Vietnam Coffee Heaven (Hanoi)
Hanoi 2/16/2025-2/21/2025
Our morning started at 4:30 AM. Taking a ride to the Krabi bus terminal, taking the bus to the Phuket airport, getting to the airport and taking a side car ride to get to the terminal, arriving to the airport 5 hours early, taking our flight to Bangkok, 2 hour lay over in Bangkok, flight to Hanoi, ride from Hanoi to our hostel. One of the longest travel days we have experienced.
Totally exhausted. On our way to the city, I started to get a sense of how busy it was. Everything was open late, people hanging out, coffee shops full of people, and motorbikes as far as the eye can see. The traffic and street crossings were just as insane as the videos on the internet made it out to be.
We were eager to hit the town as soon as we awoke. There was this really cute coffee place right by where we were staying. We ended up going nearly every morning. We tried new coffee drinks like the egg coffee and the salt coffee. Both very good. For lunch we tried a pho place in an alley. Not as sketchy as it sounds as there are a lot of places like that. We spent hours just looking around.
Photo: Early Morning Train Street
In preparation for the Ha Giang loop, we needed to acquire clothes more suited to the environment we were in. There were shops with tons of north face and Patagonia apparel for super cheap. These cloths seems super legit with nice branded tags so I don't really know what the dealio was but I am not complaining. Camila and I got Arc'teryx jackets that retail for $500 for like $60 after some intense haggling with this Vietnamese woman. For under layers, we went to this underground store. We walked down these random set of stairs on the street and were met a the bottom with rows and rows of clothes booths. From what I can gather, it seems like people rent out these booths and sell second hand cloths. Almost like a huge thrift store. We were just interested in sweatshirts and thermals but you could probably find anything you could think of down there. Ever place we went to we had to haggle for the price.
That night I tried bahn mi for the first time and it changed my life. A bahn mi is a vietnamese sandwich that can have various meats, pickled veggies, and chilis, and it's usually toasted like a panini. This was another little stand with that was located in an alley way. I'm telling you, the DIY alley shops that sell food in an alley way are the best, especially if there is a line. I think we went back there at least once per day.
The second day was filled with more sight seeing. We first went to the train street super early when it was completely empty which was really cool. Usually it gets totally packed with tourists taking photos and totally clogging up the street. Later, we had reservations at a cafe located on the train street so this way we could be front and center when the train passed. It was a very bizarre and unique experience. The cafe had tables and chairs that lined the rail road tracks which I thought was odd because... you know a train passes though there. As the time slow crept toward the hour the train was coming more and more people showed up. All of the seats and tables for this cafe seemed occupied but everything was super chill. When there were a few minutes till the train was to be passing through, the tables were al collapsed and put on the ground right next to the tracks and everyone was to sit sideways. I am thinking to myself, "How close was this train gonna be to us?" Sure enough we could hear it around the corner and it was not taking its time. The thing was hauling ass. I was recording the train coming on my phone and as the train was approaching I have to pull my hand down and out of the way in fear of being struck by the train. It was inches away. If you were to just stick you knee sideways as the train passed, you'd lose a leg.
Totally adrenaline filled, we headed to a restaurant that Obama and Anthony Bourdain eat at. We got the Obama special which was the order made when he ate there. We were pretty exhausted from all the walking we were fast asleep by 9.
The third day we went to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum. This was the largest prison in Indochina and was constructed during the occupation of the French back in 1896. I think it was 2 bucks to get in and we spent hours in there. I found it to be so fascinating the way they depicted the harsh environments of the prison during the time it housed Vietnamese people that were fighting for communism. And then how different the narrative is during the Vietnam War when it housed POW. There were so many photos on the American Prisoners playing basketball and cards, getting cards from there families, and sharing cigarettes and candies with the prison guards. Definitely not how it went down but interesting to observe.
Went to this tiny 5 story coffee shop with sticker notes that lined the floor walls and ceiling. We both had to write a little note and post it somewhere on the wall. Interesting to see all the different messages people had left there along with all the penises that were also drawn. There were so many coffee places that had amazing coffees in Hanoi. You can't go down a block without seeing one. Most of the coffee I was coming across in Thailand was instant coffee which will never replace the satisfaction of a well pulled shot of espresso.
The fourth day we didn't do a whole lot. We were experiencing a lot of cloudy days and decided to postpone the Ha Giang loop trip a few days to try to get some favorable weather. I can only speak for myself here but the hustling and bustling of the city was wearing me out. A friend who is also traveling around Vietnam recommended we check out this town called Ninh Binh if we had time. We decided to book a 2 night excursion to the town of Ninh Binh since we were postponing the Ha Giang loop tour. I spent some time booking the accommodations and spent the rest of my day drawing. Drawing is something I never realize how much I miss until I start up with it again.
Our last night in Hanoi we decided to ball out on the banh mi's and get four. The first two were delicious. Then Camila could finish her second one so I took over. This hurt the ol' stomach and I decided it was a good idea to stay away from those sandwiches for a few days.
Comments
Post a Comment