Hanoi is a captivating city, but I found it a bit too chaotic and slightly oppressive for my taste. The older people in Hanoi behave like how my mother describes Moscovites' behavior: hardened. These are a people who, for whatever your opinion of them, have toughed it out through a lot and they don't give a s*&t. We didn't get this attitude at all from people under 35 though. People under 35 are nice and lovely. After coming from Laos, where we swear some of the nicest people on earth live, this hardened f-off attitude if you don't buy something from me attitude came as a culture shock!
The city really is quite vibrant though. Hanoi's main pulse beats in its Old Quarter. The Old Quarter is lined with 36 different streets. Each street is named Hang <insert shop type name here>. One street for silk. One street for sweets. One street for metalwork. You name it. The lanes are quite narrow and filled with scooters everywhere. I had read that it isn't pedestrian friendly and you just need to embrace the chaos. I'd embrace the chaos more if I could figure out how the hell to cross the street. I asked Pallavi what city is more chaotic: Hanoi or Old Delhi? We both agreed that Hanoi is way more chaotic, and that's saying something!
Also, unlike in other cities, it feels like the villagers don't leave the village at home when they come into the city. They walk along carrying a long bamboo pole with two large woven baskets hanging from either end. They carry this pole on one shoulder, baskets filled with various sort of produce, wearing that typical conical Vietnamese hat, and walk from restaurant to restaurant to sell their wares. Normally, you don't see villagers like this in a capital city.
The people in Hanoi also seem to really relax when they sit down at various stalls, literally on small stools on the sidewalk, to have food or a smoke. It's refreshing to watch people not rush through a meal. They also smoke their own version of a shisha meets bong meets pipe sort of thing. Apparently, it's good to smoke any time of day, at any occasion, or any meal.
We spent the day exploring the Old Quarter & decided to head towards Hoa Lo Prison. Hoa Lo Prison held John McCain and other American POWs. They called it the Hanoi Hilton. I love a good prison. I realized I've gone to quite a few. The French built this particular prison in the early 19th century, and the prison itself focuses mostly on Vietnamese communist freedom comrades and their various prison conditions, torture, and escapes up until Vietnamese Independence in the 1950s. My personal favourite prison escape story occurs when 4 women managed to dress up as visitors and leave during visiting hours. The museum had only a very small section dedicated to American POWs. It has been a while since I saw foreign propaganda (I see American propoganda all of the time!) The Vietnamese story is that the American POWs had it pretty great. The museum displays videos of the American POWs playing basketball, smoking traditional Vietnamese pipes, and playing cards. Obviously we immediately looked up the other American side of the story when we got back and read all about them blinking 'torture' in a certain sort of 'morse-like code.' Was it the most interesting prison I've ever seen? Not in terms of set-up, but definitely in terms of questionable historical interpretation.
Hanoi certainly is different. Let's see what else the city has in store for us.
The city really is quite vibrant though. Hanoi's main pulse beats in its Old Quarter. The Old Quarter is lined with 36 different streets. Each street is named Hang <insert shop type name here>. One street for silk. One street for sweets. One street for metalwork. You name it. The lanes are quite narrow and filled with scooters everywhere. I had read that it isn't pedestrian friendly and you just need to embrace the chaos. I'd embrace the chaos more if I could figure out how the hell to cross the street. I asked Pallavi what city is more chaotic: Hanoi or Old Delhi? We both agreed that Hanoi is way more chaotic, and that's saying something!
Also, unlike in other cities, it feels like the villagers don't leave the village at home when they come into the city. They walk along carrying a long bamboo pole with two large woven baskets hanging from either end. They carry this pole on one shoulder, baskets filled with various sort of produce, wearing that typical conical Vietnamese hat, and walk from restaurant to restaurant to sell their wares. Normally, you don't see villagers like this in a capital city.
The people in Hanoi also seem to really relax when they sit down at various stalls, literally on small stools on the sidewalk, to have food or a smoke. It's refreshing to watch people not rush through a meal. They also smoke their own version of a shisha meets bong meets pipe sort of thing. Apparently, it's good to smoke any time of day, at any occasion, or any meal.
We spent the day exploring the Old Quarter & decided to head towards Hoa Lo Prison. Hoa Lo Prison held John McCain and other American POWs. They called it the Hanoi Hilton. I love a good prison. I realized I've gone to quite a few. The French built this particular prison in the early 19th century, and the prison itself focuses mostly on Vietnamese communist freedom comrades and their various prison conditions, torture, and escapes up until Vietnamese Independence in the 1950s. My personal favourite prison escape story occurs when 4 women managed to dress up as visitors and leave during visiting hours. The museum had only a very small section dedicated to American POWs. It has been a while since I saw foreign propaganda (I see American propoganda all of the time!) The Vietnamese story is that the American POWs had it pretty great. The museum displays videos of the American POWs playing basketball, smoking traditional Vietnamese pipes, and playing cards. Obviously we immediately looked up the other American side of the story when we got back and read all about them blinking 'torture' in a certain sort of 'morse-like code.' Was it the most interesting prison I've ever seen? Not in terms of set-up, but definitely in terms of questionable historical interpretation.
Hanoi certainly is different. Let's see what else the city has in store for us.
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