The non-food Hanoi post
Can I just state that I will do my utmost best to avoid going to Hanoi during the hot and wet season? Firstly, when it's hot, it's sultry as hell, and then it rains all day and all the mud and dirt on the streets end up splattered on my calves. I find that I liked it much better when it was cool. Anyway, I digress.
I think that Hanoi has a charm of its own. The traffic is of course crazy. Crossing the road is a leap of faith in the steering skills of the endless stream of motorcyclists and it's normal to see cars travelling against traffic on the highway. I've seen mattresses, entire noodle stalls and families being carted on the ubiquitous motorcycles. In a city of 6 mil, they have 2.5 mil bikes. That's something. The streetscape is chaotic and dusty, but charmingly authentic. I like that the Old Quarter where I stayed caters to locals still, not just tourists. So you have street hawkers plying their wares next to cafes selling spaghetti bolognaise. Travel agents and budget hotels jostle for space with shops sellling local produce from pots and pans to tombstones. It's a real lived-in city.
I think though that I am allergic to Hanoi, or to something in the air there. I got a headache every single morning and it lasted throughout the day despite Panadol Extra. Finally, my colleague got me to try an antihistamine and the headache cleared like a charm. I know what I definitely need to pack for my trip in November! But I loved my hotel. It was an oasis of air-conditioning, cleanliness and great service. I strongly recommend it to anyone going to Hanoi. Medallion Hotel on Ma May Street in the Old Quarters.
What's not to like, right?
But the nice thing about Hanoi is that the people are generally friendly except when they are ripping you off.
Here we are buying custard apples and getting charged probably 10 times the amount locals pay. I think the women thought we were damn fools to pay so much for so little. Still, it was yummy stuff, so ok lah.
Hanoi wasn't all fun and games (or food) though. We were there to work. And so we met with the conference organisers on the Vietnam side and settled all the issues related to accommodations and conference venues (including checking out different hotels), registration and payments, itinerary and programmes and dietary requirements.
We also toured the experimental school attached to the university (something akin to our NUS High School but with a stronger pedagogical slant). The students were remarkably friendly but we had to use a lot of sign language because English isn't their strong suit and Vietnamese isn't mine at all.
And we went on the field trips that our Singaporean teacher contingent was going for. That involved a day trip to Halong Bay, which was pretty awesome (though I admit the heat made it a little unpleasant by the afternoon). We forked out for a private trip which meant we had our own car, guide and boat.
Isn't our boat pretty? It's the one with the crew in white standing at the front.
The waters were calm and it was pretty enjoyable to sit on the deck and watch the little islands go by. Obviously the karst landscape allowed for the observation of geographical features which was interesting too. I think I need to read up a bit more on the geology of the place before I go again with the teachers in November. Just so that I can have a clearer understanding of the landscape. Still, it was pretty stunning.
We visited one of the bigger limestone cave networks in the bay and because we were coming to the end of the rainy season, it was possible to observe the water running down the rocks and imagine the ongoing erosion that carved out the caves and the leaching process that leads to the formation of stalagtites, stalagmites etc.
Of course this being Halong Bay, tourism was in full swing and there was an abundance of boats attempting to sell us everything from fruits to trinkets and other souvenirs. Even the lady at the fish farm looked annoyed that we declined to purchase any additional seafood to augment our already sumptuous seafood lunch on the boat.
Other minor trips included a recce to a silk village, which frankly we all felt was a waste of time. Much better to tour the city itself and visit the shops selling silk there. Cheaper, a better variety on sale and no long drive to boot.
One rather chilling thing happened though that I find hard to shake even today. On our way back from Halong Bay, we observed a fatal road accident that cast quite a different light on the cheerful traffic chaos. A young man had fallen off his motorcycle and was lying face down on the floor. Our car had to inch past his prone body and as I was by the window on that side, I observed that his face had been crushed and frothy blood was pumping from his ear. I don't think there was any chance that he survived that though perhaps he might have in a proper helmet. That's the other thing. People either don't wear helmets, or when they do, they wear these flimsy but fashionable head pieces rather than 'rice cookers on their heads' (what they call properly solid helmets). Anyway, I found myself tearing at the sight of the poor young man's body and I turned off my iPod because somehow it just felt disresepectful not to.
