Dy 12 - Hanoi — Wayfaring Abroad

I was awoken in the middle of the night by the sounds of rain smashing against the tin roof outside. It began to pour and with it the thought that our second day in Hanoi may be cut a little short.

Luckily, it had tapered off to a light rain by the time we had awoken and even though our plan was to get into the streets of Hanoi at 9, we were only delayed until 10.

The rain had completely cut at the heat from the day before and it was a beautiful and peaceful 75 degrees. This was easily the best weather we felt during the whole trip.

We began by going for some Egg Coffee, a morning staple in Hanoi. It seems to be custard mixed with coffee, or in my case chocolate. From there we had planned to make our way south to Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple. But, along the way we came across a woman selling waffles so we stopped and each got one for the walk south.

It is not a particularly long walk to the lake and we made it there before finishing our waffles. The lake was still and the buildings and trees were reflecting off the water. Ngoc Son Temple sits on a little island in the middle of the northern portion of the lake with a bridge connecting it to Hanoi. We purchased our tickets and went into the temple and looked out back at Hanoi and the motorbikes honking and zooming through traffic.

As we were finishing up at the temple it began to sprinkle and we could see the ripples of water from the striking of raindrops.

Our next stop was the Hanoi Opera House so we began a slow walk around the perimeter of the lake, stopping along the way to gaze at the water. On the way to the Opera House we stopped in a large mall to check out the different stores and enjoy a brief moment inside. From there we stumbled into an art store and looked at some local art. Once we made it to the Opera House we wandered around the square for a moment and began our way to Pho Lin, our chosen spot for lunch.

This was going to be our first Pho of the trip. We luckily got a couple of seats on one of the long tables towards the back of the packed and small dining area. We did not order any Pho but bowls of steaming hot Pho Bo (beef) arrived in front of us within a minute.

After we finished our Pho we made our way towards the north for a small hike to the Hanoi Citadel. Along the way we walked past the Bun Cha place that Anthony Bourdain and Barack Obama shared a meal. The walk to the Citadel took us diagonally across the city and past different neighborhoods.

When we got the Citadel there was a big party preparing to enter but luckily they were taking their time. We made it inside before them and had a mostly peaceful stroll through the Citadel grounds. The Entrance Gate and Citadel are UNESCO World Heritage Site and it was serene to be able to slowly walk around with barely another person in sight.

From the Citadel we made our way back to the apartment for an hour of relaxation before heading back out to the Cho Dong Xuan, a massive daily market in a giant warehouse just north of the Old Quarter. There is really no way to describe the market as it is too big and has too many people running around. Each section seemed to be organized by type of product so you could look at all the pants in one place or all the shoes.

From there we had an hour until we were supposed to meet up with friends for drinks and dinner so we made our way back to the lake to pass the time by people watching. As we sat next to the lake enjoying the sounds of honking cars and motorbikes, we were approached by a couple 20-something locals who wanted to ask us a couple questions about our travels. They were doing a project for class. After talking with them for about 20 minutes we had to say goodbye and head off for drinks where we were able to catch up on our trips. We both went to Chiang Mai, Hanoi and they had just gotten back from Ha Long Bay.

From our drinks overlooking the street around the lake we made our way for a Pho dinner and the end to our night. We both had to be up very early the next day, us for a bus to Ha Long Bay and they were returning for a night in Bangkok before heading back to Los Angeles.