Hanoi: Quaint and Cute in the Old Quarter

Late last night we arrived in Hanoi, pretty late.  We were already scheduled to land at 12:15 am but with a delay, it was almost 2:00am when we touched down.  The drive to the Old Quarter to the hotel was rather strange because everything was pitch black.  There didn't seem to be any signs of life, such a contrast to Saigon.  Hotels seemed to be dark and there were barely any cars on the road.  Once we arrived at our hotel, La Storia, the super sweet staff had been asleep on the floor while waiting for us (a little weird to see but apparently a common thing among these small boutique hotels- same thing happened at the Saigon hotel), and they quickly showed us to our room.  We were exhausted so we went straight to bed.

This morning we got up and had the free breakfast which was a pretty tasty mix of American and Vietnamese food.  Then we went about our day walking around the Old Quarter.  Hanoi's old quarter is pretty neat compared to Saigon.  It's definitely "old" and quaint looking and while there are an insane amount of motorbikes everywhere, it's so much smaller and more compact.  There's also an interesting mix of old and new culture with old ladies carrying fruit for sale on their back.  

For lunch, we had Bun Cha at Bun Cha Ta which was known for having amazing Bun Cha.  We originally going to go to the infamous shop where Anthony Bourdain and Obama went to (and the table is memorialized) but we actually heard from locals and read reviews that that restaurant wasn't particularly good.  It was more convenient in terms of Obama's motorcade so we decided to pass.  We were excited to try this new place because we loved the Bun Cha in Saigon and we figured it would be even better in Hanoi since it's a dish that originated here.  Well, it didn't disappoint.  The Bun Cha here was delicious! 

Walking around and getting HANGRY

This morning we got up and worked out in the park like we have been here since the park is so close by, followed by our free breakfast at the hotel which has been really tasty each day.  It was a little rainy today but we used it to do any finishing up of anything we missed previously.  We first set out to find the place that is supposed to have the best Banh Mi sandwiches (actually called Banh Mi Hong Hoa but called "Lesbian banh mi" because duh, the ladies who started it are lesbians- totally random name) but unfortunately, my intel was wrong and it wasn't open until the evening.  Then, we travelled to go to Marcel Gourmet Burger which I read was a delicious burger place, just to find out that it is closed on Mondays.  :(  At this point, Will was about to kill me but eventually we made it to Bun Thit Nuong Chi Thong where they were supposed to have the best bun thit which is the vermicelli bowl with pork and egg rolls, like we often eat at home.  It was delicious, but tasted just like it does at home.  Not better or worse.

Scooting around Saigon

Today we spent most of the day walking around Saigon.  First we got up and had a delicious hotel breakfast.  All of the hotels here in Vietnam are so cheap and they all include a free breakfast with lots of yummy choices!  I actually LOVED the pho that they had at the hotel and both Will and I have been eating a ridiculous amount of dragon fruit.  After breakfast, we headed to Ben Tranh market.  While this market was billed as one of the must-see things in Saigon, we didn't spend much time here.  Once you've been to a few markets around the world, you start to realize you've been to them all.  This one had some fun food and snacks but for the most part, it sold fake goods and clothing, none of which we were all that interested in.

Afterwards, we ended up running into a fancy shopping mall.  I don't think I mentioned this yesterday but it is hot AF in Saigon.  We were making our way via walking to the Notre Dame Cathedral and stumbled upon this fancy mall (which there are many of of, btw- with multiple floors of stores), and decided we need an A/C break.  In it, we found a fancy movie theater and being the movie buffs that we are, we decided to take a break and go see Mission Impossible: Fallout.  This movie theater was really nice and even had some screens with "movie beds" where you could lay down and lounge with drinks and snacks but that didn't work out with our timing and movie choice.  Instead, we decided to go to a normal movie screening.  Now it's actually a random tradition that we see a movie in a foreign country.  It is because 1) We love seeing movies and there's usually something out we don't want to miss and 2) We figured it's interesting to see how theaters are different around the world.  However, like our normal tradition, we fell asleep part way through the movie.  Or for me, for most of it.

Hitting the Ground Running... Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta

It has been a LONG day. We got in late last night to Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon), our first leg of this trip. We flew from DC to Beijing but our connection in Beijing left late so we didn’t get to our hotel until about 3am and by the time we got into bed, it was 4am and we were wide awake!! We got up at 6ish and were picked up by our tour company at 7:30am to see the Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta.

Today was a full day. We got picked up by a fancy van with leather reclining seats and WiFi and usb chargers. There were 6 people in our group including us and they had drinks and snacks for the ride. Our tour guide Betty was super enthusiastic and full of jokes that were a little lost on our crowd but she was kind and tried hard. Our first stop was to the Cu Chi Tunnels. It was about 1 1/2 hours outside of Saigon. On the ride there we watch the documentary/info video which is def some propaganda about the Americans but the actual tunnel tour was really interesting.  We got to see and hear about all of the tactics the Viet Cong fighters used against the Americans. Obviously as an American, it is a strange experience to hear what they had to endure but from a historical perspective, it was interesting to hear about their simplistic but effective tactics. Obviously the side you hear is skewed to their version of history but it wasn’t overly offensive as not much opinion was added in.  As a side note, I acknowledge that it may or may not be appropriate to take photos here. I wrestled with the idea but ultimately, I decided I was ok with it.