the right side of the road) are routinely ignored.  Yet somehow it all mostly works and we've seen no accidents.

Sunday we were able to connect with a long-ago friend and former student from SOU, My Linh Phan, and her husband Travis (another SOU alum).  Linh is a Hanoi native and returned here after graduation; Travis is now living the expat life.  They treated us to a truly sumptuous lunch, and we very much enjoyed hearing about their life here.

Also on Sunday we visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where his well-preserved body lies in a glass case; he looks peacefully asleep.  In the museum area there were dozens of young schoolchildren practicing their English by interviewing visitors, and we talked with many of them.

We also toured the Hoa Lo prison (known as the Hanoi Hilton during the American war).  It was originally built by the French in the late 1800s, primarily to house Vietnamese who resisted their colonial rule.  Conditions were brutal: prisoners were shackled in small and crowded cells with little to occupy their time but working together on organizing their resistance.  According to the museum's displays, American aviators who were imprisoned there were treated very well; other reports tell a somewhat different story.

Monday we walked into a different part of the city to see some murals which document traditional life in Hanoi, and then explored the Temple of Literature, a relatively large oasis of gardens and small buildings dedicated to the Confucian tradition.  There are quite a few amazing bonsai trees scattered around the grounds.

Monday evening we attended a wonderful production at the opera house, called My Village.  It's like Cirque de Soleil but all with bamboo which the performers tossed and reconfigured continuously.  Very athletic and exciting.  I don't think there was a single Vietnamese person in the audience.  The inside of the opera house, which dates to 1911, is beautiful.

After the performance we got into conversation with another couple, first Americans we've met here, and it turns out they are from Portland.  Oregon being a small place we even knew a few people in common.  Small world.

Today (Tues) is our last day in Hanoi.  We will take the overnight train tonight to Sapa and plan to spend a few days there trekking to some ethnic minority villages and enjoying the mountain scenery.