North Vietnam - Hanoi - Day 2

Vietnam's telecommunication and power-line, with french influence fading in the background. 

Hanoi must have known our arrival, Nha Tho Lon (Big Church) a.k.a St Joseph’s Cathedral welcomed Peter and I with huge bell chimes at 5am! Not a glimpse of sunrise, yet. My mind turned to Melbourne, it would be 8 in the morning. Back to the chimes I became immersed with romantic feelings of family ties to Catholicism – it felt nice for 5 minutes. The bells were ringing 15 minutes on – enough of the welcome already! I want my sleep. Poor Peter, having sleep deprivation fell into count with the bells. He assures me there were over 200 ding-dongs lasting over 30 minutes. I assume no-one in Hanoi required wake-up calls.

Peter was unable to get back to sleep due to the Cathedral bell reverberating, he decided to walk the streets before the crack of dawn. I, however, managed to get back to snoring once the chimes were over.

39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân,
Hàng Bạc, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội,
Vietnam.

Upon his return, Peter was pleased with what he saw on his reconnaissance mission. At breakfast (inclusive in our hotel stay rate), we discuss our priorities of the day: 1) ask reception for a local map and recommendations. 2) talk to reception about best ways to travel to Sapa.

Staff at Church Legend Hotel have impeccable customer service: friendly, helpful and polite. Providing us with the hotel’s map of Hanoi city centre, they highlighted us to have the famous egg coffee on the other side of the Turtle Lake. First priority, sorted.

Street vendor simple setup. A tin can
converted to a coal cooker and a DIY
bench to serve.

With the map in our hand, we were to beeline it to Café Giang. But before we did, I wanted to eat a bowl of congee from this laneway vendor, who was overcrowded with locals spooning her goodness in their mouths last night. Never had I tasted this silky smooth thick rice liquid, normally I cooked mine not as thick and the rice somewhat intact with cracked pepper. This lady’s bowl was rich but light at the same time. Her pork floss reminded me of my mother’s pork floss – the OG. Our bowls were licked clean. 

Congee with cracked pepper, Chinese donuts, and pork floss.

Looking up, feeling filled and satisfied. I watched locals pulled up on the motorbikes ordering the opposite vendor’s baguettes. Peter, mentioned he would like to try one of those the next time we’re hungry and close by. I nodded in agreement.

Café Giang is hidden away in a narrow corridor off Nguyen Huu Huan Road. If you are not watching for the Café Giang – Egg Coffee sign, you’d miss it. I almost did. I assumed for its renown backstory the coffee shop would be a big in-your-face frontage – I was wrong. It is a humble coffee shop that has stayed in the same humble spot its founder began whipping up his decadent egg coffee for the Hanoians 40 years ago.

Top floor of Cafe Giang. Always full of local hipsters sipping delicious coffee in this open space.
Uber cool and wasn't even trying.

I like to think I know a bit or two about coffee. I enjoy my coffee just as much as I love drinking red wines. I often refer coffee to wine as it is, if not more complex than wine. It helps coffee drinkers appreciate it complexity i.e. there are over 1000 coffea plant variety, and over 800 tasting profiles; furthermore, there are more steps to achieving a finished coffee beverage, and much more laborious than making wine. Yet wine has a superior status.

Hot Egg Coffee - Cafe Giang

Café Giang’s egg coffee is sexy as Monica Belluci. The silky voluptuous liquid circulating on my tongue was like tasting a decadent tiramisu in Florence, Italy. I was so surprised that anything could come close to my grandma’s egg coffee that was passed down to my mother. This was superb! Made differently to how my mother would make it for my father when I was a little girl.

I'll be back tomorrow.

Continuing on our “getting lost in the city”, we came upon crazy traffic at Cau Go, Hien Dinh Liet, and Hang Giay intersection, North of Hoan Kiem Lake. I reminded Peter to trust and just walk – motorbikes, bicycles, cars, and truck will swerve around you. I walked ahead of him, only to turn around and see him try to calculate his steps. Obviously, Peter chickened out [laugh]. I yelled over, ‘Come on Peter! Just walk!’. Wolah, Peter made it over unscathed and unharmed. Very proud and alive 😊

Hoan Kiem (Turtle) Lake - native Banyan (aka Bodhi) tree, thirsting the water of the Turtle Lake.

Strolling along northeast of Hoan Kiem (Turtle) Lake, beautiful native trees eloquently extending their limbs to kiss the peridot lake. A Vietnamese young lady wearing a lovely pink ao dai caught my eyes. Ao dai is a traditional Vietnamese dress/costume – it is the most elegant and feminine traditional dress in the world, me thinks! I couldn’t help but photograph the photographer and his muse.   

A photoshoot at the footbridge to the Buddhist Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake.

