Hanoi, Vietnam
June 11, 2014
Hanoi was a mixed bag for us. Good and bad. The place itself is great, particularly the Old Quarter where we stayed, it oozes character and is a great bustling place with something happening round every corner you turn. The food, the smells the people, the sea of motorbikes that swim around you as you cross the road. It’s a heady experience and one I seriously recommend. The down side is that Dani was ill for about four days so our stay there was much longer than expected and we didn’t get too far at all around the city. Those four days put us well behind schedule, but when you are away for so long these things are to be expected.
On that first night though we got an interesting taste of things to come. As we wandered around the streets at about 12am in search of food and a quick quiet beer we were pointed down a lane by a local guy trying to entice us into his bar. Hanoi is no different to most other Asian towns and cities and has a curfew at 12am when all the bars and street vendors have to cease trading. This guy took us down to his bar where the shutters were down but music could be heard somewhere in the background. He lifted the shutter and people literally spilled out into the street. The place was going bonkers and was crammed with hundreds of people partying away. Tired and in need of a quiet one and some sleep we declined at the time but made a mental note of where the bar was, we would return at another time. That time was the following night. We had a good healthy sleep and ventured out in the afternoon to get our bearings and sample the street life of Hanoi before having a few drinks.
Before we knew it, it was getting late and everywhere was starting to close up. The Police took to the streets at this time to make sure everywhere was closing up and sure enough we headed to Tom’s bar bang in the middle of the old town and literally sixty seconds from where we were staying. We got there just before twelve and as expected at 12am exactly the shutters came down and the party continued behind closed doors. The place is great and it was bouncing away with a great mix of travelers and locals all getting their drunken groove on. Drinking and dancing the night away. In the early hours as we came to leave we were ushered upstairs, through the gents toilets and through a secret door hidden at the back that led us down a dark outdoor corridor, down some more stairs and spat us out at the end of an adjacent street. Absolute nuts. As we rounded the corner and headed back to our place there was a policeman stood outside looking slightly confused as to where the music was coming from and wondering just exactly what was going on. They are certainly good at bending the rules in Asia and this was no exception.
With sore heads we headed out the next day on a shopping walk around the maze of streets in the old town. The streets are great and most have slightly different themes. The flag street, the lighting street, the clothes street, the metal work street. You name it they have it here. We grabbed yet more beers as we wandered round. This time the local ‘fresh’ beer, which at 14p a glass and very tasty is not to be missed out on. We wanted to keep the night a bit cheaper this time so grabbed a £2 bottle of Hanoi Vodka while we were out and at 12 headed back for a few bevvies in the room.
The next morning Dani was ill. At first we thought it was just the drink but she was aching all over, vomiting and generally in a bit of a mess. Unfortunately it didn’t clear up and continued for the next four days. I spent those days wandering about looking for a motorbike to buy as we want to ride from Hanoi down to Ho Chi Minh and also looking for a trip up to Halong bay to see the crazy rock formations there. A few beers here and there kept me sane as well as Dani stayed firmly in bed unable to go anywhere.
By the fourth day although still a bit unwell Dani came out with me and we headed off on a walking route around the old town so that we would at least see some of the things on offer here. St Josephs and the Hoan Kiem temple on the lake were about as far as we got though as she didn’t last long but at least we got out and about somewhere. We sorted out a trip to Halong for the next day as we couldn’t sit around for any longer so decided to gamble on her feeling better and also lined up a motorbike to look at the day after Halong. So at least we made some progress. The idea of riding the bike down to Ho Chi Minh excites us and I hope it all comes off as it should be an amazing trip down the country. Halong should be good as well so let’s hope Dani perks up and we can get cracking again.
