Vietnam, 11. Mai bis 19. Mai 2023
27.04. - 02.05.23 Hanoi
02.05. - 11.05.23 Cat Ba plus Ninh Binh (see last post)
11.05. - 19.05.23 Second visit to Hanoi.
Hanoi
After exploring Cat Ba and Ninh Binh, we are back in Hanoi. Now Anne and Michel, our friends, are also back in Hanoi, and we were allowed to stay in the guest room again. It's an absolute highlight for Karli and me to have a kitchen. The first time in three months we have a real kitchen. All the hostels and guesthouses didn't have one. Here, we finally have the opportunity to cook ourselves! And make our own coffee in the morning! Not instant coffee, but real brewed coffee! And have our favorite breakfast!
On Saturday, we walked through Hanoi together. To a popular pagoda, then past the lake to the old town of Hanoi.
Anne and Michel are working, so they have little time during the week. But we had Vietnamese meals together several times. Anne just knows the most delicious restaurants here! We tried the whole Vietnamese cuisine. Asians always eat warm, and things like a German cold bread meal or dough products are missing from the Vietnamese cuisine. Vegetarian food is equally atypical. Restaurants don't have vegetarian dishes on the menu. Not only in Vietnam but everywhere we've been so far. (Except for western restaurants, where you can find vegetarian options.) As I find it exciting to eat where the locals eat and of course want to try all the typical dishes of a country, I have put my vegetarian life on hold for now. Especially in Hanoi, you should go to the restaurants that only offer one dish. They specialize in "their" dish, and it tastes the best there. There are shops that only have Banh Xeo (=filled crispy rice pancake) or Pho Bo (=beef soup) or Bun Bo (=beef noodle salad) or Bun Cha (=grilled pork and rice noodle dish) or Cha Ca (marinated fish in a wok).
But we also try many other things. In a Korean hotpot restaurant, I even ate a chicken foot.
Anne, Michel, Karli, and I eating Cha Ca
Couchsurfing
Karli and I revived our Couchsurfing account and in the last few weeks, we have been occasionally looking for a couch to stay on. In the past, it never worked out for various reasons. For those of you who haven't heard of Couchsurfing, let me explain: Couchsurfing is a platform where people can offer a bed or couch for travelers to stay on.
Here in Hanoi, we got to know Sue through this platform and spent one night at her place. We arrived at Sue's in the afternoon, but before she showed us her home, she took us to her English school. Two years ago, Sue and her brother opened their own language school, and it has been very successful. She took us to her classroom, which was a great experience for both us and the kids. Many of the children are afraid to speak with foreigners. They are super excited and nervous. We didn't really understand the reason behind it, especially since the kids' English is excellent, well above average compared to other Vietnamese people. And honestly, in some cases, their English is better than Karli's and mine. We had a chance to talk longer with an older boy, about 14 years old, and get some insight into his life. As we had heard from Anne before, the relationship between parents and children is often much stricter than in Germany. In Germany, children are usually encouraged to make their own decisions early on. In Vietnam, it is relatively common to comply with the wishes of parents even in adulthood. Education has a very high value, and the school system is under even higher pressure than in Germany. It is not uncommon for parents to move so that their children can attend a specific school. This is just a very rough impression. A country and its people are super complex, and I find it difficult to simplify things so much, especially since I have only been here for a few days. But at this point, I would like to recommend a YouTuber to you. Her name is Uyen, she is Vietnamese, has been living in Germany for 4 years, and humorously compares the cultures of Vietnam and Germany. I love her. Here's a video where she compares what happens when a child breaks a glass in their parents' house: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s0pcTyhtLbU
So, I went off on a tangent. Back to Karli's and my experience with Sue. After school, Sue took us to her apartment. Sue herself didn't come home until 3 hours later; she had more work to do at her language school. But that was okay, in the apartment, Sue's mom, her brother, and her brother's wife were waiting for us. Sue lives in the apartment with the latter two, and her mom usually lives in the countryside. But that night, the six of us were in a 60sqm apartment.
We had dinner the Vietnamese way. We all sat together in the living room on the floor in a circle, on yoga mats. In the middle, there was an electric plate with a pot in which we had "Hot Pot." "Hot Pot" is like Asian raclette. In the pot with hot broth, everyone puts in the food they want to eat. The vegetables and meat are not all cooked in the pot at once but put in piece by piece whenever there is space.
