Hello, Hanoi

I just got back to Bangkok from a five-day stay in Hanoi, Vietnam. I have been planning the trip for a while, but it was a little bit complicated getting the visa- it required several trips to the Vietnamese embassy, money, time, and paperwork.

When I left Bangkok at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, it was already getting hot. It's been in the 90's Farenheit lately. I was in for a shock in Hanoi- it was so cold and I was completely unprepared! The flight takes less than two hours, and Vietnam is so close to Thailand that I didn't bother to check the weather, I thought it would be similar. I guess I didn't really realize that I'd be flying north for pretty much those two hours. It was only in the 50's when I landed on Sunday morning, and all I had packed were shorts and t-shirts!

I was a millionaire

After Zimbabwe, Vietnam has the lowest-valued currency in the world; $1 is equal to 20,000 Vietnamese dong! $50 will make you a millionaire in Vietnam.

After I checked into my hotel, the friendly staff recommended some local cuisine called "bun cha"- grilled pork with noodles, fresh vegetables, and spring rolls on the side. I spent the afternoon walking around the Old Quarter's Hoan Kiem Lake area. It was cold and a little rainy, but there weren't many tourists around.

Hanoi "cyclo" drivers

Hanoi is over one thousand years old. It was an old imperial city and was important during Vietnam's Chinese period. It was the capital of French Indochina until 1954, North Vietnam until 1976, and the reunified Socialist Republic of Vietnam up to the present.

most places I've been have torn these things down already

Yes, Vietnam is still a communist party state, and one of the more successful ones at that. I was a little bit concerned about experiencing some anti-American sentiment before I got there, but I didn't find that to be the case. I found the Vietnamese people to be really warm, friendly, and excited to meet a foreigner. I even made some friends. While you can't escape reminders of the "American War" (also known by the less politically-charged name "Second Indochinese War"), I just took some famous advice from Basil Fawlty: "don't mention the war."

posters like this were a common sight all over Hanoi

In Hoan Kiem Lake, 300 year-old Ngoc Son Temple sits on a little island connected by the "Morning Sunlight Bridge." The legend of Hoan Kiem lake tells of an ancient emperor who was given a magical sword to defeat the invading Chinese armies. After the battle, he returned the sword to Hoan Kiem Lake, where it was taken to heaven by a legendary turtle. One remaining giant turtle still lives in the lake, and its rare appearances are seen as signs of extreme good fortune. Ngoc Son Temple houses the embalmed remains of another giant turtle, a sacred symbol in Vietnamese culture.

Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake

Of course, you can't visit Vietnam without eating all the amazing local food. On my first night, I went out for a walk as the rainy city was getting dark, and wandered into a tiny little pho shop in the Old Quarter. It was warm and dry inside, and I ordered a hot bowl of pho bo, beef noodle soup.

beef noodle Pho

Hanoi Old Quarter

It was still raining on Monday morning, but not enough to bother me. Thanks to the map my hotel provided (and Google Maps), I was able to navigate the confusing Old Quarter on my first "museum day." The first sight that I really wanted to see was Hoa Lo Prison, the "Hanoi Hilton" where American POW's including Sen. John McCain were held during the war. Most of the prison was demolished in the 1990's, but some of the main buildings have been preserved a museum. One very large part of the museum was dedicated to telling how poorly the Vietnamese were treated when Hoa Loa was a French prison, and a very small part of the museum told how well the American POW's were treated. 

"Hanoi Hilton"

The amount of propaganda here was a little surprising. The museum even went so far as to say that that the POW's sincerely called it the Hanoi Hilton because the amenities were so nice. I think John McCain might disagree with that one. One video told that "the US servicemen appreciated their humane treatment during their short stay at Hoa Lo Prison." and that they were happy to learn that they were wrong about their "enemy."

Still, despite this, the museum was very interesting. One of the creepiest rooms that I had to walk through had life-sized mannequins shackled together, and there was even a real French guillotine displayed alongside other torture equipment.

Ok, enough of that. One of the most famous and striking landmarks in Hanoi is St. Joseph's Cathedral. Communism would never have taken hold in Vietnam if the Party had tried to outlaw religion the way the Soviet Union did. 80% of the population is religious, with about 10% of the population practicing Christians (mostly Roman Catholic). St. Joseph's is always packed during Sunday mass, with people filling the square on their motorbikes to listen to the sermon outside the church. 

St. Joseph's Cathedral