It’s a very fun title for this post, I know. It doesn’t make sense, and it’s not really supposed to 🌝. Going to Hanoi on its own is a very fun experience, and of course crossing the road is an experience on its own.

We ended up in Hanoi after our trip to Da Nang, and I found out that Hanoi was the capital of Vietnam. See, everyone thinks that the capital is Ho Chi Minh, but I didn’t know the capital at all. So… you learn something new everyday. We took a taxi service from the airport to the hotel (again) because there are just so many scams, and in a country that’s not exactly 100% familiar you can never be too careful.

We stayed at the Oriental Jade Hotel, which gave us some watermelon juice as a welcome drink when you check-in. The hotel was conveniently located in the middle of some shops and it was great for walking to other places, like parks, restaurants, grocery stores, and shopping in the Old Quarter.

When we checked into the hotel, along with the welcome drink they also gave us a brochure with tips and recommendations on what to see, and instructions on how to cross the street.

In the Old Quarter, there are coffee shops and food vendors everywhere. All it takes to have a “restaurant” on the side of the street is a little stand where you make the food, and then some chairs scattered across the side walk for customers to sit on. You can have coffee, tea, báhn mì, pho, and other delicacies.

After dropping off our luggage, we walked around for a bit. We saw a bit of the Old Quarter, and looked for coffee shops. My dad’s heightened senses found a Starbucks right away, but there are better Vietnamese coffee shops so he didn’t go there that much. And he takes his coffee black (just like a psychopath), and he really liked to savour the taste… or something. I dunno, I don’t drink coffee.

For dinner, we had some baguettes 🥖 with fried eggs and meat in them. It was… meh. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s exactly like it sounds. A fried egg inside a baguette. With lots of salt. the bread was so hard it cut my gums. 🤷🏽‍♀️

A hotel buffet breakfast was included with our stay. There was western food, Vietnamese food, sushi, and other yummy treats like pastries and pudding! My mom was in heaven! She has a love hate relationship with buffets. She likes to eat all the food, and she gets overwhelmed with all the choices.

We walked to see St. Joseph’s Cathedral located just behind our hotel. It’s the oldest Catholic church in Vietnam. We walked around and saw some shops with lots of locally made goods. My dad bought me a white hoodie with a really cool drawing of Hanoi on it. It love it because it’s so comfy. However, not all the products are locally made trinkets and clothes, there are also lots of fake designer bags and clothing too.

St. Joseph’s Cathedral is one of the few Christian places of worship. Only 8.5% of Vietnam’s population are Christian.

We took a tour of the city on the back of a Jeep, made in Gorky, Russia in the 1950s, and left in Vietnam after the war. The People’s Army Jeep Uaz469 is a pretty fun way to get around the city, and I really did enjoy the tour. Lunch was included with the tour which was more of a traditional Vietnamese lunch. You start with fresh spring rolls, then papaya salad, a ground pork sandwich on a baguette, and then stir fried rice noodles. And then you get egg coffee for desert! I didn’t have egg coffee though, I had egg hot chocolate! Can’t do coffee, never have, and probably never will. Bleh! Anyway, the egg coffee has this sort of really creamy and frothy egg pudding (made of egg whites) that sits on top of the coffee, you dip your spoon into it and eat some of pudding on top, then you stir in the rest and drink it! It’s pretty cool, and I loved being able to try this Vietnamese treat! My parents didn’t like it because it’s too sweet for them. I guess you don’t put sweet stuff in bitter stuff?

The tour operators pick you up and drop you off at your hotel which is nice as well (if you’re staying in the Old Qurater).

A very knowledgeable tour guide was with us during the tour. We learned that Vietnam was settled by the French including Laos and Cambodia. The French colonial period in Vietnam officially began in 1887, when Vietnam was referred to as French Indochina. It lasted until 1954, with a break between 1941 and 1945, when the Japanese took over during World War 2.

French brought them architecture, food (especially coffee and baguettes 👩🏽‍🍳☕️🥖🥐🇫🇷). The first stop was the Long Bien Bridge built by French in 1899-1902. At 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) in length, it was, at that time, one of the longest bridges in Asia. For the French colonial government, the construction was of strategic importance in securing control of northern Vietnam.

We drove around Hanoi and we saw the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. I learnt how to spell a new word. 😌 (Ho Chi Minh led the revolution against French occupation in 1941 and onwards).

We got to ✨stand outside✨ of the Opera House, Old Citadel, Flag Tower, and the Army Museum. We didn’t go inside, it just wasn’t part of the tour. Our guide just told us a little bit about every important landmark.

One of the stops on the tour was the market, where they have many live animals for sale. I guess you just order what you want and they’ll kill it right then and there for you. It’s interesting why the animals don’t just fly away or walk away, because it’s not like they have the animals caged. They’ve got animals like chicken, ducks, pigeons, fish, and bugs too. I-I mean, at least it’s fresh…?

One of the streets we drove through was the street where you can get your motor bike repaired. The entire street is just repair shops, spare parts, and anything else you will need for the motorbikes. According to Vietnam Times, in the first half of 2019, Vietnamese people bought more than 8,3000 motorbikes per day. Lots of motorbikes on the road a lot of accidents too. Motorbikes propped up with people working on them. The Vietnamese don’t just use motorbikes as a mode of transportation. They also use it for delivering large items and anything they can put on their motorbike.

The grand finale was going to see the train. If you read my post on the train market in Thailand, then I can tell you it’s a bit like that. However, this time there was no market, and it was actually a cafe and houses. We sat at the cafe, had something to eat and drink, and then when the train came we had to go pretty close against the wall to not get ran over. Fun times. You can watch how close the train on my YouTube video down there ⬇️

So, here’s the whole thing about crossing the street and why it’s considered an ✨experience✨. First of all, I’ll have want you know that no one stops for a traffic light. Except on the major roads. Green means go, yellow means go faster, and red means you can still go as long as there’s no cops around. The brave ones are going to go anyway even though it’s a red light, so you might as well follow the crowd. 😉 (Don’t run red lights, kids! This is in Vietnam only. 🌝) Since everyone just keeps going and no one stops for basic traffic laws, how are the pedestrians supposed to cross the street if no one is stopping? The answer is simple, you just kinda weave your way through everyone, and you ask the cars to stop for you while you go across each lane. If you’ve ever played the game Crossy Road then you’ll know what it’s like. The drivers will actually go around you and not think you’re crazy or trying to injure yourself.

I have some pictures of the hardworking people in Vietnam. Most of them sell food, and there’s also a shoe shine guy. Cyclo drivers (or a rickshaw is what you call them in America) and delivery men using their motorbikes.

That’s all for now, stay tuned for more!

I also got a hat from Vietnam 😉