Hanoi in Konni and Matt blog.

Bracing for category-3 typhoon Son-Tinh which struck Vietnam’s coast at about 09:00 GMT on 28 October 2012 with 1-minute maximum sustained winds of around 100 knots or 180 km/h, with considerably higher gusts plus torrential downpours (data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggested that the point of landfall would be near N 20° E 106°, only 100 km SE of Hanoi), learning that it quite suddenly changed its course towards NE thus missing Hanoi only by a whisker and celebrating our “survival” with pint after pint of cool bia hoi (fresh draft beer, VND 5,000.- or US$ 0.25 per glass) at our favourite beer garden located at the junction of Pho Ta Hien and Pho Luong Ngoc Quyen aka “Bia Hoi Corner”.

Making camp and delving into the maze-like lanes of the Old Quarter, Hanoi’s historic heart (“steeped in history, pulsating with life, bubbling with commerce, buzzing with motorbikes and rich in exotic scents”), with its chaotic Dong Xuan Market where we discovered the best Vietnamese coffee (VND 15,000.- or US$ 0.70) at Cafe Pho +84438284070, a friendly and relaxed island, with wifi, in a stormy sea (Bernard Moitessier: “I hate storms, but calms undermine my spirits”) of used and new clothes, natural and synthetic cosmetics, fake and genuine sunglasses, luxury and cat food, acoustic and electronic musical instruments, quality and junk plumbing supplies, religious offerings and communist propaganda posters, and so on and so forth - you name it!

Feasting repeatedly on Vietnamese/Hanoian (pescetarian and vegetarian) traditional cuisine at our favourite food joint in the Old Quarter, the simply brilliant New Day Restaurant +84438280315 and washing it down with bottles of excellent Vietnamese red wine from Dalat (headache-free Vang Dankia Dalat  with 15 % alcohol, for VND 50,000.- or US$ 2.40 per bottle from any of the Old Quarter’s mercenary bottle stores).

Meeting Uncle Ho’s perky and not-so communist great granddaughters-turned-models, clad in their beautiful traditional ao dai, in the vicinity of the surreal Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the holiest of the holies for both the hard-liners and many of their subjects, and having loads of fun during an extended photo shoot with these enthusiastic beauties.

Exploring the shores of Hanoi’s West Lake aka Tay Ho, the city’s largest lake, and thereafter staring into the indefinable gaze of hundreds of white Bodhisattvas at the atmospheric Tran Qoc Pagoda, one of the oldest Buddhist pagodas in Vietnam.

Chasing after god and photo models at Hanoi’s religio-touristy places of interest thus (i) studying the Confucian desire for order and symmetry as well as harmony between heaven and earth at the peaceful Temple of Literature (admission: VND 20,000.- or US$ 0.95 per person) where Vietnam’s first university was established in 1076 CE, (ii) climbing the delicate 1049 CE One Pillar Pagoda, built of wood on a single stone pillar and designed to resemble a lotus blossom, the symbol of purity, rising out of a sea of sorrow, and (iii) eyeballing the ramshackle Turtle Tower aka Thap Rua which is falling into ruin on an islet near the southern end of Hoan Kiem Lake.

Matt: Throwing Konni’s caution to the wind and buying from our hotel’s travel desk one of those infamous bus/boat package tours (2days/1night, all-inclusive for a fair US$ 45.- per person, excluding drinks) to Halong Bay, both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a profitable traffic bottleneck in Southeast Asia’s Banana Pancake Trail, thus enjoying tremendously (i) the stimulating company and great camaraderie of international backpackers from far and wide (hello there, congenial Miriam and Tina), (ii) the breathtaking beauty of 2,000 plus karst islets rising amidst hundreds of tourist boats from the polluted waters of the Gulf of Tonkin and (iii) his unscathed survival as innocent bystander of an ugly fist/knife fight between some ambitious crew members and their paying guests - don’t say nobody warned you!

Foraging for history among the crumbling leftovers of the once-great Imperial Citadel of Hanoi, the former residence of Vietnamese monarchs dating back to Đại Việt, when the city was known as Thăng Long, and enjoying many enchanting encounters with Vietnam’s enthusiastic future professionals.

Laundering our dirty linen for VND 20,000.- or US$ 0.95 per kg (washed and dried) at one of the many convenient no-name neighbourhood laundries and learning that Vietnam’s GDP per capita is only US$ 3,400.- per annum (rank no. 166 in the world, at least according to the well-fed pointy-heads of the CIA).

Purchasing tourist visas for Red China and Thailand and being rendered speechless by the polite and professional work flow (neither wait nor bribe) at both (i) the Chinese Embassy +84438453736 (single-entry 30-day tourist-and-family-visit visas [L-visas], processed within four working days, requirements: one passport photo, confirmed hotel reservation, return ticket and US$ 30.- per person in cash) and (ii) the Royal Thai Embassy +84438235095 (single-entry 60-day tourist visas [TR-visas], processed within 36 hours, requirements: one passport photo, return ticket and US$ 40.- per person in cash).

Taking the northbound LC 3 train of the hundred-year-old Kunming-Haiphong Railway from Hanoi’s Tran Quy Cap Station (situated on the W side of Ga Ha Noi, Hanoi's main railway station) along the murky Red River to the border town of Lao Cai (c. 380 km, 10 ¾ hours, VND 111,000.- or US$ 5.30 per person for “hard seat non air-con”), a non-descript but bustling spot situated in the Hoang Lien Son Mountains aka the Tonkinese Alps, fuelled by growing cross-border trade with the archenemy Red China.
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