Hanoi Hypothermia and Tet Madness - Part 3

Nisha and I spent Thursday relaxing and wandering around Hanoi in an endless search for Bun Cha - one of my favourite Vietnamese meals which is difficult to find outside of Northern Vietnam. Turns out it's also difficult to find during Tet, so I only managed to eat it three times in a week. I was quite disappointed.

Friday, Kelly (one of Nisha's friends) and I spent the morning at the Temple of Literature. Normally it is a very peaceful escape within a bustling city but as with most attractions during Tet holiday, the place was manic. However it was lovely, to be outnumbered by Vietnamese people at places normally full of tourists. It was also heartening to see Vietnamese people visit their own tourist attractions during their big holiday. Something that I think most Australians would probably be unlikely to do, myself included.

The temple is actually Vietnam's oldest university where students had to study for 7 years and to graduate had to perform an oral exam in front of the King. Graduates had their names engraved on these giant stone tablets that are carried on the back of stone turtles (turtles are a sign of wisdom in Vietnam). So a lot of people were leaving 500 vietnam dong notes (about 50cents) and patting the turtle's heads and then patting their own heads in the search for wisdom for upcoming school exams. It was very entertaining to watch.

Kelly and I left the Temple of Literature around 11am. With some time to kill before meeting the others for lunch, but not enough time to take on a museum or tourist attraction I decided to introduce Kelly to the 'Bier Hoi' widespread in Hanoi but not very common in Da Nang. Bier Hoi is literally someone's home-brewed beer that is served on the street in glasses to people (usually men) sitting at small plastic tables in tiny plastic chairs. This Bier Hoi also served food which was very good.

There were literally no women drinking at the Bier Hoi we decided to drink at, only 2 female waitresses. The average age of the men drinking would have been around 55. The beer is quite weak in strength and served warm with big chunks of ice, but the upside is it costs around 50 cents a glass.

Kelly and I sat down at a table with about 5 or 6 60 year old men and proceeded to have a very basic chat using my terrible (and limited) Vietnamese and a fair amount of miming. The men shared their snacks with us and then when it came time to pay the men insisted on paying for our drinks. Even though we only had 2 biers each I felt very bad about letting these men pay, but they were adamant that we were not to pay.

After lunch we headed to the Museum of Ethnology. It is about 7 km outside of Hanoi but is well worth the trip. This has to be one of the best museums I have ever been to. Plenty of information and displays on the 50+ ethnic groups in Vietnam and the grounds of the museum itself have lots of interactive displays and activities. There was traditional dancing and games of some of the minority groups, different styles of housing that you could walk through. Swings and tug of war and other games, a water puppets show, drawing, painting and calligraphy. It was excellent and very informative.

I bought a rocking buffalo mask (it is the year of the buffalo this year) but soon realised that it was a difficult thing to pack to take back to Da Nang. So after we finished at the museum I wandered back into town and gave it to some kids near the lake. I moved houses again to stay with Genevieve (also an AYAD based in Hanoi) and Saturday and Sunday were just a festival of eating, clubbing, drinking and shopping. Very relaxing and enjoyable. On Sunday we had Bun Cha (for the third and final time) and then went to an Irish pub to watch Nadal v Federer at the Australian Open on TV. I was the only one in the group going for Nadal but I was vindicated in the end.

After unexpectedly missing my flight I had an extra day in Hanoi on Monday which was spent eating, shopping for DVDs and eating a Chocolate buffet at the Sofitel Metropole, a very swanky hotel in Hanoi, it was lovely. Then on Tuesday it was back on the plane and back to reality at work.

Hanoi Hypothermia and Tet Madness - Part 2

Tuesday I moved to Nisha's (another Hanoi based AYAD) place and Tuesday was spent enjoying western food (more expensive but our excuse was that due to Tet most Street food and places run by Vietnamese people were closed for the entire week)! We also wandered around the Old Quarter again and had a Sex and the City marathon after one of Nisha's friends purchased the entire 7 seasons for around $8.00 AUD. We made sure we had a reasonably early night as we had to be in town to meet our bus by 8am the next morning to go to the Perfume Pagoda.

