Hanoi

Following the the girl around Asia - next stop, Hanoi. Prior to this trip I'd been to Hanoi once, it was 2011 and it was when I had just arrived in Asia. I have fairly vague memories of this trip. Snake Village, unimpressive food, looking back at the post, my final comment was "Unfortunately missed out on the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum as well as Halong Bay - I might just have to go back!" - Derek 2011. 

I am happy to report, that I have returned to Hanoi and have managed to neither visit Halong Bay, or the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Fairly short trip for me, in Saturday, out Sunday. A couple of highlights, the Northern-style Pho, less complex, cleaner broth reminds me a little more of Chinese Brisket soup. Train street, a complete tourist trap where people sit along the tracks sipping drinks until everybody is ushered in to avoid the careening train. 4Ps Pizza, yes I know, hear me out, Pizza in Vietnam. It really is that good. Finally I have acquired a new appreciation of Bun Cha, although this may be partially from the store in Marrickville.

We actually tried to get to the Mausoleum on the Sunday. Arriving early (ish) at around 9 am, and it was JAM PACKED. If I were to have guessed I would have said there would have been thousands of people lining up to get into the area. Promptly we opted against lining up and elected to have a coffee and breakfast instead.

Hanoi

This post has been sitting in the drafts folder for over a month which explains the inactivity of my Blog. It had been over 5 years since I was last in Vietnam - it was one of the more enjoyable sections of my 3 months around Asia. The details of this trip would be a little different. For one it would be significantly shorter, a weekend as opposed to an entire month. Secondly, the locale would be different. North Vietnam, Hanoi as opposed to Saigon.

Flying out on the Friday night we stayed two nights at the Hanoi Sofitel Metropole an exquisitely fashioned hotel with a French Colonial flavour. Food wise, I found Hanoi a little disappointing, especially compared to the delicacies of Saigon, Da Lat and Nha Trang. (Although, this was probably more a case of not knowing where to eat). Night life was good without being outstanding and we were overwhelmed by the multicultural representation at the local haunts: Press Club, The Red Room, Tay Ho Hotel and Phuc Tan.

Sour note, experienced dramas with (temporary) missing peoples and aggressive Taxi Drivers, other than that, an excellent trip where we managed to check out the following:

Snake Village - served King Cobra blood and meat.

Hoa Lo Prison aka The Hanoi Hilton.

Sofitel Metropole

Unfortunately missed out on the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum as well as Halong Bay - I might just have to go back!