Hanoi

Week 1

Lunch with Jane our Hanoi food guide

Greetings from Hanoi

We’re going to do a weekly wrap up of our travels with an old-school email newsletter/blog. So there’s no need to download a new app or sign up to a new platform, just a weekly email delivered to your inbox. I’ll probably (unwillingly) post a couple of these on social media, but it might be easier for you to just hit the subscribe button at the bottom, then it lands in your inbox.

So we’re feeling a little exhausted but exhilarated after our first week in Hanoi. Staying in the Old Quarter the pace has been frenetic and constant, the place seems to shut down only between the hours of 2 and 4 in the morning.

Most of our time has been spent getting to know the city by walking, eating and trying cross roads safely (so far, so good).

We are dining lavishly on banh mi, bun cha, pho, spring rolls and crunchy rice paper rolls. There’s also seemingly 100 ways to make coffee with condensed milk here, however espresso is still an option😀. We’re hoping to expand our food horizons over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

A highlight so far has been a city tour on vintage Vespa scooters🛵. We hugely recommend this as a way to get around, check out the sights and see the city from the perspective of the 8 million local scooter riders. Even Alex is a convert!

Hanoi Vintage Vespa Tour

The city is really notable for its street trees (often very old and very out of control figs), lakes (many apparently formed by US bombs🤷‍♂️), and its French and neo-classical architecture (which is slowly being disassembled by the figs).

Adam and I also had our very own come-to-Jesus moment when we perhaps may have trespassed into the famous St Joseph’s Cathedral bell tower unsupervised 😬.

Forgive us oh Lord, we knew no what the sign said.

Hanoi is getting closer to the lunar new year (Tip - don’t call it Chinese new year 😬) everything’s getting a spruce-up and locals are out in force. Virtually every historical and cultural site is beset with young Hanoians having photos taken in traditional dress. Sometimes there are so many of them you genuinely can’t move, it’s like some mass selfie-a-thon. Shops, houses and temples are all getting new coats of paint, signs, banners and lanterns. In a move that’s certain to please the gods, the tailor across the road from our hotel just had a massive bonsai delivered to its front door that will blossom over the next few weeks as we get closer to new year.

Might check in on this one in a couple of weeks when we’re back!

We’re heading to Sapa in the north western mountains tomorrow, so next week’s update could be a bit snowy. Until then bon voyage, Alex, Shane, Adam & Zoe.

We can report that badminton is alive and well in Hanoi