Viet-blog - Hanoi and end of trip
Hanoi. It was an adventure to end the adventure.
One of the strangest and maze like cities I’ve had the joy of experiencing. It was, without question, an adventure. We landed and got a Grab and started into the city. A wide highway greeted us and we were rolling towards the Old Quarter at a nice and smooth clip. Once we hit the city, though, that all changed and the Vietnamese traffic and honking we had grown accustomed too was back.
We arrived and got the AirBnb and set it all up. If you haven’t seen the video of our place, go back and find it. We had to cut thru an alleyway/cafe/noodle shop to get there. It was awesome. A cool little 3 story place tucked in a little courtyard thru the alley noodle place. The ground floor of the 3 story place was basic. Toilet and shower. Kitchen. Living room and entrance. The next floor was up a beautiful staircase (not pictured) and led to a bedroom that Kiddo got. A single big bed with a futon type thing also. Poley and Porkchop Piggy lived on the futon, but they were happy there as they preferred harder sleeping surfaces. Up to three and you needed to go up a ladder. Yes, an actual ladder. J and I didn’t have the want or gumption to try to get suitcases up to the third, so we kind of made a basecamp on the first floor and brought things up and down as needed.
Our first night and we needed food. We wandered down the street and a short block up, there was the Pho place we wanted. Walking down another alleyway we got to what appeared to be a living room. We were told “Up stair” and so we headed up. At the top of the stairs we saw a bunch of shoes outside a room. Heading there, we saw a space that looked like another living room with a few tables and little stools set up. We got a spot, ordered, and were brought Pho. It was really good. However, we didn’t know that it was a BYO type place, so by the time we were done, we all really wanted some water.
After that and a day of traveling, we headed home and just relaxed. Got Kiddo to bed and then J was gonna crash as well. It was about 20:45 and I was wide awake and restless. I headed to Beer Street and decided to get some street food and a beer or two. Beer Street was a crush of people, tourists, bars, guys and girls soliciting every person who walked by for food, or drinks, or beer, or massage, or smoking lounge, or whatever. It was a crush. I ended up at Beer Mexico and got a beer and a whiskey, but also a taco plate. Not bad.
Then, it was my turn to get lost. In the people and crush, I got turned around and using my map was no good as I only had the name of a little shop near us, not our address itself. Sadly, the market name I had was common, so when I looked it up, about 25 locations populated my map. So, I was lost. And J had turned her phone to Sleep and was unable to help. I had cash and my passport, so worse comes to worse, I could get a room or hostel or something and try again in the morning. I kept my wits and backtracked and started to learn the city and area and slowly circled in on places I had seen before. Finally, I found myself looking at a pizza place I knew was around the corner from us. I backtracked that and found the alleyway. PHEW! Home at last and sleep.
The next day we headed to a cafe/bookstore called Bookworms. Cool place and Kiddo was in book heaven. J and I enjoyed it and browsed as well, but Kiddo was the book getter that day. J and I did enjoy the coffee.
After that, we headed to a taco place as Kiddo was loving the availability of tacos in Hanoi. The place we found was decent and we were happy. We also got a butterfly visitor as we sat waiting on our food.
We were near a little lake with a Temple/Pagoda in it, so that was a cool view and little area. There was also the museums that we saw. Kiddo LOVED the geology museum and the Nat History museum was a cool thing as well. Small, but really well put together. Plus, the butterflies and insects they had preserved were amazing to see.
We ate a lot of tacos and enjoyed the access to that.
Pasteur Brewing was great as well. The first time.
We went one night for eats and a flight. The beer was great. Top notch. The food, we thought, was good. Solid B/B+. Service as well. We got a take away bottle (kind of like a growler) and it was inexpensive to fill, so J and I had a beer source for the few days we were there. The second to last night we went back and it was a dud. Service was trash. Food timing worse. They forgot about one of our dishes and we needed to ask twice about that. The beer was still amazing, but the food and service were certainly a D- that second time. Bummer too, because it was a solid recommend from us. Now… Yeah, the beers are good. Food and service are hit n miss. It went from a Don’t miss this place to get a beer if you can.
The ice cream waffle place was a trip. The low ceilings made J look like a giant and we all had a great laugh over that. We stopped in because we were going to see a cathedral and Kiddo was “Soooo hungry.” LOL So, once we got her nibbled and happy, we headed over and checked the cathedral. It was impressive and OLD. Wow.
