FollowTheLeBarons: Good Morning Vietnam!

View from our balcony at Hanoi 3B Hotel

This past Wednesday we arrived in Hanoi, Viet Nam from Hong Kong by way of bus --> subway --> airport train --> tram --> another tram and finally to the airport where we had an unannounced gate change and flight delay, followed by sitting on the airplane for about another hour before taking off on a gawking, coughing, and turbulent plane ride. The joys of traveling!

I've been sick the past 48 hours with a fever, chills, coughing, etc. and was out of commission all day on Friday, only to get of bed to use the bathroom. Poor Kiel had to play video games all day 😂 . By 10pm that evening I had a bit of an appetite so I was feeling hopeful. However, the next day we were set out to travel to our next destination and commuting while sick is no fun. Originally I wanted to head more North to Sapa or Ha Giang but I wasn't up for a 6-8 bus ride and the weather called for rain all week. This was unfortunate since I've read it's worth the trip and had gotten some great tips from a family friend. Instead we took an hour flight to Central Vietnam to Hoi An.

Of course when in the comforts of home, I would just assume I just had a bad cold or the flu. But being in a foreign city I became uncomfortable, disgruntled, and paranoid. I thought, "Oh great, I caught Malaria, MERS, or whatever other disease Google is telling me." I'm on Day 3 of the cough, but I think the fever is gone, so I'm hoping we don't have to find a hospital or clinic and this all subsides. Anyways, let's talk about Hanoi!

Vietnam is our first stop on our Southeast Asia tour and the first country where we needed a visa. The visa process was easy enough; we applied online, filled out some forms and then waited for about 30 minutes at the airport in Vietnam to get approved.

It has been quite a culture shock coming from the more major cities. Hanoi is controlled chaos. It's a city filled with air and noise pollution, and incessant honking and touting. And to be honest, I can only smile and politely shake my head 'no' so many times until I want to just start rolling my eyes or talk back (I can hear my parents now, "Ohhh Alyssa"). People will literally shove their menus, hand made greeting cards, or fruit yokes in your face and won't stop until you say no three times. I've even gotten asked a few times if I wanted to ride on the back of a motorbike. Of course, I would love to ride off into the sunset with you, stranger, and just leave my husband behind. Actually, he was probably offering for the both of us to hop on as we've seen a few families of 4-5 on one bike. And strangely a lot of the children do not wear helmets.

Aside from what I guess what seems like negativity, the people we've had real conversations with have been pleasant and genuinely interested and kind. On our bus ride from the airport to the hotel, we sat next to a boy who turned to Kiel and asked if he could have a conversation with him in English. And so we met Nam, a 15 year old boy who shook our hands and asked us questions like if we owned a car and what kind it is, and where we were from and where we were going next. He couldn't quite understand why I didn't speak Korean, and laughed when Kiel teased him about not having a girlfriend. He showed us the Red River, and told us sometimes they call it the Pink River, and said he lives in the country and enjoys swimming. We were pretty impressed with how well he spoke and understood English and as he got off the bus he said, "Well, it was very interesting talking to you."

All of the meals we had in Hanoi were great and super cheap! We averaged about $40 USD a day (including hotel accommodations), compared to when we were in Japan at ~$180/day. In fact, in Vietnam we've become millionaires! 1,000,000 VMD is equal to $44 USD.

We stayed in the city's Old Quarter which was the perfect location to just roam the maze of streets. The architecture was a great example of French colonial and filled with restaurants and shops selling all sorts of things from trinkets to fake North Face gear. Since most of the crosswalks didn't even have signal lights, we had to play frogger and just dodge the mass of motorbikes, cars, and trucks coming at us. But as long as we didn't make any sudden movements, the motorists would usually just move around us.

Another view from our balcony. That building is clearly a fancy hotel.

I love all the little plastic tables and stools you sit at to eat

I won't hide it, the frizz is real. And though not as humid as Hong Kong, I am still sweating in places I didn't know I could..haha. Sweaty kneecaps and eyelids?!

If you didn't catch it it the Instagram post, Kiel shaved his beard since the Warriors won. And maybe Korea rubbed off on us because we keep dressing alike...

We took a stroll to Hoan Kiem Lake where legend has it, Emperor Le Loi was given a magic sword by the Golden Turtle God which he used to drive the Chinese from Vietnam. After the war, a giant golden turtle grabbed the sword and disappeared into the bottom of the lake to restore the sword to its devine owner. Apparently there a still several turtle sightings in the lake but (as you know my personal love for turtles) we unfortunately didn't see any.

Turtle Tower

Ngoc Son Temple on Jade Island

Apparently the Gods really like Choco-Pie's, as does Kiel.

St. Joseph's Cathedral

Lunch at Bun Bo Nam Bo or Noodle & Roll was delish!

Bowl of vermicelli with tofu, veggies and peanuts for about $2!

Kiel got Pho.

Cheers to another day and (combined) $6 for dinner at Bun Cha Ta!

The next day we started off with some delicious Vietnamese coffees and sandwiches from Bahn Mi 25. (Not as good as Bami Bread that we had on the first day, but still tasty) We find most places thanks to Trip Advisor (but try not to get too touristy), and knock on wood, we've been doing just fine with iced beverages.

We toured the Masion Centrale AKA Hoa Lo Prison AKA (to the American POWs) the Hanoi Hilton. The prison was built by French colonists for political prisoners and later for US prisoners of the Vietnam War. One of the most notable inmates was John McCain.

Next stop was the Temple of Literature which hosts the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university.

On our walk home and posted on Instagram earlier:

Most people on the street will stop being pushy after we politely decline their offer the second or third time. However after several "no thanks" and then trying to ignore, we couldn't get away quick enough before a woman literally threw her hat and (very heavy) yoke on me. Even when I tried to set it down and kept saying "no", she continued to put the pole on me and insisted we take a photo. Mistakenly, we snapped a photo and then of course she pushed us to buy some pineapple. Feeling a little put-off and sorry, we didn't buy anything or give her money and she obviously became disgruntled. Even though we never felt threatened, this turned into an eye-opening realization that this woman is just trying to make a living, but also that touting can be pretty aggressive. And when we think we are being really firm, it's okay to be even more firm. Tourist lesson of the day.

Later that night we decided to "splurge" and dine at Red Bean, more of an upscale restaurant. We spent about $30 USD total and that included Kiel's five-course meal.