Hanoi!(!!!!!!)

The capital of Vietnam is billed in our Lonely Planet guidebook as being an amazing, adrenaline filled blend of old Asia and the modern world, and we have to agree.  Hanoi's Old Quarter is one of the most energetic and frantic and intense places we have ever been!  The sidewalks are mostly unusable by pedestrians because businesses spill out of the buildings and parked motorbikes fill up precious space.  The roads everywhere in Hanoi, but especially in the Old Quarter, are to be crossed and walked in at your own risk (just go for it, look straight ahead, and keep a steady pace and traffic will move around you...).  From about six in the morning until about eleven thirty at night the non-stop din of car and motorbike horns act as an underlying soundtrack, for better or worse (mostly worse). 

Although that all sounds pretty terrible, Hanoi has some strange vibrant energy that makes it feel alive in all the best ways.  Hanoi gets your pulse up, brings delicious food to your mouth, exciting sounds and sights to your ears and eyes, and reminds you why you wanted to visit Vietnam in the first place.  The motorbike culture in Hanoi is insane - everyone seems to have one, and if someone doesn't they are probably riding (possibly with a few kids or some packages, or both) with someone who does.  A motorbike loaded with stuff was almost as common a site in Hanoi as one loaded with a family of four, kids and all.  Cars can't maneuver like motorbikes, which makes crossing the street safer and more terrifying all at once.  There is something about all those bikes and scooters that make Hanoi roads seem more alive and crazy and artful and dangerous all at once. The Old Quarter of Hanoi could be frustrating to walk in sometimes, but we both mainly felt energized from the constant swell of the city.

Hanoi-style noodles sans broth - to be dipped in a delicious sauce

Jeff became obsessed with what and where we would eat while in Hanoi to the point where all Annette wanted to do was shove a crusty Banh Mi into his mouth to get him to shut up.  Jeff calmed down as we got to know the city better and figured out that new, interesting, challenging, and exciting food is as easy to find in Hanoi as a honking motorbike.  We ate at several of the sidewalk "restaurants," where we sat on little plastic stools (which are everywhere in Vietnam).  We dined at a very cool non-profit restaurant, called Know One Teach One (or KOTO, for short), that gives street kids a chance to learn and succeed in the restaurant business.  We tried some Indian food (awesome everywhere in SE Asia, we swear to Buddha) and cafes and everything in-between.  Banh Mi? Check.  Pho?  Check.  Mystery pork dish with the lunch crowd on a random street we don't know where?  Check.  Home-brewed beer at a couple of different Bia Hoi joints?  Oh, double check!

While the exploring Vietnamese cuisine was a big part of our Hanoi experience, we did actually get out and do a few things.  The obligatory just-for-tourists water puppetry show was actually pretty neat, and mercifully short.  Water puppetry is an ancient art in Vietnam, originating in the flooded rice paddies of the country's rural farming areas.  The little wooden puppets are brought to life by hidden masters and a live band belts out songs and solos.  The uses of a pool of water as a stage allows for some interesting acts, such as the floating candle ladies and horses jumping through a ring of fire.  But mostly the water is great for entrances and exits!

A (non-food) highlight for us was the newly renovated but under-visited Women's Museum, which had several really good exhibits detailing the daily lives, struggles, history, and future of women in Vietnam.  We connected with the often difficult and always amazing lives of many Vietnamese women, from all walks of life - activists, famous figures from the American and French wars, single mothers finding their way in rough circumstances, and the cultures and practices of many of Vietnam's ethnic minorities.

We were both a little timid about Hanoi before we arrived.  It has a reputation for being fast and rough.  But we both liked it a lot more than we anticipated.  We often found the traffic and constant threat of being wounded by a motorbike more thrilling than obnoxious or frightening, and the city's raw energy (and amazing flower pant-suits worn by nearly every woman over 45 or 50) drew us in and held us captive for our entire time there.  Perhaps Hanoi would have broken us if we hadn't already spent a month in China, but as it was, we really enjoyed the honesty and kind-hearted chaos that was Hanoi.