Many thanks to Eug whom I stole most of the landscape and street-scape pictures from. His FB page contains some really nice pictures of Halong Bay and Hanoi in general if you are interested.
I think that Hanoi has a charm of its own. The traffic is of course crazy. Crossing the road is a leap of faith in the steering skills of the endless stream of motorcyclists and it's normal to see cars travelling against traffic on the highway. I've seen mattresses, entire noodle stalls and families being carted on the ubiquitous motorcycles. In a city of 6 mil, they have 2.5 mil bikes. That's something. The streetscape is chaotic and dusty, but charmingly authentic. I like that the Old Quarter where I stayed caters to locals still, not just tourists. So you have street hawkers plying their wares next to cafes selling spaghetti bolognaise. Travel agents and budget hotels jostle for space with shops sellling local produce from pots and pans to tombstones. It's a real lived-in city.
I think though that I am allergic to Hanoi, or to something in the air there. I got a headache every single morning and it lasted throughout the day despite Panadol Extra. Finally, my colleague got me to try an antihistamine and the headache cleared like a charm. I know what I definitely need to pack for my trip in November! But I loved my hotel. It was an oasis of air-conditioning, cleanliness and great service. I strongly recommend it to anyone going to Hanoi. Medallion Hotel on Ma May Street in the Old Quarters.
What's not to like, right?
But the nice thing about Hanoi is that the people are generally friendly except when they are ripping you off.
Here we are buying custard apples and getting charged probably 10 times the amount locals pay. I think the women thought we were damn fools to pay so much for so little. Still, it was yummy stuff, so ok lah.
Hanoi wasn't all fun and games (or food) though. We were there to work. And so we met with the conference organisers on the Vietnam side and settled all the issues related to accommodations and conference venues (including checking out different hotels), registration and payments, itinerary and programmes and dietary requirements.
We also toured the experimental school attached to the university (something akin to our NUS High School but with a stronger pedagogical slant). The students were remarkably friendly but we had to use a lot of sign language because English isn't their strong suit and Vietnamese isn't mine at all.
And we went on the field trips that our Singaporean teacher contingent was going for. That involved a day trip to Halong Bay, which was pretty awesome (though I admit the heat made it a little unpleasant by the afternoon). We forked out for a private trip which meant we had our own car, guide and boat.
Isn't our boat pretty? It's the one with the crew in white standing at the front.
The waters were calm and it was pretty enjoyable to sit on the deck and watch the little islands go by. Obviously the karst landscape allowed for the observation of geographical features which was interesting too. I think I need to read up a bit more on the geology of the place before I go again with the teachers in November. Just so that I can have a clearer understanding of the landscape. Still, it was pretty stunning.
We visited one of the bigger limestone cave networks in the bay and because we were coming to the end of the rainy season, it was possible to observe the water running down the rocks and imagine the ongoing erosion that carved out the caves and the leaching process that leads to the formation of stalagtites, stalagmites etc.
Of course this being Halong Bay, tourism was in full swing and there was an abundance of boats attempting to sell us everything from fruits to trinkets and other souvenirs. Even the lady at the fish farm looked annoyed that we declined to purchase any additional seafood to augment our already sumptuous seafood lunch on the boat.
Other minor trips included a recce to a silk village, which frankly we all felt was a waste of time. Much better to tour the city itself and visit the shops selling silk there. Cheaper, a better variety on sale and no long drive to boot.
One rather chilling thing happened though that I find hard to shake even today. On our way back from Halong Bay, we observed a fatal road accident that cast quite a different light on the cheerful traffic chaos. A young man had fallen off his motorcycle and was lying face down on the floor. Our car had to inch past his prone body and as I was by the window on that side, I observed that his face had been crushed and frothy blood was pumping from his ear. I don't think there was any chance that he survived that though perhaps he might have in a proper helmet. That's the other thing. People either don't wear helmets, or when they do, they wear these flimsy but fashionable head pieces rather than 'rice cookers on their heads' (what they call properly solid helmets). Anyway, I found myself tearing at the sight of the poor young man's body and I turned off my iPod because somehow it just felt disresepectful not to.
Many thanks to Eug whom I stole most of the landscape and street-scape pictures from. His FB page contains some really nice pictures of Halong Bay and Hanoi in general if you are interested.