{"id":935,"date":"2010-05-21T14:35:21","date_gmt":"2010-05-21T21:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffwallach.com\/?p=935"},"modified":"2011-06-22T17:24:19","modified_gmt":"2011-06-23T00:24:19","slug":"hanoi-city-of-soaring-contrasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/travel\/935\/hanoi-city-of-soaring-contrasts","title":{"rendered":"Hanoi: City of Soaring Contrasts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Hanoi street scene: limes vs. . . . ???<\/p><\/div>\n

As my wife, Renee, and I were slurping pho\u2014a hot, spicy noodle soup with ever-changing ingredients that is the national dish of Vietnam\u2014in a French-inspired restaurant on a lively boulevard in Hanoi, it occurred to me that this meal provided the perfect analogy for the city itself.\u00a0 Hanoi is also a steamy, colorful broth of contrasting flavors that somehow work together in delicious harmony.<\/p>\n

Renee and I had become accustomed to the yin-yang mix of everything from politics to culinary influences in this lovely colonial city that seems defined by contradictions: on the outskirts of Hanoi we saw glass skyscrapers rising out of fluorescent green rice paddies.\u00a0 In the Old Quarter, women in traditional peasant garb and conical hats, lugging heaps of mangos in baskets hung on the ends of long wooden poles, sold their wares outside couture dressmakers and cellular phone shops.\u00a0 A modern coffee chain whipped up iced lattes close by to a dark storefront where bottles of snake wine (with cobra heads prominently posed inside) lined dusty shelves.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\n

Long known as the City of the Soaring Dragon, Hanoi has served as the Vietnamese capital many times over nearly 1,000 years.\u00a0 This on-again off-again prestige may partly explain the city\u2019s charmingly bi-polar personality.\u00a0 Most recently, following their August Revolution in 1945, the Communists pronounced Hanoi the capital of North Vietnam\u2014although they couldn\u2019t occupy the city until they finished driving out the French nine years later.\u00a0 Although Vietnam has embraced a western-style market economy, it still remains under Communist rule.\u00a0 Today Hanoi is once again capital of the entire, reunified nation, having outlasted a centuries-long line of invaders from across the globe.<\/p>\n

The city spreads along the Red River and clusters around several lakes, the most central being Hoan Kiem.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re traveling in the quaint cobbled streets of the Old Quarter, or among the apartments and office buildings blossoming like lotus flowers in the shiny new business district, Hanoi blends ancient monuments, French colonial architecture, and nouveaux-urban elements in a rich multi-ethnic concoction.\u00a0 It mixes a timeless sepia beauty and a streamlined modern aesthetic.<\/p>\n

Like most visitors, Renee and I spent the bulk of our time walking in and around the startling Old Quarter, which has been the center of commerce and culture and contrasts here for a millennium.\u00a0 Although cabs (and motorcycle rides) are cheap, and you can even hire a bicycle-powered cyclo taxi nearly anywhere, Hanoi is a city to explore on foot.\u00a0 Just watch out for whizzing motorcycles carrying everything from entire families of four or five people, to large sacks of rice, to live pigs.<\/p>\n

On our first morning in Hanoi we fortified ourselves at the vast breakfast buffet at our hotel, the old-world Sofitel Metropole, by assembling a collection of dishes that included Chinese dim sum, a cilantro-infused pho, French baguettes, and American-style eggs and potatoes.\u00a0 Afterwards we headed out for a leisurely walk and photo safari in the Old Quarter that ended up consuming most of the day.\u00a0 In a leafy park close by to the Metropole we watched locals practicing tai chi and playing badminton.\u00a0 We observed blue-uniformed students on their way to school. We overheard the musical din of businessmen talking quickly into tiny cell phones.\u00a0 Then we entered the action.<\/p>\n

Back in the 13th<\/sup> century, each of the professional guilds in Hanoi claimed a street in the bustling Old Quarter as their own and named it after what they crafted or sold.\u00a0 So we walked along Knife Street, where gleaming rows of cutlery, hatchets, and scissors beckoned; Flower Street, abloom with tropical colors; and one lane that should have been named Cheap Souvenir Street with its tee shirts and laquerware.\u00a0 The warren of small stores seemed to go on for miles, with each block revealing something more of everyday life: a television soap opera visible through the open door of an herbal medicine shop; a woman washing her hair with a bucket in an alley; the crowns of bright red flame trees separating the first-floor shops from the residences above them, built high and narrow because the Vietnamese are taxed based on the amount of street frontage their structures occupy.<\/p>\n

