Training Day – Hanoi Style

The best laid plans don’t always work out.  We got going early to visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.  As we past the entrance in our Grab, we kept going and going to the end of the line.  It was a LOOONG line.  We took our place at the end of the line filled with Vietnamese and Chinese, plus a few westerners.  While everyone else waited I walked forward to see how the line was actually moving.  I discovered, rightfully so, that school groups were allowed to enter the line midstream.  My estimate was we had a 3-4 hour wait to see Uncle Ho.  We quickly moved to Plan B.

We walked the entire line at a good pace which took about 13 minutes.  We ended up at the street in front of the mausoleum and got some great shots.  I was also the attention of some Chinese tourists (it happens in Asia when you’re 6’6”) and had pictures taken with a husband and wife.  Sarah thinks I am a minor celebrity on Asia.

Plan B was the Temple of literature, about a 20 minute walk away.  This walk was through Hanoi’s version of Embassy Row.  At one intersection Christopher pretty much just stopped as he didn’t recognize a flag.  After a while we walked across the street and discovered it was the Azerbaijani Embassy.  His highlight was the Singapore Embassy though.

The Temple of Literature in Hanoi has been there almost a thousand years and is considered Hanoi’s first university.  Comprised as a series of 5 courtyards, this is a peaceful place and a very popular place with tourists.  The 2 story wooden temple in the fifth courtyard is beautiful inside.  And the way the old, thick wood muffles the sound makes it a special place.

We then made it to the Hanoi Opera House which was a bit of a disappointment as the front was covered with staging and scaffolding and only a little of its grand architecture could be seen.  We also made a quick stop through the “other” Hanoi Hilton which looked similar to just about every Hilton I have stayed in.

For lunch we headed to Bun Cha Huong Lien, the restaurant made famous by President Obama and Anthony Bourdain sharing a lunch of bun cha and a beer—so we did the same.  We were warned by our street food guide that it was now quite touristy and yes, there was a bit of a wait for a table—but damn the food was good.  The broth was light, but so full of flavor.  Julie added some additional garlic to hers and I added to hot chili peppers.

This restaurant had taken its fame and expanded upwards, but the food is great (we got the Obama Combo—bun cha and a beer).  The building has a small footprint, so each floor is small.  We ended up on the top floor which was cool because when the lunch crowd subsided it was were the staff ate—and we got to finish up with them.  On the way down we also paid our obligatory respects to the glassed in table where Obama and Bourdain dined.

Train Street was our next stop (no pun intended).  For those that don’t know, I have a bit of an infatuation with trains, so this was on my list of things to see in Hanoi.  And it was worth it.  Here a singe set of tracks runs close to homes.  It has become a popular spot for tourists.  The residents have taken what would be a detriment in many places and turned it into a positive.  What was a back alley now has small cafes where you can sit on small chair, drink a beer or iced coffee and watch the world go by.  A few shops are beginning to appear, we found a great one that makes paper and cards. 

 

But don’t get me wrong, this is also a working section of town.  There was an outdoor barber clipping away, the mangiest set of chickens that I have EVER seen, and laundry being done between the tracks.  We found a paper store where different types of paper are being made and bought some interesting cards.

For our last night in Hanoi we had a street food dinner on a narrow street close to our hotel.  Restaurants lined the street and you sat on the ever-present small stools.  A policeman monitors the street to make sure that stools don’t encroach too far into the street. 

Julie learned about this as an office started yelling at the proprietors of our restaurant and made Julie stand up and took her stool away.  Julie thought she was being arrested by the military and the look on her face was priceless.  As soon as the police went to the next restaurant, another stool was handed out and Julie could resume her meal.  Life goes on.