Hanoi (Vietnam)
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Air Asia got us into Hanoi at about 9:00am. It was the first time that I’d seen Hanoi from the air as previous arrivals/departures had been in the dark, it was amazing to witness the tapestry of rice fields, high banks, raised dirt roads and small towns/villages right up until almost a couple of minutes before landing. I mean, it’s a typically South-East Asian scene and if anyone was to ask me how I’d imagine the surrounds of your stereotypical city/town, then this would be it, but with that said, this is also the capital, a city with an estimated population of 6.5million and a place that PWC has estimated will be THE city with the highest GDP growth from 2008-2025. Hanoi is going to be coming along just swimmingly by all accounts.
We disembarked pretty swiftly, make our way through customs, picked up our bags and headed out into the arrivals terminal. For some of the complaints that I’ve read online about Hanoi airport I’ve simply got to say that they’re unwarranted. These Commie’s are swift, efficient and even occasionally have smiles on their faces? How different are they to our bogan knob jockeys back home are seem to be harbouring a persistent grudge against who knows what exactly?
The Hotel Elegance 3 had kindly arranged a pick-up from the airport and as we shot off down the main road into Hanoi, our hangovers lingering and our cloudy minds dissipating slightly, it all became familiar to me. I’d been on the same road nearly two years earlier to the day, and that time, just as I was now, simply amazed and also made me slightly wary of the F1 type of manoeuvring of all vehicles, plus their penchant to use their horns the moment a fly brushed their windscreen. The pace is hectic, chaotic, and yet it's also kind of organic. Cars move wildly but they get to where they’re going in one way or another. As I’ve discussed previously, the hierarchy on the roads here are cars first, bikes/scooters second, all else third. The bigger you are, the more advantages you have and the more rights you acquire. It's the law of the urban jungle.
Crossing the Red River and driving into the centre of Hanoi and into the Old Quarter proper I remembered exactly why I fell for this place the last time I was here. It’s quaint, gritty, charming and vibrant in what appears to be a perpetual state of chaos, albeit some type of well crafted or orchestrated chaos. The building are unfamiliar to my Western senses, they’re not very wide but usually a few storeys tall, the reason of which I’ve come to discover are purely for tax purposes. The wider the building, evidently, the more tax that you’re required to pay. Perhaps the concept of strata title hasn't quite made it to Hanoi as yet, and really, how can you be allowed to box compartments or lots of air anyway?
We entered the Hanoi Elegance 3 at about 10:30am. A great looking hotel, and friendly staff which we noticed immediately. An energetic member of staff, Autumn was her name, greeted us and then provided us with a run down of the standard formalities. It’s at that point that I notice what would be a mild annoyance for me over the next few weeks. This girl is talking to us both, apparently, but is fully locked into Jet’s appearance. I could have danced naked and she would not have averted her eyes an iota. As I’m answering questions she’s responding but looking straight at Jet. This sensation I dubbed the ‘Rockstar & Invisible Man Syndrome’ . At this point I placed it down to a once off scenario, you know, the girls' intrigued, it’s all good, but ladies and gentlemen no, this was nothing in comparison to what was to follow over the next few weeks!!
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In any case, The Rockstar and I settle into our room for a few hours. It’s very comfortable, large and more than great value for the price that we’d paid. Both of us crash out for a few hours, coming to terms with another flight and sleeping off the remains of the long evening before. Later in the afternoon the both of us smarten up and we hit the pavement, hanging a left and walking up Hang Bong St towards Hoan Kiem lake. It’s now that the Freakshow reality kicks into overdrive. Every person that we pass is looking, staring, pointing at my man Frichot like he’s some kind of superstar.
Typical street scape - Hanoi - Vietnam
As we walk people either laugh, wave, give him the big thumbs up or request photos. Seriously, that first walk ended up being kind of nuts. We walked all the way up Hang Bong road and settled into a large, stylish café on Hoan Kiem lake. The opportunity to get one of those famous Vietnamese coffee’s into me was one that I wasn’t prepared to wait for.
Vietnamese coffee, beats all countries hands down
As a side note, for those unaccustomed to Vietnamese coffee, let me say this. It’s strong, has a hell of a lot of flavour and is usually served with a certain amount of sweetened condensed milk that when stirred through the coffee makes it one of my favourite brews/drinks of all time. It’s really that good. As I start downing my coffee and my mind starts drifting off to other thoughts and places one of the staff turns up out our table and asks for a photo with Jet.This kid is famous already and hasn't sold one album in Vietnam, yet.
As the sun drops on our first evening in Hanoi we cruised the streets, doing a fair amount of souvenir shopping before wondering into Minh’s Jazz bar for several drinks and some dinner. We had walked in before any band had made their way onto the stage but the place had a funky vibe going on already, like there was a weight of laid back grooves that somehow remained after the tunes had disappeared. We continued to drink, getting more into the spirit of this trip with every moment. This also transformed into our dinner stop for the evening, which overall was pretty good as well, although the staff had some real difficulties with interpreting what our request for ‘bread’ was. Explanations of sandwiches, baguettes, miming eating a sandwich in the end got us nowhere. Slightly exasperated I put it to the guy that he should go and ‘Google it’ in order to get the picture.I know, maybe I should have picked up a few words in Vietnamese , would have made things easier.
Minh's Jazz Bar - Hanoi - Vietnam
Not quite three sheets to the wind but definitely feeling cheery, my memory map in play, I directed us to the main bar area of Hanoi that I recalled from previous exploits. Starting at a place called the Red Lounge, which was kind of engaging but had an atmosphere of an old age home, we moved down Ta Hien street until we found a place called the Funky Buddha. Now this place was ‘Da Shiz’ , the tunes that were being dropped by the female DJ were freakin’ awesome, it was some type of upbeat electro dance/trance type of sound. Not something that I thought I’d get into but I/we certainly did. Jet was obviously in his element and he was on the dance floor cutting moves for most of the night. I was happy to get a little lost in my mind and drink most of the night away. It was fantastic.
Frichot and his 'Groovethang' - The Funky Buddha - Hanoi
Yeah, whatever - Funky Buddha - Hanoi
As the lights came on towards the end of the evening we managed to hit a couple of bars before we stumbled into another joint that was thankfully open and were more than accommodating in that they kindly made us a few batches of spring rolls at about 3:00am. So there we were, in the backstreets of the Old Quarter, fairly tanked by this staged and taking up residence at the bar with the staff, sharing spring rolls and talking absolute gibberish, it was fantastic. Somehow my guidance system was still in operation by the time we left the last watering hole for that morning and we managed to make it back to our abode at something like 4am! A sign of things to come perhaps? There's no perhaps there my friend, it was going to happen for sure!
Rockstar or Karate Kid, you be the judge - Old Quarter, 4am - Hanoi
Hanoi, a great place to chill!
What type of 'Hanoi Moment' was this? Our eyes might give away the secret!