Unpictured is Spa day. Kiddo and J went to get Gel Nails and mani/pedis and I headed off to a spa for a treatment. There were TONS of Spas around and so I looked and checked reviews and all that. Went to a little cafe Kiddo and I had been to the day before and the same girl was working. She had really good English. She saw what I was googling and asked if I wanted a Spa. She recommended a local place, that wasn’t attached to a major hotel. We’d rather spend local than big brand, so I took her rec.
I’d never had a Vietnamese massage and so off I went. I prefer Thai Massage, but it was still nice. It was like a mix of Thai, acupressure, and Swedish Oil massage all combined. It was relaxing, but unlike a Thai Massage, didn’t really get deep and really stretch me out. The foot massage and treatment, however, was really nice and my masseur (who had middle English) commented that I started with “Man Feet” and ended with “Baby Feet… So soft.” The face and head treatment was nice and I got this weird ear/temple massage and rub. That was unusual, but so so nice.
The city was nice and we had a good time, but we were in the Old Quarter and a lot of hotels and tourists around us so it made for some busy areas and walking. It also came with a lot of shops and rickshaws and others calling us constantly. It just got to the point where going out, we knew we would be called and solicited constantly. No no was a common phrase we used a dozen times… Just walking two blocks for a coffee or otherwise. On longer walks and outings, it was dozens of times. It got to the point it was exhausting and annoying.
On our last day, we packed up and headed out. Happy to be getting back to our lives and our home, we still had some sadness. Vietnam was comfortable for us (for the most part) and we all had a great time. Kiddo gained some core memories. We learned a lot about what we want next on this adventure of Ex-Pat life and it also lit a fire under us for more travels. Our next stop at Immigration will be to make sure we all get multiple entry visas and we can see more of the area and world. China, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and the Philippines are definitely on the top of our list and we will be doing more traveling this year on breaks.
As I said back at the beginning of this; Starting it Hard. Much like that, the first time is the hardest. Knowing now how easy the travel is and how affordable, we know we can live out this year, take our next job, but then start planning travel based on where we want to see and scout for the next job and the next after that, but also we can just see the world. Seoul, Tokyo, KL, Hong Kong, Beijing, HCMC (again), and anywhere else we want. It’s easy and affordable, with a little planning, and we plan on planning that for the next ten years or so. Time to get some stamps in the passports.
Also, Kiddo gained something as well. She’s been making passports for her stuffed friends and exploring that idea. She’s also wrapping her head around the idea that we are going to hop for the next few years. That we will get a few years to experience places and explore them, but that we will and can move on. She was shown that the world can be as big as you want it to be and that exploring it (and even getting lost in it) are not scary things, but just challenges that need to be accepted and overcame. She is a trooper and so so so very brave and bold. Just this trip showed her so much and she just rolled with it all. The lines, the strangeness, the traffic, the constant beeping of horns, and getting lost in the rain and trying a new thing. Invaluable and so cool that at 6 she wants to see more and see all. She’s already planning China and Chaing Mai. After that, she has plans for Tokyo and she “realllllly” wants to see baseball in Korea. She’s got plans, but more than that, she’s got the knowledge that traveling and seeing and exploring is cool and fun and something that is not only possible, but that it can happen and should happen.
Lastly, I'm just gonna leave this here, but I have a LOT of questions. Firstly, why does this need to be explained? Second, you sure you know how fluid dynamics work? Third, tip toes? I mean, the list goes on and on.
We loved it all, even the bad parts, and we’ve talked about making Vietnam a “home base” of sorts, if we ever could. 16 years ago, on our third date, I told J that if I could retire to HCMC right then and there, I would. Now that she’s seen it as well, she couldn’t agree more. Kiddo also expressed happiness and a willingness to go back. She’s even told J and myself that “Mumma should get a job there next.” We’re working on it Kiddo.
Let’s go, Kiddo… We’re back, still have more to say and share since we’ve been back and you have learned and grown so much, both in body and mind, in the last weeks. Mumma and Dada love you always and hope that whatever parts of this large and wonderful globe we can’t show you, that you go and explore that yourself as you grow and get older. We love you always!
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