Facing the Dragon - Chapter 14

I got a few good sound hours of sleep last evening but not nearly enough. At 5 AM, the noise started and it didn’t stop. There is news blaring out of the speakers. I am not sure why but after conferring with some others, I find out that the government provides news to those people who have no other news outlet. This reminds me of stories I have read about from the former Soviet Union and the sheltering of the people from what is going on in the outside world. I am reminded that I am in a communist country. Soon after the news ends, a woman “formally” wakes us up at 5:15 AM with coffee and breakfast. There is no reason to attempt to sleep any more so I just join in and eat my roll and drink my coffee. I have enjoyed my experience on the train but it has been a long trip and I have read all I can about Hanoi. I am now ready to experience Vietnam’s capital city.

After a couple hours of walking around Hanoi, my first impression of Hanoi is a positive one. Hanoi seems to be more laid back then Saigon. It is also a well maintained city as the streets are tree lined and clean in comparison to Saigon. It is quite obvious that Hanoi, being the capital, has had much more money invested into its infrastructure and into the beautification of the city. This is the case despite the fact that Ho Chi Mihn City is the real economic hub of the country due to its market structure, which is much more free and open.

Tonight, I finally succumbed to eating Western food. I guess I can’t resist forever as it has been nearly 2 weeks since I have had any food of this type. My meal also has Western prices attached to it. I paid 13 USD which is more than I have paid for any meal on this trip to date. I received an enormous portion of food, quickly reminding me why we Westerners carry significantly more weight than the average Vietnamese person. I have a rib meat, onion and jalapeno pepper pizza that is drowned in BBQ sauce. In addition, we split a mass of onion rings that we ordered as an appetizer. The food is pretty good and this is a nice change from the strictly Vietnamese diet I have been adhering to. The restaurant, Al Fresco’s, is run by a 6’8 Australian man whose business seems to be thriving due to tourism. There is not one Vietnamese person in the restaurant. With the high prices, I suspect that this is usually the case. The pizza I managed to nearly finish myself would take care of 3 meals for the average Vietnamese person and would be equivalent cost wise to around 10 Vietnamese meals. I enjoyed my meal, but I also feel like a bit of a trader. No more pizza and onion ring meals on this trip for me, especially when I am surrounded by so much wonderful French inspired Vietnamese food in Hanoi.

It is actually kind of funny how we ended up at Al Fresco’s on this evening. Initially, we were in search of a French/Vietnamese restaurant that is run by employing underprivileged kids, with all proceeds going back into community programs. The restaurant is called Koto Gourmet and it was my idea to try this restaurant. As a result, I pulled out my map and tried to guide us to the restaurant. I did my best despite the fact that navigation and map reading have never been strengths of mine. We walked and walked and eventually ended up in a dead end that was full of nothing but residential homes. We were lost and felt out of place since the typical Vietnamese home has every door and window open, making it very easy for those inside to see everything going on outside. So here we are, 6 tourists standing at a dead end staring at people who are sitting in their homes and trying to focus on the TV in front of them instead of the white people who are standing outside. Feeling as though we were intruding, we contemplated what to do and I eventually attempted to speak to someone who was sitting on their porch. We exchanged very little information as the language barrier proved to be too great. At this point, we decided that our best decision was to abort the mission and find somewhere else to eat. Koto Gourmet sounded wonderful, but it wasn’t going to happen on this evening.

As we walk back to our hotel after dinner and I pass by so many attractive buildings, it is obvious to me that Hanoi’s reputation as a city where the French left a nice legacy is well deserved. Hanoi has a French European feel to it with tree lined streets and many small, intimate cafes that give certain parts of the city a romantic charm.