After an hour of twisting, mysterious turns and uncountable photo ops with Renee\u2019s new digital camera (she is trying to turn her passion into a part-time career), we decided to expand our range and walk to Ho Tay Lake, on the western edge of the Quarter.\u00a0 On the way, after strolling along a wide boulevard lined with French colonial mansions housing foreign embassies, we stopped at the Quan Thanh Temple, dedicated to the God of the North.\u00a0 This shady oasis was established during the Ly Dynasty (1010-1225) and still displays a bronze bell and statue from 1677.\u00a0 At a small shop at the back of the temple we bargained for a carved Laughing Buddha that we felt would continue to be amused sitting in our garden at home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>By the time we reached the 6th<\/sup>-century Tran Quoc Pagoda beside Ho Tay Lake, hot sun had given way to warm rain.\u00a0 We took shelter in a small pavilion beside the red brick pagoda and watched men fishing in the still water against a distant dark sky that sparked with lightning.\u00a0 Lacking raincoats, we ran for a nearby caf\u00e9.\u00a0 We ducked beneath a dripping tarp in the shadow of a modern high-rise and enjoyed \u201cbia hoy\u201d (fresh beer) while sitting out the cloudburst on plastic stools in the company of a few locals.\u00a0 By early afternoon the heat and beer and long walk combined to send us perambulating much more slowly back to the Sofitel Metropole for a long nap in our Parisian-inspired room.<\/p>\n

In addition to just walking through Hanoi, which is its own free attraction, there are a number of specific tourist sites worth visiting, as well.\u00a0 We spent the next day checking out obvious suspects.\u00a0 We began with the Temple of Literature, a well-preserved example of Vietnamese architecture from the 11th<\/sup> Century, encompassing decorative entrance gates, courtyards, pavilions, and lotus ponds.\u00a0 Emperor Ly Thanh Tong dedicated the temple to Confucius. Hanoi\u2019s first university was located here as well.\u00a0 Stone stelae resting on the backs of stone turtles pay tribute to recipients of PhDs centuries dead.\u00a0 During our visit we observed a high school graduation ceremony.\u00a0 Giddy students and proud teachers aside, the Temple offers an enclosed oasis of peaceful greenery.<\/p>\n

Next up was the Army Museum, boasting displays from the French occupation and what the Vietnamese refer to as \u201cthe American War.\u201d The museum is testament to the fact that every controversy invites more than a single perspective.\u00a0 We also toured the somber Hoa Lo Prison, known facetiously by American POWs as the Hanoi Hilton.\u00a0 Exhibits include the guillotine and leg chains used by the French in the 19th<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup> centuries, as well as a display about American prisoners such as John McCain and Pete Peterson (first U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam) who were held there during the conflict. \"\"<\/a>Following a strange visit to see Ho Chi Minh, himself\u2014preserved in a daunting monument kept frigid as a glacier since his death in 1969\u2014we ended a day of touring with a more light-hearted stop at the Hanoi Water Puppet Theatre, where traditional rural folk tales are acted out by puppets suspended above the surface of a pool of water.\u00a0 The buffalo with the flute, dancing dragons, and unicorns playing with a ball were clear audience favorites.<\/p>\n

After the requisite nap in our luxurious room at the Metropole, we headed out with a few new friends\u2014 a group of travel agents we\u2019d met\u2014 for the nicest dinner available in Hanoi.\u00a0 At the toney Hanoi Press Club we mixed Vietnamese dishes such as crispy spring roll appetizers and spicy pho with Australian beef filet entrees, all accompanied by French wine.\u00a0 Afterwards, a few of us smoked Cuban cigars and played poker in one of the Press Club\u2019s private rooms while the others went for the ubiquitous post-prandial stroll.<\/p>\n

Given the fast pace of our Hanoi visit, we opted to end our adventure with a cool side trip outside the city.\u00a0 We traveled a couple of hours through concrete suburbs giving way to fields scattered with water buffalo on the way from Hanoi to Halong Bay, where in Vietnamese folklore a mythical dragon descends into the sea.\u00a0 Some of the three thousand limestone islands floating in the Gulf of Tonkin looked very familiar to us from screen prints we\u2019d seen hanging in countless Asian restaurants back home.<\/p>\n

