04.03.2017 Hanoi

To begin with, let me say that Vietnam is difficult to put into words! On the evening of February 28th, we arrived in the capital city of Hanoi. Our hostel was located in the middle of the Old Quarter, where it seems like no one ever sleeps.

Our first impression of the city was quite negative: loud, dirty, and chaotic.

The traffic, in particular, was very challenging for us (Mom, please skip this section!). The number of mopeds exceeded all my expectations... Especially in the Old Quarter, people actually ride 'wheel to wheel'. As a pedestrian, it's not entirely safe here, especially since the sidewalks are completely used as moped parking and are impassable. Traffic signals are not observed (seriously, not at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the words 'traffic signal' and 'electricity waste' mean the same thing in Vietnamese...). But it gets really interesting when you have to cross the street as a pedestrian. You stand at the edge of the road and wait until there is temporarily no car in sight (mopeds give way, cars... well, it's better not to take any risks!). Then you start walking slowly towards the opposite side with small steady steps. It's crucial to never stop and never, I mean never, make abrupt movements. You have to be 100% predictable so that the moped riders can avoid you.

For my European, cautious Swiss heart, it was quite an adventure... But as overwhelmed as we were in the first few days, it became somewhat more pleasant over time and almost amusing!

Another major problem was the trash... Everyone here drops their waste wherever they happen to be standing or walking. Restaurants do their dishes on the street, and some locals even wash their clothes in the drains. In the night, most of it is collected again, but many small things are left behind. And the next morning, the pollution starts all over again.

That was quite a culture shock! On top of that, the visit of our parents and Adrian, in hindsight, wasn't necessarily the best timing. We actually missed them terribly! As the icing on the cake, our hostel and the dormitory were a bit strange, so we decided to move to a hotel for the time being. That's when the big surprise came: a (rather basic) hotel room for two is actually cheaper than two beds in a dormitory. So we could enjoy our privacy for the rest of our time in Vietnam without any guilt.

In Hanoi, we spent most of our time visiting museums. For example, we went to the Hilton Inn, a former prison where US soldiers were held during the Vietnam War, and the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Both were pure political propaganda and not to be taken seriously. According to Tripadvisor, there are actually people who don't question this information at all... terrifying thought! We also had some difficulties with political propaganda in Vietnam in general, but I'll talk more about that in the next blog entries.

I personally really liked the Temple of Literature in Hanoi and the many small cafes and restaurants. Street food was a bit challenging for us vegetarians here, as most (Northern) Vietnamese people surprisingly speak little or no English, so we couldn't ask what was in the respective dishes.

Despite the culture shock, we have already grown quite fond of Hanoi, as we continued to Sapa after five days in this city.