Good Morning, Vietnam!

We arrived in Hanoi not knowing exactly what to expect, what with the American history there, the current Communist government, and its reputation for incessant tourist hassling. However, we have been thrilled to discover Vietnam, and it's turning out to be one of our favorite spots on the trip so far. There is so much to love here - the people are extremely friendly and helpful, the food is absolutely amazing, and everything is dirt cheap! It has been one of the easiest places to visit, from the organized streets to the efficient transportation to the free Wi-Fi everywhere - we will definitely be returning someday soon.

Old Hanoi is a pleasure to stroll around, so that is what we have done with most of our time. The streets are completely clogged with motorbikes and scooters, as are the sidewalks, so walking is a little hazardous, but there is so much to see. Every shop is selling silk clothing, household shrines, or the cheapest beer in the world, and there are green spaces and lakes frequently dotting the landscape. We have visited markets specializing in frogs, fish, herbs, fabric, counterfeit money (for burning in Buddhist shrines, not to spend!), and custom-made suits, which we have both taken advantage of. Hanoi contains everything I love about Asian cities, with its overwhelmingly young, vibrant crowd and slightly dirty but always interesting sidewalk shops, with a few important additions: amazing bread, perfectly brewed coffee, and cheese! These leftovers from French colonialism set Hanoi apart from anywhere else I've ever been, and I love it.

If I didn't know Vietnam were Communist, I would never have guessed from spending time here. Ben and I have both been to Cuba, and with my trip to Beijing last year, I felt like I was beginning to recognize a pattern in Communist countries, but Vietnam defies every stereotype. Everything is available and for sale, there are no policemen or soldiers in the streets, and the Internet is everywhere and seemingly without restrictions. I'm motivated to do more reading about modern Vietnam, because everything I've learned so far just raises more questions for me.

The other surprise to me was the Vietnamese attitude toward Americans, or at least toward me. I have honestly answered every time I'm asked where I'm from, and have repeatedly received a smile and a welcome in return. It's remarkable how eager people are to look forward to the future and either forgive or forget all the troubles in the past.

But back to the food. In New York, I fell in love with banh mi (banh my on the signs here), baguette sandwiches loaded with pork, paté, cheese, and pickled vegetables, and I have not been disappointed in the real thing. We have also had Pho (noodle soup) for several meals, delicious pastries, lightly fried spring rolls, an amazingly thick creamy soup called chao quai (apologies, I can't spell anything in Vietnamese) topped with croutons, and strange fruity drinks with bits of jelly and tapioca. Everything is served on tiny plastic tables right on the sidewalk, where we sit on even smaller stools and slurp everything down. It's amazing. One of our best revalations has been Bia Hoi - the famously cheap beer. If you go out with $10 in your pocket, you can buy about 100 beers, so we have made a lot of friends among the Vietnamese. Even better, the beer is absolutely delicious, brewed every day without preservatives, so it's fresh and light. We are very pleased with this discovery. Unfortunately, there are some scary eating habits in Vietnam, but we have successfully avoided duck embryo and dog so far.

We have met so many friendly, smiling people here, beginning with our first night. It was gently raining, and we stopped at a sidewalk Pho cafe to eat noodles under the awning. A Vietnamese guy eating alone invited us to join him, and immediately produced a bottle of rice wine (aka homemade whisky) from his pocket and poured us repeated shots until we made him stop. Suddenly the sky opened up and the rain started dumping on the awning, so he directed us to the hotel where he worked next door so we could eat in the lobby. About 2 seconds after we made the move, the awning collapsed under the weight of the rain - perfect timing! Ben helped the cafe ladies replace it, and then we spent the evening chatting with our new friend about Vietnam, family, and rice wine. It was lovely.
Vietnam is so interesting culturally, and one of the aspects that fascinates me is its multitude of religions, which frequently blend Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, ancestor worship, and local folk beliefs into a hybrid called Tam Giao. Most Vietnamese ascribe to one or all of these faiths in their own personal blend, which strikes me as so open and unique. There are also millions of Christians and some Hindus and Muslims, illustrating the complete plurality and freedom of religion here, another surprise to me. We've been to a couple temples, including the very small and peaceful Ngoc Son in the middle of a lake, which is dedicated to a scholar, a general, and the patron saint of physicians; and the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucianism in order to honor scholars and men of literary accomplishment. Very different from the strictly Buddhist temples we've seen everywhere else in Asia!

The other cultural highlight was a water puppet show. Rural northern Vietnamese hill tribes have for over 1000 years had a tradition of staging puppet shows in ponds and flooded fields, with puppeteers behind screens operating the wooden people and animals from below the water with poles and strings. The effect really is quite impressive, and the ancient legends and agricultural stories were very simple to follow, even though all the narration was in Vietnamese. The people, dragons, foxes, and fish splashed around and "walked" on water and were generally very cute.

The most sobering sight so far was the Hoa Lo Prison, aka Maison Centrale, better known as the Hanoi Hilton. We toured the prison where John McCain and other American pilots were imprisoned after being shot down in Vietnam, which had actually been built centuries earlier by the French to imprison Vietnamese revolutionaries. As we learned before in Ireland, visiting a prison is always quite sad and shocking, with the bleak, tiny cells and instruments of torture. This prison was the same, but an interesting piece of propaganda as well - according to the displays, the French were horribly cruel to the Vietnamese Freedom Fighters, but the Vietnamese in turn treated the Americans with kindness and love. It's a bit laughable - photos of Americans playing volleyball, decorating the prison for Christmas, enjoying their "rooms," as the cells were renamed. Knowing what I've read about McCain's imprisonment, this is such a clearly dishonest representation, and evidence of the Vietnamese desire to either look forward or just completely gloss over the past. The most striking display to me was a piece of a B-52 that had been shot down in Vietnam, as that's the exact plane my dad flew in that exact war - I'm just glad he'd never ended up in the Hanoi Hilton.

Altogether, we are off to a great start here, with visits to Halong Bay and Sapa to come, so there's still a lot more Vietnam to enjoy!