Hello Hanoi!

Right from the moment we began our decent to land, it was clear that Vietnam was going to be very different Laos, or any country we’d been to so far. As we flew over the rice paddies on our approach, it was hard to believe we’d travelled for little over an hour and not even in a jet. The dry yellow and brown mountainous landscapes of Laos had been replaced by vivid green planes of flat rice paddies that stretched as far as the eye could see. On exiting our plane, the weather seemed strangely familiar with a light drizzle, grey clouds and a temperature that wouldn’t have been unusual for London in summer. It was also quickly evident, as we took a shared taxi through the urban sprawl into the city centre that we were now in city far larger anything in Laos. We made our way to Old Quarter, the usual destination for foreign tourists on a budget. Despite being unsuccessful at finding any of the hotels we’d eyed up in the Lonely Planet we soon found half decent hotel with all mod cons at a reasonable price. Before long we were ready to head out on the town in search of our first taste of authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Getting around on foot was to prove the first challenge, more specifically crossing the road. The narrow streets around the old quarter are alive to the constant hum of an endless stream of mopeds, the only practical form of motorised transport in Hanoi. With little or no traffic signals, never mind pedestrian crossings, crossing the road is somewhat of an art form requiring nerve and a little faith. It’s virtually impossible to wait for a break in traffic (which you’ll see recent foreign arrivals doing until the cows come home – as did we) so you have to simply walk, slowly and deliberately, into the swarm of bikes entrusting that all the oncoming traffic will steer around you. Making your movement across the road predictable is the key to safety, so you must resist the urge to make any sudden changes in speed or direction and the golden rule; never ever go backwards.

After struggling with getting around (made no easier by the confusing streets and useless map in our guide book) we ended up at a restaurant seemingly as popular with Vietnamese as it was with tourists and enjoyed a Vietnamese fish speciality along with a couple of glasses of bia hoi (draft beer). Vietnamese take their food seriously and it was clear that there was a level of artistry in their food that we hadn’t seen since our time in Thailand. After dinner we decided to hit the local party scene, which had more than its share of trendy venues, playing the sort of electronic music and R’n’B that you might expect to find back at home. Having enjoyed playing in Vang Vieng I was keen to see if I could get myself another gig, so trading off the excuse that it was Maren’s birthday (it was her birthday weekend!) we asked around. Before long we got talking to an English girl working at one of the more plush bars in the Old Quarter, who suggested that we go speak to her friend who ran one of the more underground clubs in Hanoi, so we jumped in a taxi that took us across town. There we talked to Han a young Vietnamese guy who owned the club who made us feel very welcome and said he would be happy to let me play along side his regular DJ. Keen to avoid any of the unpleasantness that had occurred at Jokers I befriended the resident DJ and we chatted about music and the sort of night he usually put on. After a few more drinks talking to Han we headed home, buzzing with excitement after our first few hours in Vietnam and the prospects of a great Saturday night ahead with Heidger and my chance to play out again.

Vietnam had so far confounded our expectations. We had prepared ourselves mentally for a more challenging environment than that which we had left behind in Laos having heard mixed reports from fellow travellers. A number had complained about their experiences such as hassle from hawkers, being conned out of money on dodgy tours and bad accommodation. Big capital cities also tend to be harder, more unfriendly places so our guard was up and we were on the alert for anyone trying to take advantage of us. However this proved, at least for now, to be unwarranted. Everyone we had encountered had made a good impression, keen to be helpful and friendly. The was a buzz and an edge about the city, but nothing that had been scary or overwhelming; in fact we’d thoroughly enjoyed our first night and we were now really looking forward rest of our time in Hanoi and Vietnam.

After late start in the morning the following day we started to explore the sights and the sounds of the old quarter, following a tour by foot suggested in our guide book. Hanoi is somewhat of a consumer paradise, especially for faked/copied goods. Sunglasses, shoes, designer jeans and all the usual suspects you find around South East Asia can be found, but the scale, selection and quality are taken to another level. The biggest novelty for us was the fake money on sale (burnt at temples as offerings to the spirits) and the fake hotels. Even successful businesses are cloned here, with restaurants and travel agents the other common victims of unscrupulous competition trying to trade of someone else’s reputation. That said, the quality of some fakes are often as good as the real thing with many major fashion houses producing their products in Vietnam. I’d been on the hunt for a pair of sunglasses having lost my Raybans weeks earlier in Thailand. I managed find a shop selling high quality copies that I found difficult to tell apart from originals (I have bought several pairs of one particular style) bar the leather case which had a small mistake on the print. At a tenth of the price of the originals I bought in London they have to be one of the best bargains of the trip so far.

