Hanoi

Day 1 in Vietnam: Hanoi

We arrived at the airport at 10:35a and got on a bus to Hanoi (the airport is 30k north). Before we boarded the bus, we got attacked by some taxi driver trying to tell us that it was only $20 for a taxi to Hanoi. This was not true, according to my guide, which said $15. So, we said no. After several attempts, he showed us $16 on his phone. No thanks (still), we'll take the $2 bus that ended up taking us to our hotel for $12 night, was in the heart of the Old Quarter and happened to house the Sinh Café travel agency which booked our Halong Bay tour (read the next post).

Hanoi is so congested, it's ridiculous. My travel group almost got run over on multiple occasions. The streets are pretty narrow, but they're overrun with motos, and there is no right of way for pedestrians (so, good luck). We walked around the lake, which was right near our hotel and is what really makes Hanoi's Old Quarter so beautiful. We walked for the majority of the day trying to find information about more options aside from Sapa to do in the north. We were looking to get off the beaten track, but we had a lot of difficulties, because the travel agencies we asked (because we knew they spoke English) would not give us any information on how to get to Ba Be via public transportation. They were hoping we would choose another destination that included in a group tour package.

So, rather than spending all of our time doing this, we spent a majorit- of it trying new foods:

-Pho - Noodle soup with beef (so good and what seems to be the main food to try in Vietnam)

-Another Pho-like soup - More greens and different noodles and cuts of meat.

-Small doughnuts with sweet rice inside. So good.
-Sticky rice-flour pockets with beef inside. You dip it in a broth-like soup where you add your level of garlic, peppers, cilantro and mint. (I'm sorry, I wish I could remember the names! I'll update this when we get back to Hanoi [I'm on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay right now], when I can write down the proper names.

-Meat pate and pickled vegetable sandwiches (similar, but better, to some sandwiches in Cambodia)

-Soy Che (pronounced: soy jay) - Sweet rice with a ginger sauce. This is a sweet dessert-like treat.

I'll add more foods that we try as this goes along.

Anyhow, we didn't get to really do much in Hanoi this first night, so I look forward to seeing museums, mausoleums, water puppet shows and more when I get back.

Talk to you soon,

Garrett