Day Twelve: Hanoi, Hoa Lu & Tam Coc

Olde Temples in the Ancient Capital of Vietnam (Hoa Lu)

The journey to Hoa Lu took us through long stretches of highway and packed bumpy roads. It was harvest season. In some communities, each household dries its own harvest of rice along driveways and flat surfaces -- any flat surface. In fact, a whole lane of a quiet highway is covered in a layer of light brown grain as it dries in the scorching sun.

Drying Grain

Hoa Lu is was once, the ancient capital of Vietnam, and is rural area that still bears the relics of the 10th century. It is a lovely picturesque area, filled with rice plantations and limestone mountains

The Temple

Tam Coc: Halong Bay on Land

Around us the greenery wrapped limestone mounds rise out of the mirror-like lake which winds its way past a lush carpet of rice plants. We see villagers hard at work, harvesting the rice; white smoke drifts up in the distance and the whirr of a machine can be heard. Our boat rower uses her arms, then feet to aptly guide the long thin metal skiff through the clear water. It is breathtaking here -- and also as a large sign declares, Safe and Friendly.

Day Eleven: Hanoi

The Streets of Hanoi

Day Ten: Hanoi

No.1 Cafe

Started the day with a fantastic foot scrub and massage along Hang Buom, a street named after rattan baskets and other crafts and a cup of strong cafe da (iced black coffee) at No.1 cafe. The place is run by a pair of gorgeous Vietnamese ladies. The sisters (or cousins?), are in their fourties of fifties but have the beautiful skin, large soulful eyes and faded glamour of Shanghai opera singers or movie starlets. A little chihuahua runs amok and under the legs of tables and customers, yapping shrilly and fearlessly at the laden scooters that zip past, or the vegetable and fruit vendors that ply the street. The pup is no bigger than my foot (a size 5) but is a feisty 'un. I ask the sisters to wake the little fella up today to take a photo. He was non too happy about it as you can tell.

Water Puppets

Even if the theatre is not for you, it's a must to catch the water puppet show (the theatre is near the lake, next to the giant Harpo's). It's all in Vietnamese, but the ingenuous maneouverings of the water borne puppets tell the tales well enough.

Random Street Eats

A random wandering helped in part by some research from the Luxe Guide and Wikitravel, we had some great eats in the evening.

Learning about coffee at Vi Lan Cafe (24 Hang Gay)

Fresh Chee Cheong Fun


A delicious mystery meat sausage


Bun Bo Nam Bo (67 Hang Dieu)

Day Nine: Hanoi

Meeting Uncle Ho

Uncle Ho is a popular guy -- even after being dead for so long -- the reverence for the father of Vietnam in profound. And it was clear from the insanely long queue that snaked along the outer street of the Mausoleum that the people of Vietnam think it a treat to meet him -- even briefly. We wait almost an hour amid an orderly and patient throng of people. When we enter the Mausoleuum, the blast of cold air sends goose bumps up my arms. The silence is eerie. The stern guards wave us along and the long line of people scamper hurriedly along the short viewing corridor, craning necks to catch a closer glimpse of the wax-like body. All too soon, we are herded outside, back into the blazing sun and heat of a Hanoi afternoon.

Sunday Brunch

We've heard a lot about the Sunday brunch buffet at the Sofitel, but want something a little more intimate and less likely to cause our pants to come undone. So in the spirit of moderation and adventure, we head to Vine (1A Xuan Dieu, Tay Ho). We were not disappointed, the Sunday Brunch a a treat!

Ecstacy! Fresh bread!


Sashimi starter

Smoked salmon bagel starter


Angel Hair Pasta, truffle butter and asparagus


Dessert Trio: Creme Brulee, Tiramisu and Icecream


Excellent coffee

Beer Ahoy

Sunday calls for a proper bout of rest and indulgence. And there is no better way to do both than in the Old Quarter where the beer is cold, fresh and cheap. So we while away the rest of the day with Bia Hoi (fresh beer) -- a sparkling, citrusy, clean and crisp brew fresh from the keg. Some crunchy rice crackers and a chewy snack of pork skin covered in rice flour are the perfect accompaniment.

Day Eight: Hanoi

Saturday Morning in Hanoi

It's a bright fresh Saturday morning. The time is 8.40am. Along Ho Kiem Lake, the locals are out, walking, chatting and chilling. Some elderly women gossip merrily as they eat breakfast out of a banana leaf. Couples snuggle under the leafy privacy of a lakeside willow, shaded by a curtain of green. Nearby, a toddler scurries excitedly away from his mother in a sudden joyful sprint. An old man sits serenely in contemplation under an arching tree, back straight, arms slightly crossed. Exercise is taken s.e.r.i.o.u.s.l.y here. Lots of people are waving their arms, stretching, bending and walking determinedly and briskly around the lake.

Even with the heaving weaving Hanoi traffic just metres away -- close enough for me to catch a whiff of the fumes -- there is a cocoon of stillness around the lake, as if its bright emerald waters confer a talisman of peace strong enough to keep the chaos at bay. It's truly beautiful here.
An elderly lady sits next to me on the bench, smiles and says something to me in Vietnamese. "No same same Vietnam," I smile at her." She grins, nods and goes back to reading her magazine. Two little girls -- presumably her grandchildren -- run up to her,breakfast baguettes in hand, chattering merrily. Nodding her head to me, she gets up and together, the family stroll off, in the direction of an icecream stand.

