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! 

Today we walked around, sticking mainly to the old quarter.  We stopped at Bach Ma Temple, Dong Xuan Market, the Ancient House, St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple and went to the Hanoi Hilton (Hoa La Prison where John McCain was a P.O.W.).  

It was a long day, with a lot of walking, and this heat and humidity here in Vietnam is unreal.  We've taken frequent breaks in coffee shops to enjoy the AC, a Vietnamese coffee, and to rest our feet.  Tonight we also took a break from Vietnamese food and decided to have dinner at 4Ps, an Italian restaurant with locations in both Hanoi and Saigon.  We probably would have been skeptical except we had foodie friends recommend it to us and it was actually pretty good!  We had some tasty pizza and pasta and it was a nice break from Vietnamese food.  After that, it was a cold shower to recover from the 90% humidity and heat and we were off to bed!