Step(h) Three: How do you cross the street in Hanoi?

No, really… How do you cross the street in Hanoi?

Seriously. Unless it’s a major intersection around the Old Quarter, there are no traffic signals, a few cars, and lots and lots of motorbikes. To cross the street, you have to slowly start walking between the motorbikes as they whiz by and around you, eventually finding enough free pockets to get across. If you wait for an opening, then your visit to Hanoi may very well be limited to the block of your accommodation. Also, walk on the edge of the roadway — sidewalks are for motorbike parking! Puns aside, I had read that Hanoi would be quite the culture change to start my Southeast Asia adventures, and it truly lived up to those expectations!

I woke up on the morning of the 10th of June and took some time getting myself ready to explore. Around 10:15am, I checked the weather before leaving my air conditioned room: 89°F (okay), feels like 105°F (WHAT?!?!). I knew the night before that the humidity was unlike any other I had experienced, but 15+ degree differences between air temps and “feels like” temps?!

I had read that it was better to exchange money at the gold shops in Hanoi than at the airport or a bank and most businesses in the country are cash only, so I exchanged some cash at a gold shop down the street from my hostel — good rate, they didn’t take a cut: 23,200 Vietnamese dong (yep, dong, allow your inner child to giggle) to 1 USD. Speaking of money, as an example of how venerated he continues to be in Vietnamese society: Ho Chi Minh is featured on each and every Vietnamese bank note!

After exchanging some cash, I set off to explore the area around Hoan Kiem Lake on foot. My first stop was the Ngoc Son Temple (or Temple of the Jade Mountain), a Confucian temple built on a small island in the middle of the lake, with a bridge connecting it to the lake’s shore. Ngoc Son Temple was my first of very many temples in the region, and it did not disappoint!

Once I was about two-thirds of the way around the lake, I walked a few blocks off of its perimeter to St. Joseph’s Cathedral, a gothic cathedral built by the French while Vietnam was part of French Indochina. Having previously been under French rule, the architecture in the area has a similar feel to some of what’s seen in New Orleans, with many ornate second floor terraces. By the time I got here, I was starving, so I decided to wander into a café beside the church. It was probably overly expensive, and catered to tourists who don’t know any better, but sometimes hunger wins. Once I went through several choices that weren’t available, to my delight, the noodle and chicken dish I had was AMAZING, and I don’t say this just because I was hungry. It was filling, but not a massive American portion, and perfectly spiced.

After lunch I made my way back to Hoan Kiem Lake and continued around its perimeter exploring viewpoints and temples. I took a short break at my hostel, and then went back out to explore Hanoi’s Train Street. Train Street is a street where instead of a vehicle roadway, train tracks run through it. It’s a live railway with signs indicating the dangers of walking down it – to which nobody paid any mind. There are a bunch of cute cafes on train street offering a few seats for visitors to enjoy the novelty of this unique street, and maybe watch a train go by. I’ve read that since my visit there has been a crack-down against allowing pedestrians on Train Street, but can’t confirm whether this is true. Either way, it’s worth a short visit.

That evening, I walked a few short blocks from my hostel, mostly in the street since the sidewalks are motorbike parking or extended store display space, to Banh Mi 25, one of the best-rated banh mi sandwich places in Hanoi. For those who don’t know, banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich made with chicken or pork, often some spread pate, cucumber, shredded carrot, cilantro, often some spicy pepper, on French bread. I grabbed a chicken banh mi to go and ate it back at my hostel in the common space that evening while enjoying the company of others. Then did a little planning for the next few days.

I tried to go to bed at a reasonable time that night, but jet lag started hitting me hard and I had an awful time getting to sleep. Unfortunately, this resulted in my opting to sleep in a bit the next morning, despite having had every intention of waking up early to see Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. Despite his wishes and beliefs, Uncle Ho’s body has been preserved and is on display to the public in what I’ve heard is a grand mausoleum. For one month out of each year, his body is sent to Russia for re-enbalming!! Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum is a very important site to the Vietnamese and is only open 7:30am – 10:30 or 11:00am each day, and not on Mondays and Fridays. Despite my late start, I was still able to get a little sightseeing in after a breakfast of banana pancakes and Vietnamese iced coffee.

