Hanoi, Part Two

Hanoi, Part Two

We started our first full day in Hanoi with a walk around the hotel just to get our bearings. The first thing we noticed was that unlike Chiang Mai, Hanoi actually has pedestrian streetlights at major intersections. We were delighted since the traffic is horrible, mostly motorbikes and buses, so we waited until the light turned green and started to cross the street. Unfortunately, it appears that the green pedestrian sign seems to indicate that it is okay to hit pedestrians!  Not a single bike, bus or car stopped for the light and we feared for our lives since we were stuck in the middle of the street with traffic coming from what appeared to be three directions.  So much for a long walk before breakfast. 

We celebrated our safe return to the hotel with a wonderful Vietnamese breakfast.  Strong black coffee, made with 100% Vietnamese coffee beans for me, and Vietnamese coffee for Cindy, which is iced black coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk and spices.   Cindy said it tasted more like a liquid Tira Misu (and we later found out that some brands of coffee have cocoa butter mixed with the beans, even though they don’t normally add chocolate to the beverage).  We had lots of local fresh fruit, pho noodle soup with chicken and chopped greens, vegetable spring rolls, rice and egg and chopped salad with ginger and mint.

Fortified with this fine breakfast we decided to try once again to conquer the mean streets of Hanoi and with a bit of choreographed moves involving running, yelling, closing our eyes and praying, we made it across all of the major intersections which led to Hoan Kiem Lake in the middle of town. This is a peaceful place amidst the noise and craziness of downtown Hanoi and we had a lovely walk around the lake, where we noticed many couples getting married and having their pictures taken at the lake. We later found out that 11/11 was a very lucky day to get married and if it rains it is even luckier since that means great wealth will descend upon the couple. As if on cue, it started to rain lightly and everyone seemed delighted. (That was the only rain of the trip.)

We wandered over to the Hotel Metropole, which has been a landmark in Hanoi since 1901. It is a beautiful place and I wanted to see the bar where Graham Greene drank and wrote The Quiet American; it is a good bar! The hotel has a “walk of history” with old photos of all those who have stayed at the hotel, including Jane Fonda and Joan Baez. It was fascinating, including seeing John McCain’s photo when he returned to North Vietnam, as well as war scenes from the various wars Vietnam has endured. Outside the hotel were two 1955 Citroens which hotel guests can rent to get around town; they are incredible machines.

Prior to our arrival I found out that there was a performance at the Hanoi Opera House on the 11^th so I wrote to the hotel and asked if they could get me two tickets, best seats available, for the performance.  Sure enough they had the tickets waiting for us upon check-in and asked that I pay them cash in the morning. When I asked how much they said, “one million Dong.”  Upon recovering my tongue from the floor, I asked how much that would be in US$ and the answer was US $47.00.  I was really shocked to realize that two tickets for the best seats in the house had only cost $47.00 and that the exchange rate was 21, 276 dong to ONE US dollar.  Needless to say, doing the math on restaurant prices has been a challenge.  How quickly we forget about currency exchanges. When we lived in Germany we always kept enough French Franc, Austrian Schilling, and Italian Lira in our exchange purse to make sure we would have enough for a good dinner and a night’s lodging since credit cards were certainly not widely accepted, especially at the places we stayed.  Now with credit cards and a Euro Zone we don’t pay much attention to exchange rates, but here in Hanoi, cash is king and you really need to carry a heaping helping of dong.

We got all snazzed up for the Opera orchestra concert and stopped at the lounge for a glass of wine before walking the short distance to the Opera. The lounge was filled but a nice couple from England offered to move a bit to make room for us. We thought that was very nice and even I was prepared to make small talk, but they went right back to their respective tablets and continued to argue over which seats to take on their return flight. It used to be that you could always tell the Brit couples since they would each be reading a book as opposed to talking with one another; now everyone is on a smartphone or tablet and the lines are blurred, but you can be assure that the Brit couples are still not talking to each other.

The Opera House is a jewel, rather small, about 600 seats, but ever so elegant.  There are soaring marble pillars capped with Corinthian metal decorations, a huge crystal chandelier and a ceiling of delft blue and white clouds.  The seats, I do believe they are original, were covered with red velvet and the armrests were intricately carved mahogany. The seats still had the heavy metal counterweights that made sure they came up when no one was sitting in them. The orchestra is very young and very professional and they played two pieces - Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Dvorak’s Symphony #9 From the New World - with great élan, mostly due to the ever so energetic conductor.  The second half of the Autumn Gala was the Firebird Ballet Suite by Stravinsky and I was very disappointed that when the curtain opened the orchestra was nowhere to be seen. Instead it was a stark stage, devoid of any fancy sets, and just 17 dancers, one of whom was painted as the Firebird. The music was canned and I was quite prepared to not like the production, but their skill and obvious passion hooked me and I truly loved the performance. (PS from Cindy:  The hard part is getting Wm to agree to a concert; once he gets there he loves every minute!  It was a magical evening, and I have to give him credit for finding the opportunity in the first place and then making the arrangements.)

The next morning I had arranged a tour with the HanoiKids. This is a remarkable organization - they call it a club - which allows English speaking visitors in Hanoi to arrange to have college students provide free tours of the city.  The ‘kids’ get to practice English and make new friends - and we get to interact with locals, visit places we would never have found, and get a much better feel for the city, its culture and its residents.  Our two ‘kids’ were 20 years old; Huyen was an experienced guide and Linh was on her first tour. 

Our Hanoi Kids

We had a ball with them and they with us as they showed us around their town and even showed us the proper way to walk across the street. (It appears that if you make believe you are a bullfighter and challenge the traffic as if they were bulls, you’ll do okay.) We ended our tour having coffee overlooking the lake and allowed them to ask all the questions they wanted about life in the USA. We gave them little gifts that we had brought with us and allowed them to help us cross the street one more time!! If any of you come to Hanoi, I really recommend HanoiKids for a lovely day of touring. Off to Hong Kong tomorrow, early, last night for great Vietnamese food!  Cindy and Wm