The first post Hanoi, Pre Tet 2020
I've been back in Hanoi since last Friday (10th of Jan). It has almost been a year since I was last here and things have changed, little by little. The 3B is gone, replaced by a very glitzy upgrade. Out of my pocket range, I have moved to the Hanoi Buddy in Hang Bo. It is a sprawling place hidden behind a Travel and Tour agent shop which is hidden behind a coffee and Ice Cream shop. The whole thing seems to be a project of my good friend Nancy Nguyen. This is her third business, she has another hotel and a Backpacker hostel.
The Irish Wolfhound bar has gone these last 2 years. Last year I replaced it with the Shabeen a South African styled bar. That has now been sold and is now closed completely. I was worried that I would have no friendly bar left in the old quarter. But lo and behold I have found a new place! It is called the Balcony Bar. It is upstairs on Ma May st. It is very quiet, run by very young people, so the music is a bit "modern" . Notwithstanding it is much quieter than anywhere else and you can smoke weed with impunity. People up there leave you alone. There is no hassling to buy shit or to have your shoes cleaned or anything like that. The young men are friendly but not pushy. You can spend many hours watching people in the street below. It is not like the Wolfhound where you are at ground level but it is second best.
I have had dinners with Lan and Ewan and I have been out to Le's place for sunday dinner, chicken Hot Pot. Everyone seems fine, a little older but still happy. Le has 2 boys now, the elder, Loung is a lovely lad. The younger one is still a baby so he is not talking yet, Loung makes up for any deficiency in that area. I am waiting for Thanh to turn up today. He has been Away till yesterday. I am going to his village for Tet so I hope we will make arrangements for that today. Tomorrow I would like to go to Co Loa. It is an ancient citadel that was previously the capital. They started building it around the 4th century BCE during the Dong Song period. This was at the height of the Bronze Age in Vietnam. They were making really beautiful bronzes at this time, in particular these amazing drums that I have seen in the museum of ancient history here. It is interesting to note that the Bronze Age in Vietnam is at least athousand yearsbefore Europe. But then most of everything at that time was a thousand years ahead of Europe. The Viet people came out of the mountains down into the red river valley in the 3-4 th millenium. They brought with them the ability to smelt copper and to farm wet rice. They built cities and towns and organised irrigation works and flood levies way before the west. They were amazing.
I have to say coming back to Hanoi this time is different from before. Last time, it was familiar but different, no longer new but not homelike. This time it is like home. Nothing is new or shocking it is all normal and familiar. The streets make sense and the traffic is no longer daunting. When I get on my bike I am not worried about having an accident. Like everyone else when I get on the bike I am planning to go somewhere and I am planning to get there without fear or worry. It's just like in Aus but different.
This photo is looking out the front of the hotel
This one is looking up the street in the old quarter. The bike in front is mine.
Looking down the street the other way.
The Irish Wolfhound bar has gone these last 2 years. Last year I replaced it with the Shabeen a South African styled bar. That has now been sold and is now closed completely. I was worried that I would have no friendly bar left in the old quarter. But lo and behold I have found a new place! It is called the Balcony Bar. It is upstairs on Ma May st. It is very quiet, run by very young people, so the music is a bit "modern" . Notwithstanding it is much quieter than anywhere else and you can smoke weed with impunity. People up there leave you alone. There is no hassling to buy shit or to have your shoes cleaned or anything like that. The young men are friendly but not pushy. You can spend many hours watching people in the street below. It is not like the Wolfhound where you are at ground level but it is second best.
I have had dinners with Lan and Ewan and I have been out to Le's place for sunday dinner, chicken Hot Pot. Everyone seems fine, a little older but still happy. Le has 2 boys now, the elder, Loung is a lovely lad. The younger one is still a baby so he is not talking yet, Loung makes up for any deficiency in that area. I am waiting for Thanh to turn up today. He has been Away till yesterday. I am going to his village for Tet so I hope we will make arrangements for that today. Tomorrow I would like to go to Co Loa. It is an ancient citadel that was previously the capital. They started building it around the 4th century BCE during the Dong Song period. This was at the height of the Bronze Age in Vietnam. They were making really beautiful bronzes at this time, in particular these amazing drums that I have seen in the museum of ancient history here. It is interesting to note that the Bronze Age in Vietnam is at least athousand yearsbefore Europe. But then most of everything at that time was a thousand years ahead of Europe. The Viet people came out of the mountains down into the red river valley in the 3-4 th millenium. They brought with them the ability to smelt copper and to farm wet rice. They built cities and towns and organised irrigation works and flood levies way before the west. They were amazing.
I have to say coming back to Hanoi this time is different from before. Last time, it was familiar but different, no longer new but not homelike. This time it is like home. Nothing is new or shocking it is all normal and familiar. The streets make sense and the traffic is no longer daunting. When I get on my bike I am not worried about having an accident. Like everyone else when I get on the bike I am planning to go somewhere and I am planning to get there without fear or worry. It's just like in Aus but different.
This is the front of the hotel.
Wow sounds like things have changed but still the same ,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your enjoying rediscovering the place.
Keep enjoying yourself and stay safe, we had l
Plenty of rain and the grass is amazing how quickly it goes from dead brown to thigh deep lushious grass
Take care
💞
Thank you for sharing Lionel. Good to hear from you. I really enjoyed reading this. One day I will return, one day. I'm studying and working full time. The goal is to return to teach eventually. Keep writing. How long are you staying? From Kelly
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