The Perfume Pagoda is about 60km south west of Hanoi. In order to get there we took a 2 hour bus ride, a one hour boat ride and then did some walking/cable car riding. Normally I avoid tours, not least of all because there is a higher chance of being ripped off, but for some places in Vietnam its just easier to book a tour and have someone else plan the logistics.

The journey on the bus was fairly uneventful, though the passengers were crammed in like sardines. At least we had real seats, some others who got on the bus later had to sit in makeshift seats in the aisles. The river journey itself was quite spectacular even though it was very cold and raining slightly.

Throughout the journey we could see that the pagoda was going to be very busy. There was a lot of traffic on the river and then there were plenty of boats docked at the pagoda once we arrived. We were later told that the first 3 months of the Lunar New Year are very busy for the pagoda, but that the first few days of the Lunar New Year were insanely busy. We hadn't really thought about the crowds when we booked to go on the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year but it was an excellent opportunity to see Vietnamese religious culture firsthand. I would like to go back to the pagoda again when there are fewer crowds and without the time restraints of a tour though.

Apart from the crowds there were also some strange meat products on display. Each of the restaurants would hang a similar display out the front to entice the crowds, but it definately diminished my appetite. I'm fairly sure on the right hand end of that photo is skinned cat so please dont enlarge the picture if you are sqeamish. Needless to say I did not ask what the meat was that we were eating at the restaurant.

We took a cable car up to the pagoda and the plan was to walk down the mountain to check out the shrines hidden along the rock walls on the way down, but unfortunately we ran out of time and the tour leader hustled us back down in a cable car. The pagoda itself was very busy and we had to queue for about 20 minutes before finally making our way down the stairs and into the pagoda itself.

Then it was back down the hill in the cable car and a return boat and bus journey. When we got back into Hanoi we went for quick dinner of Pho 24, Vietnamese fast-food and then went back to Nisha's place to crash, as we were going sightseeing the next day.











Stay tuned for Part 3 which will include the Temple of Literature, drinking bier with old men on the street at 11am, the best museum I have ever been to and more!!

V is for Victorious Vietnam!

So Vietnam made it to the final of the South East Asian Cup (football/soccer for the unaware) and in the first of the two matches, they beat Thailand 2-1 in Bangkok. Believe me, that was a big deal, in and of itself.

Sunday 28th of December 7pm, was the second final, this time in Hanoi. Although away goals didn't count for more, Vietnam only needed a draw to take the cup. So Jordi and Nisha (2 Hanoi based AYADS) and I decided to take in the final with the locals at a coffee shop on my street.










We arrived just prior to kick off and had to pay the lady in the restaurant next door to rent her plastic chairs. We had to sit on the footpath but still had a pretty good view. People would drive up on motorbikes and park at the shops along the street and take in the game. I have honestly never seen the streets of Da Nang so quiet before!! We were kitted out in our Viet Nam Vu Dich (Vietnam Champions) headbands and Vietnamese flags and the locals were loving it.

Vietnam were down 1-0 for most of the match until scoring an equaliser in the last play of the game, I think it was around the 93rd minute. The whole place went nuts and everyone literally just jumped on their motorbikes with flags, saucepan lids, drums and took to the streets. Nisha and I followed the crowd on foot and these videos are really the only way to do justice to the noise and the atmosphere.


This is the moment Vietnam scored, in the coffee shop on my street. Notice the crowds and our headbands!!

This next video if just further down my road. We were kind of following the crowd.

Then we hit the streets proper and watched more people than I though lived in Da Nang do a loop around the city. The noise and the crowd had to be seen to be believed but I hope this video conveys it.

Up next my trip to Phu Quoc Island and HCMC in 2 parts because there is so much to tell.