Disheveled Musings: Old Hanoi

Upon arriving into Vietnam it was a tad confusing in that as a foreigner landing you're at a distinct disadvantage in terms of language. Signage was minimal and there seemed to be a lot of flights all landing at once at Hanoi's Noi Bai international airport.

As I deplaned I followed the crowd to the immigration area, retrieving my pre-approved visa and the letter of entry from my backpack I joined a large crowd of people with no real sign of a line. I quickly surmised that I had to submit my passport and paperwork, including photos and entry fee somewhere else. Noticing people disappearing down a corridor I followed them to a back counter, where I was able to submit all of the requisite items, before heading back into the crowd to wait for my name and passport to be called. It took about an hour to get through the process. Patience is a virtue in situations like this, however not everyone around me had the same approach and there was frustration in the air as those less traveled fumed at the perceived inefficiencies...

Scooter traffic on the road from Noi Bai to downtown Hanoi...see what I mean J

Once I had my passport I then retrieved my backpack, which had been sitting on, the now stopped carousel and headed out into the humid and sticky terminal to find my driver who'd been waiting so patiently for me to emerge. I had pre-arranged a driver to take me downtown to my hotel (smart move), and so we exited the Noi Bai airport we ran into what I thought was an anomaly.

Yes, my first introduction to Hanoi and indeed Vietnam and I was struck by the sheer number of scooters that were everywhere. Even in Italy, which I considered until this point as the “home of the scooter” paled in comparison to Vietnam. J

The ubiquitous scooter isn't only found in the big cities but also in every village and hamlet throughout the entire country. It’s clearly the mainstay of transportation in Vietnam, and if I were to hazard a guess I'd contend that there are more scooters than people in this country, crazy, as that seems.

My adventure in Vietnam was amazing! Each day brought new sights, sounds, smells (yes, definitely this one) and experiences with the epicenter of these experiences being Hanoi. A friend of mine said that when he was in Hanoi he “feared for his life” trying to cross the road however, I put his concern down to his relatively rural existence and the lack of traffic that he contends with on a daily basis. As you know, I've traveled to some of the busiest cities in the world so I was completely unconcerned about Hanoi, until I actually got to Hanoi. Wow, now I could see why he was nervous!

The concierge gave me this card to give to the taxi driver
for my trip back to the hotel

So after getting to the hotel and securing a map from the concierge I jumped into a taxi and asked the doorman from the hotel to ask the driver to take me to the “Old Quarter”. Hanoi itself celebrated its 1000 anniversary in 2010, and the old quarter is an area of about 36 streets and alleys that are divided by the artisans that have worked in these streets for hundreds of years and that sell specific goods. For example Hanoi’s silk or “lụa” merchants are found primarily on Hang Gai Street. As with many ancient cities there is no standard grid layout, but rather a jumble of streets that weave and wind their way around in no particular direction. Pretty easy to get lost unless you have a map, although finding an actual street sign is another issue completely… J

The taxi driver dropped me by St Joseph’s Cathedral (oldest catholic church in Hanoi) just west of Hoan Kiếm Lake and was a perfect place to begin my exploration of the old city.

The interesting thing about Hanoi is that because the streets and alleys are so narrow and there is no place to park scooters, so the footpath (sidewalk to my North American friends) becomes the parking lane for scooters, and so now I was starting to understand why being a pedestrian in Hanoi was a little more tenuous than what I had originally imagined as you had to share the narrow streets and alleys along with every other person, vehicle and animal and trust me there were a multitude of all those things.

The afternoon was very humid and overcast, and I could see the thunderheads swirling above me and recognized the tell tale signs of a storm that was brewing so I quickly found shelter under a shop’s awning just before the street was inundated in a tropical downpour that you only find in this part of the world. It was mere seconds before the road was completely awash and slick with water, however for the locals on scooters it was just another afternoon in Hanoi and being so adept and used to this type of weather quickly stopped, retrieved their poncho’s and continued on their way. No big deal!

Scooter riders during the first downpour

I loved observing how life continued on irrespective of the weather and found myself discovering photo opportunities wherever I looked, while at the same time trying to be vigilant as I navigated the edge of the busy streets. This was especially true when I needed to cross the street. Yikes!

I soon realized that both patience and courage were required to wade out into the oncoming traffic and hope that they got around you; it certainly wasn’t an activity for the faint of heart.

Over the course of the afternoon I took close to 400 photos as I tried to capture the essence, vibe and innate beauty that was Hanoi. And as the afternoon turned to dusk I found myself at the magnificent Hoan Kiếm Lake (so gorgeous!), but was caught in the open during another torrential downpour…bugger I missed seeing this one coming. Normally I would have been upset with myself for missing the obvious signs and getting soaking wet, but as I endeavoured to shelter under a large oak tree and keep my camera dry (all of which was to no avail) all I could do was smile to myself and think how fortunate I was to be here at this very moment experiencing Hanoi in all its splendour…

I'll be back!

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Here are a selection of photos from my afternoon in the Old Quarter of Hanoi - enjoy!