Hanoi

I'm not sure there are words to describe our initial experience in Hanoi today. This city is a complete sensory overload - in an exciting and very overwhelming way.

We arrived in Hanoi around 2:30 pm today on a Vietnam Airlines flight. The flight was actually a very pleasant experience compared to other low-cost or foreign airlines I've flown on (Wizz Air, Aeroflot, Spirit, etc.). It was only a couple of hours which felt quite speedy after the flights we'd taken during the last few days. Once we landed in Hanoi, we went through the "visa upon arrival" process. We applied online last Thursday and received approval within 13 hours. The instructions were to print the approval letter, bring some passport photos, and with the payment of $25 per person, we would have our visas. We weren’t sure until that moment if it was actually legit but it did turn out to be a simple procedure. Within the hour, we were riding in a taxi to Hanoi and even though that 40 minute ride into the city was pretty eye-opening, in itself, we didn’t realize at the time that it was only the beginning of the hair-raising Hanoi experience!

From our first step into the street outside the hotel, the motorbikes were honking their horns at us, as they zoomed and zig-zagged their way through the endless onslaught of traffic. It seems like every citizen of Hanoi owns one, and when it is not in use, it is parked on the sidewalks, which are also blocked by various types of street vendors. There are very few traffic lights or signs and those that exist, are seemingly ignored. Our first few attempts at crossing a wide boulevard resulted in mini heart attacks. We figured out that you just have to inch your way across the street and just hope for the best! I don’t know what the statistics are for traffic injuries and mortalities but they have got to be SKY HIGH! I have NEVER seen anything like this.

We wandered around the Old Quarter for a few hours to experience the incredible energy of the city. It is centered around the picturesque Hoan Kiem Lake (or Lake of the Restored Sword). Almost every sidewalk is occupied by a street vendor (or a parked motorbike, as mentioned above). They were selling every type of imaginable food or product: pho, fruit, donuts, shoes, leggings, seafood, watches, purses, possibly a dog, and bowls of intestines (!!). We navigated our way through this cauldron of commerce and the endless stream of cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians and found a place to eat dinner.

Many of the people we’ve talked to about traveling through SE Asia have raved about the street food. But my mother is a food biologist and if there’s one thing other than math that I was taught by my parents, it is the horror of uncooked or unhygienic food scenarios. A veritable storm of bacteria and parasites lurk in these streets and while the food may very well be delicious, I can’t get past the thoughts in the back of my mind: “were those dishes washed in that bucket of dirty water?”; “I wonder if that knife has ever been washed?”; “Do we really need to squat on those tiny stools as we eat?”

Ultimately, we ended up at a very charming restaurant recommended by our trusty Lonely Planet guide, and it was fantastic.