Hanoi

On the evening before yesterday, we peacefully concluded our week-long stay in Hoi An, gathered some last impressions, and yesterday we flew from Danang to Hanoi. Unlike two years ago when we stayed in the bustling, busy old town, we are now in a very quiet neighborhood on a small island in West Lake, three kilometers away from the tourist center. We didn’t book a hotel, instead, we’re in an apartment house with a studio overlooking the lake. Along the lakeside road, there are very nice little cafés, especially young people frequent this place in the evening.

Today – my birthday – we would have loved to visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum with its associated museum, but unfortunately, it is closed. As two years ago, when the mausoleum was also closed in October and November, Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body is undergoing 'maintenance' in Russia. So, we settle for a glimpse of the complex from the outside and walk towards the old town. However, we don’t make it there.

We stop for a traditional Egg Coffee in a small café right next to the railway line, where a train passes through the narrow houses three times a day on its way to the nearby train station. It's actually a significant tourist event, but to our surprise, nothing is happening in this café. The 1:30 pm train is canceled. We meet Naveen, a nice Brit of Indian descent, have a long chat, drink another coffee, and decide to stay seated to wait for the 3:20 pm train. Just before the train passes, the café owner gives us three bottle caps to place on the railway tracks so the train can flatten them. The reasoning behind this is unclear to us – is it a talisman? – but of course, we lay out our bottle caps.

After the train has passed, we thoroughly search for our flattened bottle caps. Then we walk a little further along the tracks and find ourselves right in the middle of the grand spectacle just a hundred meters further. Crowds of people in pubs and restaurants on two levels along the railway line. We missed that – well, not really. We eventually end up in a small pub by the West Lake: a 'Free House' with more than 20 different beers on tap. Vietnam knows how to brew beer! Not just in Hoi An, but also – or especially – in Hanoi.