We enjoy our last couple of hours in Bac Ha with the intrepid Belgian duo, Marc and Carina, who are tooling through thousands of kilometers in Asia on motorbikes, with generous hearts and open minds. After another overnight train trip to Hanoi, where we serendipitously reencounter friends from Munich, we are ready to get our last look around the madness of the Old Quarter. Having arrived at 5am, we’ve already wandered through the early morning crowds doing tai chi and other exercises along Hoan Kiem Lake. We’ve finally managed to take some photos of the early morning mist shrouding the lone pagoda in the middle of the lake, and we’ve been able to refuel with the hotel’s excellent breakfast, but we’re tired, and just waiting to be able to get into our room and take a nap.
By noon we’ve showered, napped, repacked our bags, and we’re ready to tackle a walking tour of the Old Quarter—reputedly Hanoi’s heart, and certainly the area where every corner brings another view of the amazing cross-section of old and new Vietnam. Different blocks are dedicated to different kinds of skills or merchandise, and we spend the bulk of the afternoon looking up, down, around, and into the myriad tunnels and back alleys for a complete menu of Hanoi’s flavors. There are coffin builders, joiners, bamboo ladder makers, metalworkers, markets, cafes, beer breweries(Hanoi has legions of tiny breweries that brew a new batch of beer daily), religious paraphernalia, toys, and almost anything else one can conceive of. Interspersed are the ambulatory vendors, bicycles, motorbikes, children playing in the small spaces between the motorbikes parked on the “sidewalk”, old ladies chitchatting, men gambling or playing checkers. The list goes on and on. Below, a visual of the afternoon.
On our final day we check out the excellent Ethnology Museum which showcases Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, hang out at a relatively quiet café near the Opera, and then head out for our final meal in Vietnam and the airport. One last trajectory through the madness of traffic, while the images of the trip flit through my mind behind closed eyes. It’s been a fascinating window into a whole other world. Good-bye, Vietnam: tam biet!
Boca jersey?
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