Hanoi

After an 18 hour bus ride from Hoi An I finally arrived in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. I immediately noticed less homocidal motorbike traffic than Saigon and decided to walk to the hotel where I was to meet up with Alex, Little Hanoi Diamond. This well staffed sister hotel of Little Hanoi hostel was in a great location in the old quarter near many must-eat local restaurants, as suggested by lonely planet. They also had an incredible and free buffet breakfast that made it worth paying a little extra for the nice private room.

It had been a week and a half since I saw Alex and it was so great to see her and catch up on our solo adventures while walking the city. We didn't have much of a plan so we ended up walking the streets in search of great food and the best deal on North Fake jackets. We ended up finding both. 

We tracked down a couple places from our guidebook that were supposedly the cheap local hotspots. We had both Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) and Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) and we recommend the Pho Bo because it's less fatty. We also had Bun Cha which is BBQ pork with doughy rice noodles. These are often served with crab spring rolls which are decent. Our last night we tried the Bun Bo Nam Bo in a packed restaurant. This was beef, noodles and greens topped with fried garlic bits and crushed peanuts in a sweet sauce. For dessert we had Sua Chua which we think is frozen condensed milk. It was super refreshing and cheap. 

Another traditional dessert, which Alex enjoyed, is Che. This is the Vietnamese version of "bing su (Korean) a shaved ice dessert found in most Asian countries. In Vietnam it's topped with your choice of sticky rice balls, jellies, and various fruits and covered with, you guessed it, condensed milk.  

Finally, we drank Bia Hoi (draft beer) with the locals on street corners and watched the motorbikes go by. The beers were less than fifty cents and hit or miss. The good ones were cold. Regardless, it was a fun experience sitting on plastic stools on the sidewalk, attracting stares and trying to make friends with the locals. 

You'd think it may be weird to camp out on a sidewalk but in Vietnam sidewalks are hardly ever used for walking. They are always full of stools, vendors and parked motorbikes. On old, narrow roads, the Vietnamese treat sidewalks the way we'd treat a lawn, driveway or even porch. It's an extension of the building behind it and pedestrians are forced to dodge the traffic in the street.

We weaved around motorbikes for blocks on end looking into almost two dozen North Face "outlets" and decided on the one with the best selection and perceived quality. It was called the Outdoor Shop Original located at 5B Ly Quoc Su Street. Mr. Tuan was the owner and he told me he wouldn't bullshit me. I told him if I am cold in NYC next winter I'll call him and he encouraged me to do so. We both ended up with a down jacket which, real or not, seemed like good quality at a fraction of the price we'd pay in the States. We are preparing very early for another Northeast winter.

Feeling like we properly ate, drank and purchased our way through Hanoi, we set out for Cat Ba island in Ha Long Bay where we booked a room in a guesthouse for three nights.

Next stop, Cat Ba Island.