In the 60sqm apartment, there were two bedrooms. Karli and I got one bedroom. The girls (Sue, her mom, and her sister-in-law) shared the other bedroom, and her brother slept on the sofa in the living room. For them, it seemed completely normal, nothing extraordinary. The family wasn't too poor either. The concept of "living" has a lower value than in Germany. What do I mean by the concept of "living"? This desire for a cozy home where you feel comfortable, and it looks nice and tidy. Believe it or not, but it's very different here in Asia than it is for us. Want some examples? In restaurants and cafes, we have already experienced several times that the toilet for the guests is the same as for the owners. Likewise, we have seen several times that after closing the shop, the families have taken out mattresses and slept on the floor.
For Karli and me, the one night at Sue's was a great experience.
Local Wholesale Market
Another day, in the evening on our way home, we accidentally ended up at a local wholesale market. In the street, there were huge piles of fruit everywhere, large hand carts transporting food from the stores to the trucks. Around the next corner, there were suddenly a lot of fish and seafood. There were huge traffic jams because the road was too narrow for all the people, hand carts, scooters, and trucks. Goods were offered in large crates, pulled around on hand carts, or loaded onto trucks. Karli and I were right in the middle of it all!
Hanoi's Old Quarter
Vietnam is an emerging economic power. Many things are currently changing here, with a lot of modernization happening. In the south, there are even cities full of skyscrapers. However, in Hanoi's Old Quarter, time seems to have stood still. There are only two-story buildings, and street vendors with traditional baskets roam everywhere. The goods offered vary from street to street – one street for crafts, one for sweets, another for kitchen utensils... And it's bustling. Everything happens on the sidewalks of the Old Quarter. People sell their wares here, restaurants have their seating areas, and it's a parking lot for scooters. Craftsmen repair various things on the sidewalks. Here, I'll link you to another YouTube video by Uyen, where she showcases the sidewalks of Hanoi's Old Quarter.
Traffic in Hanoi
Speaking of sidewalks, that's a perfect segue to one of my favorite topics: traffic. The traffic here in Southeast Asia really fascinates me. In Vietnam, there are clear differences compared to Laos or Thailand.
For this, I've created a little quiz for you.
To ensure that no one accidentally reads my explanation of the solution, here's an image first.
eine Straßenverkäuferin in der Altstadt Hanois
Quiz - Auflösung
Ja es ist wirklich wahr. Vietnamesen transportieren alles mit dem Roller. Bevor ich glaubt, dass ich euch verarsche: ich habe Beweisfotos! Ihr findet Sie wie immer in dem separaten Fotoalbum zum Beitrag.
Vietnamesen lieben Roller. Es wird wirklich viel viel mehr Roller anders in Laos oder Thailand. Da gab es zwar auch Roller aber längst nicht so viele. Dafür fehlen hier in Vietnam die TukTuks komplett. Die haben in Thailand und Laos an jeder Straßenecke auf einen gewartet.
Im Quiz konntet ihr schon sehen, wie die Vietnamesen alles transportieren. Außerdem fahren Vietnamesen mit ihren Rollern überall lang. Wenn zum Beispiel eine rote Ampel vor einem ist, sich allerdings eine Chance bietet ein wenig schneller weiter zukommen, wird die ergriffen. Auch eine Fahrt über den Bürgersteig ist da kein Hindernis. Um das zu verhindern gibt es Roller-Hindernisse. Die findet man hier immer wieder, besonders auf Bürgersteigen und vor Parks und Freiflächen.
On weekends, two streets in the Old Quarter are closed for pedestrians. It's amazing what a difference it makes in the quality of the stay.
📷 Pictures and videos of scooters on sidewalks and obstacles can be found in the photo album.
Weather
We were very lucky with the weather. There was not much smog, and it was pleasantly cool – only around 27 degrees Celsius. Absolutely fantastic. And then, in the last few days, a heatwave hit, with warnings even appearing in German media. It's just indescribable.
Finally...
...of this post, a little sweet story that shows that sometimes even the small moments are very special. One evening, I rode from the Old Quarter back home to Anne's place. When I got off, I saw an elderly woman with two plastic bags. She seemed to be struggling with the bags. After a short hesitation, I gathered my courage and asked her if I could help her carry them. Surprisingly, she spoke English and was very grateful for my help. We walked in the same direction for about 5 minutes. We couldn't have a deep conversation because the traffic was too loud, but it was a small, short, and seemingly insignificant encounter that I remember with a smile every time.
📷 You can find more great pictures in the photo album.
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