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We stayed in the old quarter in Hanoi, and in contrast to Ho Chi Minh, it felt much more in line with how we had imagined Vietnam. The streets were still crazy busy, it felt even a little more chaotic because the streets very narrow and the buildings were much smaller, older, and had more character. There were usually sidewalks, but you could almost never use them because they were taken up by sidewalk vendors, street restaurants, and motorbikes. In some cases we saw at least 100 motorbikes parked across the entire block-length sidewalk. We also encountered people burning their trash and housing their chickens in cages on the sidewalk. The motos were awesome - there are far more motos than cars - and the drivers are not afraid of hauling things on them... office desks, cages of about 20 chickens, lumber, other motorbikes. We even saw a motorbike with 4 adult men, and another with what appeared to be a family of both parents, 2 kids and a baby.
The amazing food trend started in Ho Chi Minh city continued here as well. We looked forward to each meal because we knew it was going to be fantastic and inexpensive. We also found our first spicy food in Asia in Hanoi at a great Indian restaurant.
The hotel that we stayed at was phenomenal. It was right in the Old Quarter, it was clean, safe, inexpensive, and had a great breakfast. The best part of the hotel though was the people. They were the most friendly genuine people either of us has ever encountered at a hotel. They took interest not only in getting to know a little about us, they really wanted to make sure that our time in Hanoi was as wonderful as it could be. They knew our names, brought us fresh fruit every day, asked about our adventures, provided great suggestions, and really made us feel like we were staying with friends or family. After our visit, they followed up with a very nice email that was very specific to us and our stay. If we ever go back to Vietnam, we will definitely visit Hanoi at this hotel again.
We went to a very special show of traditional Vietnamese music, dating back to the 1500's, called Ca Tru. It was in a small historic building and there were only about 20 people in the audience. The show featured 6 performers singing and playing on various traditional Vietnamese instruments. They played a number of songs which were introduced and described by an emcee. The music was beautiful, though not what might be thought of as "easy listening". There is a fair amount of improvisation in the music and the singing is based on poetry.
The weather in Hanoi was a HUGE relief. It was still very humid, but only in the mid-80's. We were actually able to spent the entire day exploring, and walking around without fear of passing out from heat exhaustion. Once we got used to walking on the road (not the sidewalk), with cars and motos whizzing by, we felt a new sense of freedom and walked many miles each day.
We decided to take an overnight cruise on Halong Bay that was a few hours bus outside of Hanoi. If you are ever in the neighborhood, you must get out to see that bay. The rock formations are far more amazing than pictures could convey. We got to visit a floating village in the middle of the bay -population of 300 people, complete with school, pearl farm, and family dogs living aboard the houseboats. We also did a day trip to one of the larger rock formations to check out what turned out to be the biggest (up to this point in the trip...) cave either of us had ever been in.
Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Hanoi - it felt like we saw a lot of the city, interacted with a number of locals, and got a glimpse of history and culture. If we get out to Vietnam again, we will probably visit Hanoi again, in addition to the more central part of Vietnam.
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