Mom + Vietnam: Hanoi

Friday
Due to our overzealously early departure from Ben Tre, our delayed flight out of HCMC, and the hour-long drive in from the airport, we had quite a long day of traveling. By the time we finally made it in, it was almost dark and we were hungry. We headed towards the lake and found a cơm bình dân (rice etc.) place along the way. This is something that doesn't really exist, or at least not in the same way, in the south, so I was excited for my mom to try it. It was a popular place and had quite the variety of et ceteras, but because of the prime location by the lake, the prices were rather steep.

From there, we swung by a few souvenir shops on our way to the rooftop café that I frequented when I lived in Hanoi. In our enjoyment of the view, we forgot to actually walk down to the lake's edge, and only admired it from afar.

View from the top

On the way back we walked through the night market, and I stumbled into the easiest bargain ever. I spotted a pair of turquoise heels that happened to be in my size. As I tried them on, it occurred to me that I should ask how much they cost. The conversation went something like this:
- How much?
- 300.
- Whoa! Too much.
- 200.
- Enh.
- 150.
How could I say no to that? I only wondered if I should have actually tried and gotten the price even lower. Somewhere in the middle of that he also asked me if I was from/lived in southern Vietnam. Sounds like I've got an accent.

Saturday
After a slow breakfast Mom and I went to the Hanoi Fine Arts Museum. I never got to see it while I was here in August, so it was part of the unfinished business I hoped to get to on this trip. It was the first museum I've been to in Vietnam that really felt like a museum - not poorly lit, overheated, or water-stained. The art was arranged chronologically, starting with works from about 3000 years ago. Some of those ancient works were Đông Sơn bronze drums, whose decorations I recognized as still-popular motifs whose origin I had previously wondered about. In addition to learning about Vietnam's rich art history, I expanded my vocabulary thanks to the Vietnamese/French/English labels for all of the works of art. The next two floors showed the influence of French Impressionism, silk paintings, modern experimental lacquer paintings, and works representing and responding to the country's history of conflict. It was a lot to take in, in a good way. We spent two hours there and it would have been nice to have maybe one more, but we had to cut our visit short to prepare for Thanksgiving with the Ambassador.

Me, my mom, and eleven other ETAs headed to 'The Residence' as indicated on our invitations. We arrived, and after being stared at by someone behind the gate, we were told that there was no one there. It seemed we had gone to the wrong place. I told my mom she was in the midst of a very Vietnam experience. Eventually we made it to the right place, and enjoyed hors d'oeuvres on the rooftop, looking out over the city. Once we were done mingling, we were summoned inside to heap our gold-rimmed US china plates with long-awaited Thanksgiving fare. I ended up sitting at the Ambassador's table, next to him, in fact.

State Department china

The whole group

By the time the homemade apple pie was gone, several hours of easy conversation had passed, and it was time to say thanks and good night.

We ETAs proceeded to a concert hosted by the American Club, featuring Dengue Fever, a band I discovered and fell in love with back when they performed at Scripps a few years ago. We ended up getting in for free thanks to our Embassy connections, and it was a blast.

My view of the stage

The stage's view of me (lower left)

Sunday
Mom decided that she couldn't come all the way to Vietnam, then come all the way to Hanoi, and then not make it to Ha Long Bay, now 'provisionally named' one of the New Seven Wonders of  Nature. We started with an exquisite multi-course meal, made all the more exquisite by the fact at our table three shared a meal meant for four.

Next, we buckled on our life-vests and spent some time kayaking in the bay. Last time I came to Ha Long, the area we kayaked was so crowded with fellow tourists it almost felt like bumper cars. This time, my mom and I were the only ones who kayaked, and we had the inlet all to ourselves. It was a different inlet than last time, and there were tunnels under the karsts for us to paddle through. Unfortunately, the safest place for my camera was back on the big boat, so no pictures of our adventures. After that had our cave visit.

We only had time for a day trip, so all too soon we had to head back to dry land. Because it was a day trip, we spent almost eight hours on a bus, round trip, for five hours on the bay. Even though I was not 100% convinced at first, it was totally worth it, even bearing in mind that I'd already been there. When I was last there it was still summer and the landscape was clear and blue and green; now it was winter and gray and misty. You couldn't see as far, so it was hard to perceive the magnitude of the bay, but it took on a whole new personality.

Photo credit: Mom

We didn't get back to Hanoi until eight pm, but the day was far from over. I was determined that my mom see and experience as much of Hanoi as our limited time allowed. First order of business was dinner and, once again, we set out for the lake. Once upon a time, back when I was living in Hanoi, I happened upon a corner food stand that looked interesting, but we were headed somewhere or we had already eaten and we did not stop there. I had no idea where it was, and I never got to eat there. However, the route I charted towards the lake ended up taking us to that very same corner, and I got to check off Hanoi unfinished business number two. I discovered that the name of the dish is mý vằn thắn, and it is a noodle soup with dumplings, hard boiled egg, meat, liver, stuffed crunchy things, and a few other mystery ingredients for good measure. It was, as always, delicious.

How many ingredients can you spot?

When time came to pay, I asked, in Vietnamese, how much. She didn't seem to hear me so, in Vietnamese, I called her attention and asked again. As you can kind of see in the picture above, it was a tiny place and four of us patrons were sitting practically shoulder to shoulder to enjoy the corner's delights. Anyway, the cook fumbled around in her cash receptacle to pull out the amount of money I needed to give her. Our fellow patrons started exclaiming, repeating the words that I'd said, and from context clues it was pretty clear that they were indignant on my behalf. My Vietnamese inquiries should have indicated to her that she could have just told me how much instead of going to the trouble of demonstrating. With that little feather in my cap, we continued on towards the lake.

They have added many colorful lights since I was living there, so the lake at night was a new sight even for me. We took a leisurely stroll around it, taking a detour for young rice ice cream.

Bridge to the pagoda on the island in the lake

Pagoda guardian by night

The ice cream was from a place that's been around for over 50 years. It was something I really wanted my mom to try (and, honestly, just really wanted to have again), but I was worried that it would be closed. Fortunately, it was still bustling by the time we arrived, and my cravings were fulfilled. It was even better than I remembered, and a sweet conclusion to our bustling weekend in Hanoi.

Also, 100th post!