Hanoi

 My next stop was Hanoi. to get there I needed to take a flight. So I took the boat back to Hoi an and then a car to Da Nang. I had half a day to kill in Da Nang so I went to the other side of the city from where I stayed earlier. I’m really glad I did because it was actually really different. My hostel in was on the south side of the city which was very westernized. There were very few Vietnamese restaurants, and while the food was still really good and lots of nice cafés it definitely felt like a small scale area really intentionally designed for tourist. the central city next to it, I walked to while I was in the hostel, and it was a higher end touristy. Lots of tall, high-end hotels, and a bit more expensive. Today I went to the north part of Da Nang and it was my favorite by far. I went to this really cool shop coffee shop that was full of different books and records and really eclectic decorations. I was the only white person there although they were quite a few Korean and Japanese tourists. The coffee bar was incredible and, the scenery was really beautiful. The building was very open designed filled with plants and it spilled out into an open area with plants and birds. it felt very quite and local as opposed to some of the other places.

It is the city where I nearly died by a motorbike though. Here when you’re crossing a road you pretty much just have to walk out into traffic and try not to get hit. There’s no point where someone’s going to stop for you. That’s not a thing the best you can hope for is that they will go around you, which they generally do. I usually try to cuss the street behind somebody else particularly local and I’ll just stand right behind them and follow them as they cross. Unfortunately, this time there was nobody else walking in the area and I waited for a long time, and I finally saw an opening that only one motorbike And I could go and that motorbike I don’t know if they didn’t see me they must’ve turned towards me because after I stepped out, they hit my arm. Luckily, it didn’t bruise or anything but I did think had I been walking a second or two sooner it would’ve been a very different story. But overall, I felt lucky to have survived that encounter, andtrying to only cross the streets when other people are around to let me.

My flight was delayed as seems to be the case but otherwise when smoothly. I’ve noticed now twice I’ve sat on the aisle seat, and when the plane lands, nobody can wait at all. Not three seconds. If we are on the ground, they need their bag immediately. So much so that the person in the middle seat me out of my seat onto the floor so they could get their bag. Had the doors even opened on the plane. No nobody had gone anywhere but now I’m in the floor with everybody else. Also grabbing their stuff and now I can’t go back into my seat, and I was just like this is very Very unnecessary.

When I landed in Hanoi, I need to grab a cab to my hostel, but I saw another solo traveler and asked her if she wanted to share. She had already booked one, so I just went to her hostel, which ended up only being a 10 minute walk from mine, and worked out perfectly. The streets up downtown are really crazy. It felt very hectic very quickly lots of vendors and shop selling what I couldn’t decide if we’re authentic or knock off versions of everything that’s manufactured here in Vietnam. Despite how busy and crazy it was I actually really liked it a lot more than Saigon. Not sure why but the energy was just better. It also could just be that I’m more comfortable here but I don’t think that’s fully the case. I stroll the streets for a while just enjoying seeing all the people and vendors, observing things before eventually going and getting dinner from a high end Vietnamese French restaurant. the dinner was so good it was pork in caramel sauce. When I asked the server she said that they did make it caramel sauce with sugar to braise the pork and but it really was not very sweet at all in a really good way, but it had that kind of burnt but like nutty caramel case it was fantastic. It’s one of the best meals I’ve had although it was so fatty and dense I couldn’t eat half of it it was just so much food and so much dense food. I felt bad not being able to finish it especially because the server was like oh you didn’t like it. Because I didn’t finish it all but it was genuinely just too much food.

The hostel I’m saying that is quite nice. The beds are super comfortable and really private. They have walls on three sides so it’s almost like a pod more than a bunkbed like most of them are and it’s was really nice. The only thing I didn’t like is the people who worked there were a bit rude and when they tried to sell me stuff like Buster rides and stuff they had 100% up charge on them which I just kind of felt like was a bit ridiculous especially for a budget hostel. The thing about places like this and I think a lot of it is just being in tourist areas cause the locals that I’ve actually talked to are super friendly and nice is everyone’s. Just always trying to push things on you and tag and you have to negotiate and it’s it really exhausting I just want things to bea reasonable price I don’t care if they have a price price. I think that would be fine but having to negotiate everything I just think is so exhausting.

The next morning I worked at a coffee shop and wandered around town a bit. In the evening my friend from Da Nang showed up and we hung out together. Going to the street markets and looking at all the wares and this really cool water puppy show. It was all set over a pool and they have these puppets that have poles attached under the water so you can’t see them. There were fire breathing dragons, live music, singing, animals, and people, it was a spectacular show.