I knew as soon as I left the air-conditioned innards of Hanoi airport that Vietnam was going to be somewhat toasty, and three nights here of smog, humidity and unbelievable sweltering-ness has done little to change my mind. It’s for this reason, as well as finally being able to sleep a bit longer and ward off the remnants of jetlag, that I’ve been taking it a little easy here in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.
The taxi ride from the airport was evidence enough as to what sort of road experiences I can expect during my time here – I thought Bangkok drivers were insane and Rome drivers were aggressive, but nothing I’ve seen could prepare me for the way roads are used here. Right of way, driving direction, the “Highway Code” – none of it means a thing here, and after a fun 30km journey, half of it sat on the bumper of the car in front and the other half on the wrong side of the road, I arrived at Hanoi Gecko hotel amongst the narrow dusty streets that make up this part of the city.
I went for lunch on the first day at a rooftop cafe overlooking Hoan Kiem lake, a place which has its own twist on the English lady of the lake story, only theirs has a strange tortoise lying in a pond distributing swords, rather than a woman’s arm clad in the purest shimmering samite…
Looking over Lake Hoan Kiam
I bravely walked away from the large, much needed fan next to me after eating and checked out the Ngoc San pagoda built on the lake itself.
Despite all the impressive unusual sights one sees when travelling faraway places, it’s sometimes the things people do in their day to day life that makes for the more memorable experiences:
In the photo above two elderly, local men were sat down playing what looked like a variation on the game of Checkers. They were bickering and laughing at each other like a couple of teenagers, and consequently their game was attracting more onlookers than the tour rep who was stood nearby shouting in French about the temple and the lake. I couldn’t make out the rules of what they were playing, but it seemed to involve picking up a piece when it was your turn and slamming it down noisily and dramatically on an opponents piece, which, when considering their movements were otherwise very slow and carefully executed, only added to the comic spectacle of their game!
I spent most of the rest of that day wandering around, sweating profusely, and eating unusual local cuisine.
In the evening I caught a performance of the Water Puppets, a traditional puppetry show using wooden models moving around on sticks above several feet of water. It was fun to watch and although the story was somewhat lost in translation, much of the fun and somewhat juvenile humour wasn’t. Equally impressive was the traditional Vietnamese band which were set up to one stage and played live throughout the performance. It’s good to hear other styles of music around the world, the stuff they were playing consisted of a lot of interesting time / tempo and key changes, as well as some unusual scales and chord sequences. Perhaps they were the prog rock movement of their time 
After a few beers that evening, at one of the many “plastic garden furniture and beer keg” bars that crop up on street corners all over town, I walked back to my hotel and collapsed, completely shattered from the immense heat and smog.
I’ve taken it moderately easy again today, spending my time wandering around the streets, with no real aim other than just to take in the sights of this part of town. Tomorrow I start a three-day tour around Halong Bay, so hoping to come back with lots of lovely scenic photos, plus an amusing story or two…
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Tagged: Hanoi, Old Quarter, Vietnam