Although day tours are available, World Heritage Site Halong Bay is best visited aboard an overnight boat such as the classy Emeraude, a replica French paddle wheel steamer from the 19th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 During the day the Emeraude motored us past floating villages and rocky islands with pagodas clinging to the summits, and stopped long enough for us to hike and to explore massive caves hidden within some of the islands.\u00a0 In the evening, the boat docked in a quiet cove in time for a sunset kayak trip before dinner in the formal dining room and an overnight stay.\u00a0 We ended our day sipping citroen presses on the canopied top deck of the Emeraude, imagining that the rocky spine of islands off the port side was the tail of a dragon, disappearing back into the sea.\u00a0 It was as different from the pace of Hanoi as a dragon is from a sleepy traveler.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

MS Emeraude, in Halong Bay.<\/p><\/div>\n

All photos by Renee Renfrow, www.r2artinc.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Places to Stay<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The mid-range Queen Hotel<\/strong> (65 Pho Hang Bac, 826 0860, www.azqueentravel.com<\/a>), three blocks north of Hoan Kiem Lake, offers rooms with air conditioning, balconies, wood floors and trim, and a neat, simple Vietnamese aesthetic.<\/p>\n

For little more than the price of a decent chain hotel in the states, enjoy the high-end Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel<\/strong> (1 Le Thanh Tong, 933 0500, www.hanoi.hilton.com<\/a>), located next to\u2014you guessed it\u2014 the Hanoi Opera House.\u00a0 While exuding the feel of a business hotel, and modern rather than charming, it\u2019s a sturdy, comfortable, if familiar choice.<\/p>\n

Sofitel Metropole Hotel<\/strong> (15 Pho Ngo Quyen, 826 6919, www.sofitel.com<\/a>.)\u00a0 Considered by many to be among the best hotels in Asia, the Metropole\u2019s exquisite service, colonial d\u00e9cor, and French accent will make you feel like one of the heads-of-state or other celebrities who\u2019ve slept here.\u00a0 Built in 1901 around an interior courtyard garden, the Metropole is a mood piece and an island of quiet elegance in a relentlessly stimulating city.<\/p>\n

Though not a hotel, exactly (it\u2019s more of a boatel) and not in Hanoi, the Ms Emeraude <\/strong>(934 0888, www.emeraude-cruises.com<\/a>) — consisting of 38 cabins, one suite, two bars, and formal restaurant aboard a replica paddle wheel steamer from the last century–\u00a0 tours through World Heritage Site Halong Bay, a requisite side-trip from Hanoi.<\/p>\n

Places to Eat<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

An acronym for \u201cKnow One, Teach One,\u201d KOTO<\/strong> (61 Pho Van Mieu, 747 0337, www.streetvoices.com.au<\/a>) is staffed by former street kids and disadvantaged youth being trained for careers in the food industry.\u00a0 Located beside the Temple of Literature, the restaurant\u2019s two dining rooms serve a wide variety of Vietnamese and European cuisine ranging from clay pots and stir frys to sandwiches.<\/p>\n

Ensconced in a restored 1928 French colonial villa, Green Tangerine<\/strong> (48 Pho Hang Be, 825 1286) offers a nightly set Vietnamese dinner as well as a balanced mix of\u00a0 creative French and Asian dishes.\u00a0 Sauces are sublime, as is the rack of lamb in coffee, which is flavorful and invigorating at the same time.\u00a0 For a quieter meal ask for a table upstairs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The upscale, award-winning Hanoi Press Club<\/strong> (59 A Ly Thai to, 934 0888, www.hanoi-pressclub.com<\/a>) has been called the #1 restaurant in Hanoi.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually four restaurants\u2014a Zen-inspired deli, a dark wood coffee bar, a terrace nightclub, and an upscale eatery.\u00a0 For an unforgettable dinner in the main restaurant, start with the seafood chowder or curried samosas followed by Australian beef or sea bass with passion fruit butter sauce. And save room for the mango trilogy for dessert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As my wife, Renee, and I were slurping pho\u2014a hot, spicy noodle soup with ever-changing ingredients that is the national… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,19164],"tags":[284,5449,5440,5450,1676,5451,5441,5452,5442,5453,5443,5444,5445,5446,944161,5447,5448],"class_list":["post-935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","category-offcourse","tag-vietnam","tag-queen-hotel","tag-vietnam-travel","tag-hilton-hanoi-opera-hotel","tag-hanoi","tag-koto","tag-sofitel-metropole","tag-green-tangerine","tag-hoy-tay-lake","tag-hanoi-press-club","tag-quan-thanh-temple","tag-tran-quoc-pagoda","tag-temple-of-literature","tag-hanoi-hilton","tag-travel","tag-halong-bay","tag-m-s-emeraude"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/05\/1423.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2593,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions\/2593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}