Hello Hanoi

Landed in Hanoi after traveling for 22hrs from LA. (Xanax can do wonders.) The drive from the airport took about an hour, costing 400,000 vd. Which seems astronomical, but boils down to about $20. We,-my buddy Dylan and I, were staying at the Conifer Hotel in the French quarter district, a really great part of town. With no real itinerary for the day we dropped our bags off, showered and hit the streets. No map, no plan, no worries. Wandered around the city, occasionally stopping to gawk at a beautiful old building, (Hanoi was built in the French colonial period, so many of the building have the French flair.)

The city was busy but not overly congested, could actually walk on the sidewalk without getting bumped into, but still felt like you were in the hustle and bustle. The drivers, like most Asian countries, pay no attention to lines or stoplights. The phrase, “organized chaos” comes to mind. We ended up running into the Hoan Kiem Lake park, walked around it and then agreed it was time for a cocktail.

We picked a place called the Coffee Club because it looked like it had the best view of the park and another large crazy intersection that had no stoplights. (I feel like this whole city has no traffic lights.) 

After a couple local beers we slowly made our way back to the hotel, passing through streets and sidewalks cluttered with small chairs and tables for locals to sit and eat what looked like seashells. Once we were back and settled in it was time to book our Halong Bay tour. We had been researching for some time of how we wanted to see the bay, debating on if we should stay on Cat Ba island and take a day boat from there, or do an overnight boat from Halong City. We decided on the 3 day, 2 night on a boat, package. It was the longest tour offered and we figured two nights out at sea was way better than one. Booked a Paradise cruise. I had read an article about them in a Conde Nast Traveler magazine, (my favorite magazine). Dylan agreed it looked the best. After the boat was confirmed we had to call and confirm a pick up from our hotel. Transportation to Halong, (which is 3.5hrs from Hanoi) wasn't included in the price, which ticked me off a little because all the other tours included pick up and drop off in Hanoi. Moving on. Had dinner that night at a crazy seafood spot with amazing reviews and really wish I could find the piece of paper I wrote the name down on. I was a bit nervous when we got there, seeing that you walk down a dark alley lined with numerous fish tanks, some filled with water and sea critters, while others were half empty just wading there. The first thing I saw on the menu was turtle, nice little wake up call of how far from home I am. I ordered the tuna, Dylan took the liberty of ordering almost everything else on the menu; two different types of soft shell crab, egg rolls, some type of god knows what soup and a seafood tofu dish. The soft shell crab was the best thing by far. There were no night shenanigans for us and we headed back to the hotel after our feast.