Why I love Hanoi

I was talking to my mother last night about my blog, and I realized that I have yet to spend any time writing about the positive aspects of Hanoi. While commuting and a few other aspects of living in Vietnam are not the best (although they do make for fun blog posts), for every not so great thing, there are about 100 amazing things about Hanoi that more than make up for any inconvenience or frustration.

So, I will make a short post to try to explain why I enjoy living here so much, and save more travel stories and a post about my Sunday with Huoung (with pictures!!!) for next time.

Hanoi is my favorite city in Asia thus far. This is largely due to the aesthetic and general vibe of the city. Hanoi has the most trees of any urban center I have seen. Almost every street is lined with trees, and there are numerous small parks that often house a fountain or intricate stone statue. Adding to the amount of nature in the city are the dozen or so lakes. The most famous lake is Hoan Kiem lake. It is at the center of the city, directly south of the 'old quarter', and is known for the amount of couples that stroll along it, the touristy red bridge that many people pay to cross, and an old, large, much loved turtle that occasionally pops up his head and draws in crowds that reach the hundreds within minutes. Below are some pictures:

I haven't figured out how to do captions yet, so the first picture is of the bridge, the second is of a structure that lies in the middle of the lake, and the third of course is the famous turtle (who is sick right now and this makes Huong very sad).

The city is also very beautifully decorated with hanging string lights, colorful flags, and lighted lanterns:


The first picture shows typical side street decor, the second is of hanging lights, many of which feature the symbol of hanoi (the pagoda looking light pattern in the center), and the third are lighted lanterns around hoan kiem lake at night.

Also there are many pagodas and temples throughout the city:



There is also a noticeable french influence:


And then of course more Asian style buildings:



The city is bustling with people (except after 10pm, then it is surprisingly dead), and has an amazing street culture. Almost everything here seems to take place on the street, or atleast spill over onto the sidewalk in some fashion. There are multiple street food vendors on almost every road, and the locals consider street food to be much better and more authentic than any traditional restaurant. They take a lot of pride in this part of their culture, which they rightly should. The food is amazing on the street, and dirt cheap. You can get a meal for 30,000 dong ($1.50), all while sitting around little plastic tables on a little plastic chair, people watching and enjoying the scenery. Typical street food set-up below:
Also on the street are many woman selling various fruits, trinkets, flowers and donuts, which add to the colorfulness and liveliness of the city:

Stores always open up onto the street as well. Below I posted pictures of what we call 'toy street'. Vendors of certain products tend to all be located on one street. There is a road for teak wood products, metal products, shoes, underwear... pretty much any good you can think of.



There are also places called 'Bia Hoi' which literally translates to 'Fresh Beer', where you can order a pint of beer from a keg for as cheap as 3,000 dong (about 12 cents). It tastes very good and is a cheaper alternative to the bottled beer (brands such as: Beer Hanoi, Saigon Beer, 333, Tiger and others). Cafes also litter the streets, serving the famous Vietnamese coffee. The country has amazing iced coffee, and usually during the weekend we stop at about three cafes to have a round of them.



Another great aspect of Hanoi is the Vietnamese people. They are all very interested in you, and try to be as helpful as possible in light of the usually huge language barrier. One of my favorite things to do is just smile at the Vietnamese that I pass on the street, because they usually excitedly wave and smile back. Or in the case of two year-olds, giggle, hide their face and run to tell their mom about the foreigner that looked at them. Little kids also love to say hello to you, which usually leads to the two of you saying hello back and forth to each other until you really should go cause its getting a little out of hand.

I learn about ten new things every day here, and there is never a dull moment. The charm and allure of the city are very hard to articulate, but I hope that I have relayed a bit of it through my descriptions and pictures. Basically, everyone who has the means and the energy should try their hardest to make it to Hanoi and the rest of Vietnam, it really should not be missed.