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Published: January 31st 2015
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Hang Vai; the street in the Old Quarter we stayed on
This picture was taken from the street table outside the Hanoi Family Homestay I am very glad to be here. Images of the 'American' War were etched on my brain at a World Press Photography exhibition I went to as a school student in the seventies - you know the ones: naked children escaping napalm in front of impersonal US soldiers. I never thought I would visit the country back then. And when I lived in the US in the eighties and saw how it impacted so many families, Vietnam was still a war zone (disposing of Pol Pot). I could not have imagined the country ever opening up. Above all with this tainted view one could not have conceives how beautiful this country is.
We started in Hanoi which people describe as hectic and quite frankly after Delhi is a rest cure. The Old Quarter streets are narrow and bustling. There are cars and taxis but motorcycles predominate. For once Trip Advisor was absolutely right and our selection of the Hanoi Family Homestay was never regretted and can be recommended to all. No it is no 5 stars. The rooms are simple with a small ensuite. There is one on each floor and you climb a tightly wound spiral staircase
to get to each floor. What makes it exceptional is the service Huong (everyone calls her 'Perfume' because that is the direct translation) provides. We arrived at 10am and were served a bowl of noodles (Pho Bo), standard Vietnamese breakfast fare. For the $15 cost of the room she also makes all the guests dinner that you eat with the family. You sit around the tiny table in the tiny 'lobby' eating rice and pork and spring rolls. You can nip across the street and pick up glasses of draught beer for 30 cents/20 pence. She arranged our train tickets with only a modest commission and had her younger brother escort us to the station.
After our visit to Cat Ba Island we had to come back to the hostel for just a few hours to pick up train tickets for our journey South that evening. Perfume greeted us like long lost friends, gave us coffee and beer and included us in the evening meal even though we were not staying. She rejected payment I offered for the meal and instead gave us a bag of coffee and a filter for the journey! It is no wonder
A game of Chinese chequers in progress
It is played everywhere. I am yet to work out any of the rules or moves. some of the guests we met (a Californian GI old enough to have done a tour of duty in the sixties and a Dutch tour guide) are regulars. She makes you feel like family.
We spent the rest of our first day getting oriented and managed to catch a water puppet show at short notice. This was very colourful and entertaining and introduced us to traditional musical instruments as well as this ancient art. The puppets play out on the surface of water at the front of the stage and are operated with great skill using long rods by the puppeteers from behind curtains whilst they stand in the water. The programme had scene titles in English so it were not difficult to follow. It was quite unique and it was easy to see how it had developed from performances in paddy fields.
The next day we booked ourselves on a food tour with Kim Tours (www.hanoistreetfoodtour.com) because we had little clue about Vietnamese food. This was a similar format to others we have done and visited a variety of restaurants and street food outlets. The convention in Vietnam is to serve the chilli/fish
Prayers at the central temple in Hanoi
One of the 'idols' was a large preserved turtle from the surrounding lake. sauce on the side so you can spice the food up as much as you want. There weren't many 'challenges'. The fermented pig skin packaged in a banana leaf was like mild sausage. The multi fruit salad including avocado with condensed milk was exceptional.
We finished at a cafe which specialised in 'egg coffee'. Your standard Vietnamese coffee is strong and poured on top of a layer of sweet condensed milk. This is mixed in to create a liquid ice cream. The addition of egg just makes the concoction more frothy. As an alternative I had egg and beer. This consisted of the whipped egg and condensed milk mixture into which you poured a can of lager. It really wasn't bad!
As ever the most interesting part of the tour was when our young Vietnamese guide chatted about the ordinary life of the citizens.
Earlier we opted to visit the Woman's museum. It is modern and multi-lingual and covers many aspects of Vietnamese life. It honours the efforts of many women in the American War and unfortunately had few role models outside this sphere. It also described how different Vietnamese minority
groups (there are over fifty) carry out key life rituals. Fascinatingly, a significant number are matrilineal with children taking the mother's name and the mother being the head of the family. Maybe this has given Vietnam a head start in creating a more equal society.
We certainly got a good taste of Vietnam in Hanoi. It was now time to explore some of its natural wonders.
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