Four Days in Hanoi

Phillip and I moved on to the Philippines yesterday, but we spent a most excellent four days in Hanoi after our mountain time in Sapa. We stayed at the same hotel we booked for the past two trips to Hanoi, the Tirant Hotel. The staff is so friendly and accommodating, with two of them remembering us after three years! Each time we’ve been there, they have upgraded our room. This time was no exception as they put us in a suite. 

Every day during our Hanoi stay, we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake, which is less than two blocks from our hotel. Because we visited in June instead of May, the kids weren’t out in the park like before when they had school assignments to practice their English with tourists. The skies were overcast the first two days in Hanoi, so the temperatures were almost pleasant. However, the pictures during the cloudy days don't show how pretty the lake was.

The city still closes the ring street around the lake to traffic on the weekends so families can enjoy the lake. Phillip stood in the middle of the empty streets in the exact spot where he’s seen dance videos made on YouTube by young people. When he didn't start dancing, I just took a picture, not a video of him!  

An hour’s drive into the countryside outside of Hanoi, a cultural show, the Quintessence of Tonkin, is performed by local and professional dancers. We tried to see it when we were in Hanoi in 2023, but a storm made it too dangerous for the performers. We did get to see it on this trip. We arrived early enough to have dinner from food vendors and to watch kids play traditional games. Phillip is watching as the adults have bouncing long sticks that the kids are trying to jump thru.

The show was performed on a lake, with platforms just under the water that the performers used and various set pieces that moved up or in from the side.

Colored lights and lasers were used throughout the show.

Water puppets made an appearance!

One of my favorite parts was when the dancers twirled lighted dragonfly poles.  

Our seats were high, so we had a full view of the lake. During the finale, some of the performers were on the walkway between the seats and the lake. 

We arrived back near our hotel at about 10 pm and decided to join the evening family crowd walking around Hoan Kiem Lake on the closed streets. 

On Sunday, Phillip and I had another cooking class. We made papaya salad, fried spring rolls, and bun cha. Yes, we’ve made all of those in cooking classes before, but each instructor does things a bit differently. Our instructor for this class, Mango, did an excellent job explaining fruits and vegetables at the market. And I’m always amazed to see the tiny baby bananas inside a banana flower:

Two women from Malaysia also took the class. We made our salads first, shredding the green papaya and slicing and dicing the remaining ingredients. The Malaysian women made banana flower salad and we all made the bun cha. 

We sampled our salads as soon as they were made.

Bun cha is traditionally grilled and Mango had Phillip tend to the grilled meat while the other three of us fried the spring rolls. In the upper left of the photo, one of Mango's jackfruit trees is visible. 

And of course, we made more food than the four of us could eat, all of it delicious.

That evening, as it got dark, Phillip and I walked to the next street to the east of the hotel as we knew vendors set up in the street. We walked the six blocks of closed street as they were setting up, but the only thing we bought was a container of fresh jackfruit to snack on. By the time we were halfway back down that street, everyone had set up and was selling their wares: food, clothing, sunglasses, and all kinds of souvenirs.  

On Monday, we bid farewell to the staff at the Tirant Hotel, including the delightful Ms Na. 

Yesterday’s travel day was a long one as we flew from Hanoi to Hong Kong, changed planes, and flew to Cebu. About six hours of actual flight time, but an entire day devoted to travel. We had no problems during the flights and transiting in Hong Kong, although having to go back thru security screening at the Hong Kong airport even though we never left a secure area was a bit of a pain. We are in our last country before we fly home in 15 days.