Spa treat and good eats

The Luxe guide said the sophistication of the spas in Hanoi left much to be desired. But QT spa, located just across from Ho Kiem Lake and along a stretch of luxury label boutiques, is a good bet. Pricey by Hanoi standards, the blissful steam bath, massage, facial and pedicure set me back S$86 -- is still a good deal compared to back home. Plus, it ends with a delectable snack! A fried puff filled with meat, veg and mung bean vermicelli, a sweet cool wedge of watermelon and fresh passionfruit juice!

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Post-spa treats

Green Tangerine Visit #02

We were excited! It was time for lunch and Green Tangerine beckoned. The menu is Vietnamese inspired French cuisine. See: Soups and Starters, Seafood, Meat, Dessert, Lunch Specials. We had:

Beef Carpaccio




Sliced Duck Fillet

Rabbit with "su su" turnip crumble




Diplomat Pudding



Frozen Green Tangerine (Lime green, lime, green and tangerine!)

In response our waitress said in polite but obvious incredulity, "Three mains sir? Two people?" To which we rather shamefacedly said "yes" and tried to look extra starved.

Day Seven: Hanoi

I wake up, stiff, cramped and disorientated. My face is pressed against the cold window of the the 'sleeper bus' and as I pry my eyelids open I see the aircon vent just inches from my nose. We're in a 36-person bus, packed like sardines into cots. Except at the back, where it's a five person squash. D is sleeping butt cheek to butt cheek with one of the Manchester guys and the knowledge makes him sleepless. The sun is rising and it's quite lovely, even through the grimy window as the bus hurtles and rattles its way -- a few hours late into Hanoi.

The incident of the dogs
Snapping photos through the grimy coach window, I tried to capture the lovely pinks and lavenders in the sky, but gave up after a while to just enjoy the sunrise. Soon we came to an unknown little town with roads that were little more than wide mud tracks and slush. When we hit tarmac again, the signs of urban civilisation soon made themselves clear: shopfronts and the ubiquitous sights and sounds of scooters. Then the coach passed a row of shops selling large roast ducks. These were the largest ducks I had ever seen. Their skins were roasted a deep teak brown and the sellers had hung them up in windows and on tables. Business was brisk as they chopped and promoted their wares. One seller set aside half a duck after wrapping the other half for a customer. Strangely, the duck had a long thin tail sticking up in the air like a flagpole.
Then it hit me. THEY WERE SELLING DOG! "Oh fuck! Dog! Dog!" I shrieked incoherently. Dazed with sleep but galvanised by my hysteria, D and the two English guys scrambled awake, grabbed their cameras and squished their way against the window on my side (not easy to do since there was all of one foot of head room in that cramped space). And there we had it. The famous dog meat Vietnam, sold complete with paws, scowling head and upright tail

A number of firsts
The moment we go off the bus, we were sieged by taxi drivers touting tours, rides and hotels. We had already booked our hotel, so we just hopped into a cab (but not before negotiating the price first) and were on our way. D wound down the window a bit and lit a cigarette. He fucking loves Vietnam.

Our first tour of the Old Quarter, we saw the tombstone makers and the craft shops and then stopped for a morning coffee at Green Tangerine, a wonderfully quaint French restaurant that offers a peaceful sanctuary from the tooting chorus of the streets.

Our first real meal in Hanoi is at Cha Ca La Vong, an institution. We were served tumeric-coated fish that came in a pan of boiling oil atop a charcoal brazier. Plates of soft thin rice noodles, a tangy sauce, a fishy one, lots of herbs, groundnuts, basil and chilli arrived as accompaniments. It was a wonderfully flavourful meal and despite the grease, was not too rich. Washed down with a cold beer, it was the perfect introduction to Hanoi.

D: You can't trust tourist guides. Our Luxe guide said she couldn't smile, but after a few kam ern's and xin loi's, the old auntie was smiling like money fell from the sky! Maybe it did, considering the fried fish cost a whopping vnd180,000 (sgd 17)!

Took a cyclo to the lake. It had the reassuring words "No Worries" on the front, so we felt quite safe even though a cyclo is a rollercoaster-like experience when you barrel straight-on into traffic sans seatbelt

The unhindered view of the street during our cyclo ride to the lake

A walk around the lake brought us face to face with a strange tale that we heard before coming here, that the Vietnamese love their weighing scales and there are peddlers who push large ancient scales around should you desire to ascertain your weight while on a stroll. Seeing as we just had our third session of face stuffing for the day (ice cream at Fanny's), we passed up on the chance.

Fanny's icecream. "Too cold and sweet" (D Shen, 2008)


A bit of fooling around


Love the hat bebe

Get weighed on the go!

Rainstorm in the Old Quarter

Our dinner plans are dashed when we head out in the evening. An earnest tropical rainstorm greets us as we enter the lobby of the hotel. Along the narrow street in front of the hotel , the headlights of cars and scooters reflect the rain turn the fat drops of water into a flurry of colours -- red, orange, yellow and gold. I spy a little sandwich stand across the road -- grilled meat bahn mi (baguettes/sandwiches)! My love, my desire, my obsession!

D goes into a pub for some beers as I order us two sandwiches for dinner. The lady, covered neatly with a large umbrella, grills the meat over a charcoal fire that defies the rain. The coals glow bright and give off a spirited sizzling sound as the fat from the roasting meat drip onto them. The smell is wonderful. She stuffs the fat loaves of bread with the freshly cooked meat and a generous heap of the herbs that I love so. Shredded greens and pickle and basil and cucumber. A dash of sauce (Maggi All Purpose Seasoning) and the piping hot buns are wrapped deftly in paper and slung in a bag. Back at the hotel room we gnaw ravenously at the loaves, the meat juicy and fragrant and tender. Halfway through, D suddenly asks: What if it's dog?!


Dog? Beef? Who cares! It was the best rainy day food