A Visit To Hanoi
I finally visited Hanoi last week after being curious and interest about it for five years. However, even now, I still feeling a sense of regret about that trip.
Beginning of the story
Firstly, I need to clarify that I have never felt any disappointed and have never intended to speak ill about Hanoi. It was a great, wonderful place, and I wish I can have a opportunity to return there someday. Therefore, the only one things that I troubles me is the time I spent in Hanoi – It was too short and not enough for me.
To fully understand the cause of that problem, we need to go back to the last weekend, when I suddenly heard that my mom was going to have a business trip to Hanoi.
Actually, the story is not all that sophisticated: At the time, I was just trying to convince her let me accompany her on her trip. And of course, as I have predicted, my mom agreed to let me go with her. That’s why I can only stay in Hanoi for 3 days and 2 nights (though we spent most of the first day in the airport) – simply because it was the duration of her trip.
However, I still felt incredibly excited and overjoyed when my mom sent me the flight ticket online.
Arrange for the trip (and expression corner)
When visiting Hanoi, I didn’t need to pack an entire wardrobe (since I planned to spend most of the first two days in my hotel room). Instead, I dedicated a whole day before my flight just to deciding which dolls to pack in my luggage. I have eight of these dolls at home. They aren’t the typical teddy bears or traditional dolls; rather, they are usually around 20 cm tall, pleasant, comic and just like the picture below.
Some of them are I bought by my money, and some are I made by myself (used the draper).
After hours of thinking, I decided to bring along a 40cm doll, a 20cm doll and a tiny 10cm one. As uses, that 40cm was for hugging, as well as the main body pillow, the 20cm was to take along to all the place I visit, and then the 10cm was for simply looking at!
However, because I love Hanoi so much, I agonized over the decision – I didn’t want the remaining dolls of me to feel “abandoned”, yet I also wanted to bring along the ones which were worthy of Hanoi. To be honest, as a Vietnamese person who enjoy engaging in history and culture, I always want to visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One-pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature and National University, and also traditional foods in this city.
First Day
When I first landed in Hanoi, the weather suddenly rain! Luckily, that bad issue didn’t affect much to my experience in Hanoi. In addition, during the distance from the airport to the hotel, I realized that Hanoi is very different from Ho Chi Minh city where I live. The most different thing is that as I observed, this capital has more trees, more green than in my city.
Upon arriving in the hotel, I found out this place was more spacious than in my imagination. Moreover, there were also 5 piece of chocolate that had been prepared before for me: One was wrapped and placed on the nightstand, while the others were arranged on a plate on the table. As I remember, except one piece was somehow overly bitter for me, all of them were absolutely delicious. However, I think I will never know the brands of the chocolate served at the hotels I have visited.
That’s all the things I can recall about my first day of the trip. On the very first day, I was too exhausted from a 2-hours flight that I fell asleep immediately.
Second Night
Because it wasn’t a vacation, but a business trip of my mom, so almost all of the time I spent in Hanoi was associated with the hotel room. That’s why I will skip half of the second day, and only delve deeply into the night time.
Firstly, after my mom has finished her works, she decided to “bring” me to the most famous restaurant for international guests (I think) in Hanoi to take dinner. As I remember, that restaurant sold Bún Chả, which is also a type of local dishes that people must try when they visited this city.
However, what intrigues me the most was the name of this restaurant, Bún Chả Obama (And, of course, the word “Obama” in its name refers to former US. President Barack Obama). In fact, the reason behind this unique name is that President Barack Obama once visited this restaurant during his trip to Vietnam. At the time, he thoroughly enjoyed in the taste of that food, so the owner decided to rename their restaurant because of this special occasion.
Back to me, although I am a big fan of Bún Chả, and had tried a lot of famous Bún Chả restaurants in Ho Chi Minh city, I was still surprised because of the taste of this dish in Hanoi. In my city, Bún Chả is typically rich and full-flavored. In contrast, the Bún Chả in Hanoi is more delicate and bearing the flavors of the forest and the sea. Even though I prefer the flavorful of Ho Chi Minh city’s dish, I wish I can return to Hanoi to take this delicate flavor again.
After that, my mom and me walked around a few street in Hanoi, visited some clothes shops, and tried to finding a cozy coffee shop (although we failed in finding a perfect place).
In fact, because I have heard a lot of people on social media said that “People in Hanoi is so grumpy and rude!”, so I also prepared myself before visited here. But after a walk, I realized that: Oh well, the community in Hanoi isn’t grumpy, but even very pleasant! They are just simply more straightforward than in the south.
The last day!
On my third day in Hanoi, I decided I had to visit a famous local place instead of just exploring the city’s traditional cuisine. So, I suggested visiting the Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám). Fortunately, since it was the last day and my mother had finished all her work, she agreed to my proposal!
Actually, it was not “fortunately” at all. Because for the moment I just stepped out of the taxi car, the weather also began to “tested” me: It started to rain!
However, there are nothing can obstruct a student to visit the Temple of Literature and the first National University! Therefore, I ignored the rain, walked around the Temple (and University), took a lot of pictures of it, and engaged in reading those information that are written for people
In fact, there is a rumor in the community of student in Vietnam, which says that if you can touch the head of the turtle in this Temple (and University), your academic career will dramatically raise just like a kite catching the wind. However, because my historical teacher (and also my favorite teacher) told my class that: “You guy shouldn’t pat on the head of the turtle, cause it’s nearly worn now!”, so I decided to better don’t touch it. I believe that I can make a study advancement by myself, not the luck!
Afterward, my mother urged me to get into the car. Still reluctant to leave Hanoi, I asked her to stop at a nearby bánh cốm (it is like a type of green rice flake cake) shop so I could buy some to take back to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) before driving to the airport.
To end up
After all, I still feel a heart-wrenching sadness and a boredom feeling due to the short duration. Therefore, I have planned to return to Hanoi in the near future to experience and enjoy the atmosphere of this city once again.