Hanoi, Vietnam

We were finally back in Vietnam after 6 years and, oh, how we had longed to return! There is something magical about the country that draws you in.

Our son, Niall, was joining us for a couple of weeks and we had coordinated our arrivals to within 20 minutes of each other. However, ‘man plans, God laughs’ and a late departure of Niall’s first leg flight meant he wouldn’t arrive until 8 hours after us.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In the taxi en route from the airport Gerry got a message from our Airbnb host to say that his apartment had flooded and we couldn’t stay. He tried valiantly to find us alternative accommodation, but frankly, the properties he showed us made my skin crawl. We found a hotel for the night, grabbed some phở from a nearby restaurant and settled down to find new digs for the week. It turned out well and the new gaff was modern, by a lake, with a gym and pool. We loved it.

Niall arrived, exhausted, after a 30 hour journey, but at least he had missed the chaos of the afternoon’s search and his 1st impressions of Vietnam weren’t spoiled. Happy days.

Our week in Hanoi was incredible. Since Hanoi is in the north of the country, the weather at the start of the week felt cold to us and jumpers and jeans were called for. Coming from the frozen north of Ireland Niall was impervious to the cold and toughed it out in shorts and T-shirts.

On our first night we went on a food tour to introduce Niall to the local cuisine. We started with a shot of rough homemade rice wine (equivalent to poitín or moonshine) that had a real kick, and ended with the famous Hanoi egg coffee which includes egg yolks, sugar and condensed milk and is just delicious. In between we enjoyed steamed rice pancakes filled with seafood and vegetables, a deep fried patty containing pork and sandworms (yes, sandworms, and they were surprisingly tasty), Vietnamese doughnuts, glass noodles and grilled pork with noodles. We finished the food section with ice cream and sticky rice. It looked rather bizarre, a see through cup filled with green rice with coconut ice cream and coconut shavings but it was scrumptious. Not being a lover of coconut in any shape or form, Niall didn’t agree but he ate and drank everything else with gusto!

The tour ended in the world famous Train Street where the huge locomotive trains come thundering through impossibly narrow streets lined with cafes, bars and shops. As can be seen, before a train arrives, everyone is sauntering on the tracks and chaos prevails. When a train is due, a siren goes off and the local vendors and restaurateurs have a couple of minutes to herd the hordes of tourists as close to the walls as possible. This is much harder than it should be. We saw some very drunk people who were ignoring the pleas to move and some idiots who wanted the perfect Insta photo of them on the track as the train approached. The locals had to physically push some people into place.

Not an easy job, day after day, and honestly, how do they get insured against train injuries?

I’d always wanted to experience the train up close and we didn’t have time the last time we were here, so this was high up on my bucket list.

It certainly didn’t disappoint and you get quite a thrill as the train hurtles past, much quicker than I thought. It amused us that the train passengers were taking photos of us too, from the safety and comfort of their carriages.

As you can tell from previous blogs, I have a thing about trees and Hanoi fair indulged my passion. One which Niall shares. There were big ones, small ones, hairy ones, ones trying to get into the water and just plain fun ones.

Another of Niall’s passions is walking. He claims, rightly so, that you see more when you walk. We also like a good stroll, but he takes it to another level. One 7½- and two 9-mile days ensured that we all slept well at night.

To be fair though, we did see a lot. For example, we witnessed the excitement of couples sprinting, laden with backpacks and surrounded by running cameramen to reach their latest checkpoint in “Asia Express”. This is the Romanian equivalent of Race Across the World and it was fun to see the action from the production viewpoint.

These walks also showcased the synergy between the old state and the new Vietnam. I wonder what Uncle Ho would have thought of the TikTok dancers performing in front of his statue or the presence of Rolls Royces on the streets of Hanoi. I like to think he’d be content with this peaceful and relatively prosperous Vietnam. And as baffled by TikTok as the rest of us oldies!

One such walk promised a cold refreshing cider and a lakeside sunset view. We were thwarted on both fronts since Google is very unreliable where the availability of ciders is concerned and the Hanoi cloud cover precluded any spectacular sunset views. We made do with a few refreshing cocktails and a family pool tournament. I won’t say who came out on top. Let’s just say sport was the winner.

Another thing this walk did achieve was the discovery of a golf driving range with a difference. The targets were nets and greens floating on the lake and Gerry and Niall returned another day for a bit of fun. I say fun because thankfully they don’t take their golf performances seriously or they would be tragically disappointed. Unlike the locals, who were dressed as though they were competing for the Claret Jug and were as fiercely competitive.

We opted for a day trip to Ninh Binh and its surroundings. There was an obligatory stop on the way, ostensibly for the bathroom and coffee, but in reality to inflict a hard sell of bamboo fibre products. Apparently, this magic material is used in shampoo, blankets and even in underwear that would remain odour free for up to 7 days, it was claimed. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t purchase anything.

I got to indulge myself with a bike ride through some stunning scenery. The other two stayed on the bus for that, claiming they weren’t adequately insured.

We climbed 200 very uneven steps to see a temple. It nearly did us in and the views were underwhelming, so we declined an offer of a 500-step climb later in the day and decided on pina coladas by a picturesque river instead. Niall gamely undertook the climb and his photos proved the gruelling scramble to the two peaks was well worth it. Seeing people having to scramble on their hands and knees on their way to the top completely reinforced that our choice was the right one for us. 😉

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the boat trip at Tam Coc. This poor wee woman had to row the three of us for over an hour along the Ngo Don River – with her feet I might add! We passed under 3 caves created by the erosion of cliffs over millions of years. Very low ceilings, but spectacular. We floated past paddy fields and cliff faces and saw a huge variety of birds and goats, some climbing the cliffs. We also passed a beautiful cemetery nestled between the cliffs and the river and Niall declared that this is where he wants to be laid to rest. Not a bad view for eternity.

That evening we enjoyed Bun Cha in the restaurant patronised by Anthony Bourdain and President Barack Obama in ‘Parts Unknown’. You get tasty meat and noodles, a spring roll and a can of beer for the staggeringly low price of £4!

On our last day we visited two very contrasting sights. One was The Note Cafe where tourists are actively encouraged to leave messages for future visitors. It was great fun reading past messages and our favourite involved Santa and the British Secret Service. We left our own offerings. Mine was a bland reference to our blog and the bhoys went into full Celtic mode with theirs. So much so, that we’re not sharing them in case they cause any offence. 😂

The other was Hoa Lo Prison Museum. This prison held local political prisoners and Vietnamese independence fighters during the French occupation of the country and American prisoners of war in the late 60s and early 70s when it was often referred to as the Hanoi Hilton. It was really interesting and the focus was very much on respecting and learning from the past and working together to establish lasting peace.

Thanks to Niall we got some great photos of the two of us. It was like having our own personal photographer following us around. We’re off on the Dragon Legend next for a cruise on Halong Bay. Niall has agreed to be our guest blogger for that trip, so we can put our feet up for now and relax.