I wandered toward the mausoleum and monuments. By this point in my time in Hanoi, I had sensed what I thought was a Chinese and/or communistic influence in the city., especially around the Ngoc Son Temple the day before and during parts of my walk to and from Train Street. My walk toward the monuments was more of the same. If you think Americans like their flag, check out the Vietnamese (specifically, those in the north)!

In this part of town, I walked past some large tracts of government land including tall fences, and lots of armed guards. As an American-looking woman walking alone in this area, I definitely felt as if there were eyes on me the whole time. It didn’t bother me or make me feel unsafe, but that feeling helped me to understand the culture of a Communist society and being an outsider in one. Interestingly, as I continued my walk, I found a public square with a large stature of Vladimir Lenin (Russian revolutionary, founding head of state for the Soviet Union, and Communist/Marxist political theorist) in it. This was such a departure from what I’m used to in the United States, where statues are almost exclusively of individuals we deem “American heroes” (though don’t get me started on Confederate statues in the American South). From my American viewpoint, it would seem odd that the Vietnamese would erect such a statue to a foreign leader, but it makes sense. Ho Chi Minh’s philosophy was Leninist in nature, and adapted for the circumstances of Vietnam. With Uncle Ho being so venerated, why wouldn’t his teacher bear the same honor?

My tourist stop for the morning was the Hoang Thanh Thang Long, or Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. The Imperial Citadel in Hanoi dates to the 11^th century. It was first a seat of Chinese government, then the location where Vietnamese emperors ruled, was modified in a distinctly French style during the French rule of Vietnam, and later was the center of the North Vietnamese government during the “American War.” Indeed, today, the ancient citadel sits behind a large greenspace, which almost reminded me of the grounds of Versailles, and on its east side, there’s a separate site showing off captured American war vehicles and downed American airplanes from the war. The Imperial Citadel is also an active archaeological site, that I’m sure will tell us a lot more about ancient Vietnam, its governments, and militaries in the years to come.

Unfortunately, the Imperial Citadel was all I had time to visit that day in Hanoi, so I headed back to my hostel to freshen up before hitting the road again. I definitely hadn’t gotten used to the heat and humidity by that point. Having only been out for about an hour and a half, I probably looked like I had just been caught in a rain storm. Behold, a work of art I’ve affectionately named: 90 Minutes in Hanoi:

Mid-afternoon the driver I had requested picked me up from the hostel to head back to the airport where I would fly to Danang to catch the June Lantern Festival in Hoi An that weekend. My driver spoke English very well and was excited to practice with me. In fact, he stated that he learned English from listening to music and speaking with his passengers. Our conversation also provided me with some insight into the conservative culture of North Vietnam. He expressed a lot of hesitancy, trepidation, and a little bit of fright towards conversing with and relating to some prior transgender passengers of his from Thailand, referred to as “ladyboys” in Southeast Asia. From my liberal American viewpoint, I might say that this is sad or disappointing, but really, I think this speaks to a part of human nature that often manifests itself in cultural norms and views: fear of those we don’t know, especially those who are different from us. I don’t think my driver was of poor character, he was overall very friendly towards me, rather he comes from a culture with very strict social norms and doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

I enjoyed my first pho of the trip as a late lunch in the airport. Even the airport stall fast-casual food in Vietnam is fresh and delicious! This bowl more than filled me up for my flight to Danang.

Again, research prior to my trip told me that Hanoi would provide a whole lot of culture as a launch point to my Southeast Asia travels, and it did not disappoint. Have you ever been somewhere very different from your home? What surprised you the most? What did you learn?

Step(h)