Wandering around north of the Old (French) Quarters, we found this antique shop (92 Hang Bac Street, Hanoi) that excited my desire for connection to my heritage. There was a ceramic cup from the Minh Dynasty 16^th Century, bowls from the Tong Dynasty 10^th Century, and a jar dating back 2000 years old depicting patterns from the Dong Son culture. My inclination was to possess a piece of my Vietnamese history, however, the better of me chose to let go, as these artefacts represent all Vietnamese people and should be kept within Vietnam under the care of a mensch.

Locals are selling Vietnamese relics
& artefacts to make a quick buck.
Whilst Hanoi recently celebrated its
millennium (1000 years). 

At first, this pipe in a form of a man and woman having sexual intercourse gave me the giggles. Then pondering the fact that this artefact is 300 years old, it goes to show that throughout history whether it be sexual; racial; political; or religion, we humans swing between liberation and oppression. It is fascinating to realise that 300 years ago, in Vietnam, this pipe represented a time where certain people felt sexually liberated. Fast forward to today, some countries consider sexuality a taboo, whilst other countries proudly project their sexual liberation as a revolution. Both look back at the near past and believe their counterparts were either too rigid and oppressing sexual rights; or too sexually crazed, like animals that needed to be tamed. The reality is, we live in cycles, waves, and swinging pendulum, nothing is permanent. What we think and feel today can change tomorrow. What we do have are these artefacts that hold history and tell us who we are: back then and today, and most likely a reflection of the future.

Moving onto quieter streets, you get to “people watch” the locals, as they go about their day-to-day living. Ironically, I see them through rose pink glasses, their way of life is wonderful and romantic. Frankly, their day-to-day operation would be similar to what I would be doing back in Melbourne – working to live. However, I have the opportunity to fly overseas and experience fresh air, escaping my daily grind.

Getting things done, the Vietnamese way - the old school way.

I see a Vietnamese man is climbing up a bamboo ladder with a paint roller. I comment to Peter, that back home this would never happen without council approval, fees, loads of scaffolding, road blockage and signage to the wazoo. The level of bureaucracy in Melbourne is ludicrous. Though safety is not paramount in Vietnam, things get done and without delay.

Address: 1 Hang Manh Street, Hanoi.

Back towards our hotel, I was starving. When hungry, a little person like me has to eat within 10 minutes, before I get the shakes. Scoping the corner street ahead I saw these two local hipsters eating by the front on low timber chairs. I looked at Peter suggesting he’ll have to try squatting again, but at least these chairs were an upgrade to those tiny plastic blue stools.

Similar to what we ate yesterday, dipping meats and salads in the pork-fish broth. This eatery provided more substantial dishes of their tender grilled pork and  their specialty crab meat rolls (fried spring rolls). In a empty bowl, you fill it with vermicelli noodles, meats and salads. Then you can choose to either dunk your chopsticks holding the content into the broth; or you pour the broth over your bowl and eat – either way, just as tasty and refreshing. The grilled pork was well balanced in subtle salty-sweet flavours, juicy bites they were, and melted in my mouth. I have a weakness for rice paper fried spring rolls, combined with my favourite shellfish meat – crab. I could not stop crunching on them. So good…
                   

Grilled pork in broth, crab meat
fried spring rolls, vermicelli
noodles, loads of salad,
and the pork-fish broth to dip.

Full and satisfied, we toddled back to our hotel ready for a good night’s rest. However, we almost forgot! Our plans to Sapa tomorrow evening…better talk to our hotel receptionist. A relief to see Thanh at the desk upon our return. He had been expecting us regarding our Sapa travel plans that we mentioned to him this morning. Peter, Thanh and I sat by the back waiting/seating area of the hotel. Thanh had already made contact with his connections and gave us some options.

We instructed that we were only looking to go one-way without a return ticket, as we were planning to go on down south from SaPa to Son La. Thanh suggested to do an overnight tour – starting from SaPa and hike to a Mong Village named “Lao Chai” & "Ta Van", where we would be hosted by a local Mong family. Peter was a bit apprehensive about the hike, however, Thanh assured us it would be an easy hike “no worries”. We agreed. Thanh said he would organise and confirm everything by the morning. We would need to be at this hotel 8:30pm tomorrow night, to be picked up and taken to the main train station. Our driver would then direct us onboard our train carriage with all proper documents to the train conductor. Awesome customer service! In the morning, we needed to pay for the one-way overnight train ticket for 2 persons, and for our homestay hike tour. The amount for the two of us came to AUD250.

SaPa was now sorted. Time for sleep.

Sometimes, you just have to look straight ahead, smile, and walk. Never flinch. 

Thank you for enjoying the read and following my journey in North Vietnam. To read more, please click on North Vietnam - Hanoi Day 3
Or you can start from the beginning by clicking North Vietnam - Hanoi Day 1