What certainly isn’t faked is the food on sale in the street markets. Clearly one of the factors that makes the cuisine so good here is that everything is exceptionally fresh. Any concerns about the fish we had eaten the night before, or the tiger prawns in our pho (noodle soup) for lunch quickly evaporated when we saw the plastic buckets and tanks used to keep seafood alive until it was sold and it’s not uncommon to see fish that has just been cleaved in half still wriggling on the chopping board in the markets. Meats and vegetables looked equally appetising which made me wish that our hotel room also had a small kitchen so we could cook up our own dinner. However this probably isn’t the Vietnamese thing to do, since it seems that half of the city eats out on the streets every night, another essential element of daily life here. As we wandered round it was sometimes rare to see a corner that hadn’t been taken over by locals sitting on tiny plastic chairs around equally small plastic tables as they consumed pho, local coffee, bia hoi or even cocktails. In fact, it is often impossible to walk on the pavement which becomes crowded with chairs and tables occupied by locals who seem to spend most of their free time on the streets socialising. Along with the constant buzz of traffic it’s difficult to think of a city I’ve visited that seemed so alive.

By the time we made it back to our hotel late in the afternoon we were exhausted; however we only had a couple of hours to rest and prepare for the night ahead. Fortunately the meeting point Heidger had suggested was just literally a few metres across the road and we were soon knocking back large bottles of tiger beer at a nearby bar. Heidger, as we had predicted told us of his recent exploits with all the enthusiasm and joy we’d come to expect from him in Cameron Highlands. Having spent time in Thailand with his girlfriend who had flown over to join him for a week, he had worked his way through Cambodia and travelled from the south of Vietnam to Hanoi in a reverse of the journey we planned to take over the next few weeks. This was the last stop on his travels before he headed back to New York via Bangkok. Listening to his stories it was clear that he’d truly been bitten by the travel bug. If on returning to New York work was in short supply he told us that it was very likely he’d be jumping on another plane to continue his adventures armed with his SLR Camera, Lens and several high capacity memory cards. As we continued our discussions over dinner at the restaurant we’d discovered the night before we also talked about how we might next meet up. Over the course of our travels we have met many interesting people who we have enjoyed spending time with, but there are a special few that we feel a strong connection with and hope to stay in touch. Heidger is definitely one of those people and it was such a pleasure to meet up with him again and we look forward to seeing him when we next visit New York or when he comes over to Europe.

After dinner it was time to head to the club and I was feeling a little nervous. Bars on the beaches of Goa and Shacks on the river banks in Laos was one thing, but an underground club (no matter how casual) in the capital of one of the most populous nations in South East Asia was another matter. Han the club owner had given me one polite warning that whilst he was happy to host us for Maren’s birthday (part 2!) he still had a business to run and he couldn’t afford to have an empty club on a Saturday night. I’d spent time selecting tracks earlier in the day that I hoped wouldn’t be a radical departure from the regular DJs musical style. On arrival things were still quiet so I had time to setup my equipment and spend half an hour playing a few tracks. However, later on in the night, when my turn came around on the decks it seemed that my music or presence wasn’t as welcome as I’d earlier thought and it wasn’t long before a “facing saving” manoeuvre was politely executed by Han who explained that the other DJs said that there was “something wrong with the sound coming from my laptop that was effecting the speakers”. With nothing obviously wrong with the sound as far as my ears (or Maren’s) were concerned I decided to pack up and enjoy the rest of the night with Maren and Heidger. In all honesty, it was amazingly cheeky that I’d got to play at all, especially on a Saturday night and whilst I was very disappointed not to play for longer, it was still a great experience. Perhaps if I’d aimed for Sunday night things would have been a bit different. In fact Han invited me to come back and play the following night, however with better things to do than pursue a DJ career in Hanoi it was time to move on. We’d had great fun in Hanoi, but the hectic pace of city life was starting to take its toll so the following day we made plans to visit what is perhaps Vietnam’s most famous natural attraction, Halong Bay. When you see the pictures it doesn’t take much convincing to book a trip, so we splashed out on two day cruise around the bay. Would Vietnam’s natural beauty make as big of an impact as its capital city had?

All the pictures from Hanoi at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.lander/Hanoi