Travelmates and Puppets

For the first 12 hours I was in Hanoi (8/2) all the tourist bits I encountered turned out to not be what I was expecting - in a bad way. 

But of course advertisements are going to only show you the lowest prices and the best pictures - when in actuality the price is twice what was quoted and the pictures are of a different location or heavily, heavily Photoshopped.

Thankfully, all of that was of little consequence when the rest of Hanoi is bursting with movement and noises to distract you from the mirage you thought you saw.


My first morning in Hanoi (8/3) found me alone with little to do and see.  My travelmates weren't due to arrive till the afternoon hours, so I took my time - found a map, a slow, steady pace and headed out to the lake.  The walk was sweaty - even for the morning hours - but the sounds of Hanoi were an enjoyable orchestra chaired by an army of motorbikes playing their music of engines and horns.

Their music kept me company as my leisurely walk around Lake Hoan Kiem turned into my own personal test of endurance battling heat and sweat.  But I soldiered through - completed the lap, navigated a return to the hostel, and got back in time to meet Brittany, Misha and Sam as they arrived!

First layer of sweat wiped off, bags dropped in our room and sigh of relief taken that the long journey was finally over; we went out in search for food.  This proved to be a difficult task!  A million cafes in Hanoi, but not a bite to eat.

We finally found a restaurant that looked promising from the menu, but words are often lost in translation; and as it turned out, a lot was lost in translation for us and our much lusted after lunch.  Lust, however; is a sin and what we were served was a reminder that sins are bad - and so was our food.  Slime.  We were served a mucus glop of ooze.  The rice might have been the saving factor.  Slime is never appealing, no matter how hungry you are.  But with little else for options - slime and rice it was.

After our lunch of goo, we heading off to the Old Quarter to have a look at the 36 Street Shops, get tickets for the Water Puppet show and cool down with a beverage. 

I'm not sure if we really checked out the shops in the Old Quarter, our attention there was diverted by the blasé attitude of the Water Puppet ticket vendor (all time never-gonna-win-it employee-of-month) and hunting down the best tour (and price) for Halong Bay.

Since "you can't win 'em all" - and we definitely lost at lunch - we won with the uber nice ticket lady (getting 3rd and 4th row seats for that night's 8pm show), found a 3-star tour with Aclass Cruise to Halong Bay AND found a great tiny, narrow (true to 36 Street style) coffee shop to sit and relax in before the show.

Big win for the night!

The joy of victory was only short lived, because the Water Puppet show (a "must-do" for Hanoi) was... cute?  At best.  In all fairness, I think the reason we did not like the Water Puppet show was (for me) because we discussed Cirque du Soleil right before the show began.  Although Cirque is not a water puppet show, isn't even really comparable, it still filled my mind up with unachievable hopes.  But what can compare to Cirque?!  Nothing!  So tiny, tin puppets zinging around the water to Vietnamese music that was beautifully foreign to my ears - fell short of my expectations.

It was interesting/cultural, and had more information/translation been provided it could have been amazing.  For Brittany, Misha and Sam it would have taken a few days and eleven hours of time zone adjustment to do the trick.*

But the time difference and the heat were playing their best cards on us, so we made our way back to the hostel and put an end to day one in Vietnam.

* I don't mean to discourage you from seeing a Water Puppet show if you go to Hanoi.  I'm just warning you not to reference the greatness of Cirque beforehand that's all!