City traveling @ Han Noi, Vietnam

Upon landing in Han Noi we were driven to The Bespoke Trendy Hotel, a very bespoke and trendy hotel. The service was again enthusiastic and on the verge of being oppressive. As guests we were not allowed to carry any of our suitcases. We were greeted by smiling hotel employees laser focused on catering to our every need. We tried to act normal and appreciate the hospitality as we sipped tea on the couch while they checked us in.

In the morning we made our way to the hotel restaurant for the included breakfast. We tried the Vietnamese coffee which was quite strong, not bitter, and sweetened with condensed milk; in simpler words it was delicious. Then piled assorted food onto our plate from the buffet, all of it was tasty and about half of it was made to cater to western palates.

After breakfast we jumped into the tour van and drove to the ethnology museum. There we learned about the 52 ethnic groups in Vietnam. They all have distinct dialects but can speak common Vietnamese. They have different cultural traditions and dress. Helen was particularly impressed with one tribe that was a proud matriarchy.

We were hustled back into the van for a delicious lunch with a set menu and a Michelin recommendation. They served us traditional Vietnamese food—a very tasty grilled catfish, pork salad, pumpkin soup, spring rolls, and a wild sticky rice dessert that everyone loved.

For our afternoon/evening adventures we started with a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show. Originally these shows were created between farming season when people had a lot of downtime. Puppeteers would hide in murky water while animating their elaborate puppets. Today we were privileged to watch the show in the comfort of a theater rather than a rice field. Only 10 minutes into the show Adam began to nervously giggle as he realized that everything was in vietnamese and he was unable to follow the story. While the artistic nature of the show was abundantly clear and was worth seeing; any longer than an hour would have been too much. (Helen, who understood the show to be an anthology from the start, wants to note that she enjoyed the dragon dance the most; the fire sparklers in their mouths was a nice touch— also the boat race song was a jam).

For our evening tour we switched from the van to a repurposed Russian Army Jeep without a roof. For our first stop we followed the local customs and made our way to a coffee shop for an early evening pick-me-up. In the 1940s there was a shortage of dairy in Vietnam so coffee shops substituted whipped egg yolk and sugar, resulting in a drink known as egg coffee. Our guide took us to the shop that invented the process. The egg coffee was delicious—thick and sweet with a custard-like flavor.

With our caffeine high activated we stopped at a street market for a snack. We met one vendor who sells 2000 marinated pork sticks a day. We each tried one and immediately understood why. It was quite delicious.

Next up the guide brought us to a “train street.” The narrow street had train tracks running down its center with cafes and homes lining either side. The guide said it was very famous on the internet, but being social media hermits we had to take his word for it.

We ordered hanoi beers and enjoyed the warm evening weather. Soon we heard the rumble of the train. In a flurry of activity the locals moved around the tables and chairs. Our waitress adjusted Helen just so, gesturing that she hold her knees to the side. Thinking this was all a bit much for what was sure to be a slow moving, small train, we turned towards the tooting noises. Adam picked up his phone to ready himself for pictures. We heard the train trundling down the tracks and eagerly awaited the photo opportunity.

Before we knew it the headlights of a full-sized passenger train was hurdling down the tracks! Any overgrown plants got a free pruning by the oversized train barreling down the residential street. We pulled our knees in even tighter for fear that we’ll be irreversibly injured. One unnamed member of our group could be heard unleashing a colorful stream of words that would make a sailor blush. Adam willed his cramping knees to hold on a little longer; unable to rearrange them for fear of losing a limb.

Then, after what felt like far too long, we finally reached the end of the train. Our tour guide emerged from the other side of the tracks, a huge grin on his face. He said “should we stay for the next train in an hour?” The group, happy to escape uninjured and bewildered that any city planning committee could approve such a dangerous design, unanimously agreed that once was enough.

After our trauma bonding moment we jeeped to dinner which was a street food meal with square puffy noodles. The guide showed us how to punch holes in the noodles with our chopsticks and stuff them with bok choy stir fry. Ha Noi again treated us to some delicious food. We ended our last night together with a few drinks on a rooftop bar. Tomorrow we’d be parting ways with BobAnn to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the MotoGP race!