The place is carnage. Locals sitting on plastic stools on the sidewalk, motorbikes driving on the sidewalk and roads in all directions. It reminded me very much of India - I already liked the place.
I had some really good, although very greasy, local food off the street stalls, mainly consisting of pho (noodle soup) or spring rolls.
As I was waiting for Dave to arrive into town from London, I ended up spending 5 nights in Hanoi, which many who have been would say is 5 days too long. However, I really liked it - the energy, the vibe, the chaos.
During the day, I mostly spent it chilling at Hanoi Backpackers where there was always someone to chat to, including the Vietnamese staff who were happy to teach me key phrases in Vietnamese that proved very helpful on my travels. In the evening, I would look for the few spots open past the midnight curfew, i.e. those places that are willing to bribe the cops to let them stay open. Red Mask was my favourite - good music, nice pool table and chilled vibe. Other good spots were Finnegans, Le Pub, Hair of the Dog. One night, two other guys and me got jumped by four dodgy ladies who jumped off their bikes and onto us just as we were trying to enter our hotel. Luckily, we escaped into the safety of our hotel!
I also spent a ridiculous amount of time in the evenings at the 'bia hoi' corner. Basically, you sit on a plastic chair on a street corner watching the motorbikes, cars, cycles, etc go by constantly. Microbrew is served at around 10p a glass and there are lots of people selling great and really cheap food such as strips of dried squid with chili sauce, noodle soup, and even delicious kebabs.
After one of a few late nights in Red Mask, I came up with the silly idea of forming a human pyramid in the middle of the road - for some reason, everyone bought into the idea! We then watched Lewis Hamilton somehow clinch the F1 World Championship which was followed by 12 hours of US election coverage - Obama was declared the winner at noon local time at which point I decided to head out for some sightseeing!
The weather was appalling. Tropical storms had flooded most of Hanoi and it was raining heavily all day almost every day I as in town. However, I did manage to get to the lake, the Hoa Lo prison (where John McCann among others were kept during the War), the military museum which had many US tanks, aircrafts etc on display, the Lenin statue opposite, Ho Chi Minh's house, the guy who led Vietnam's Communist era (a hero across the country), and the Temple of Literature, which was similar to many temples in China.
One evening, I also went to the traditional Vietnamese water puppet show which was surprisingly very entertaining.
Although it didn't seem I did much in Hanoi, and despite the constant nagging from street hawkers, I met lots of cool people and it was nice to spend a few days in one place not having to think about where I was going to next.
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