Quaint Little Hanoi

Spending time in Hanoi, quaint or quiet would probably not be the words you would first use to describe the city. Between the rushing tide of the two-wheeled demons and aggressive taxis, it’s very easy to get the feeling that Hanoi is the product of an oversaturation of both tourists and the normal populace (it being the capital and all) – nice a few years (or decades) ago, but a bit too crowded nowadays.

Admittedly, I thought just as much during my first day there. Navigating my way through streets that never seemed to intersect each other at 90-degree angles and fighting the surge of people rushing everywhere seemed to have taken its toll on me. In an act of exasperation I sat myself down in a small café near the lake to cool down and unwind. I watched the people go to and fro under the cool shade of my umbrella and it was there that I realized that I was approaching this the wrong way.

After I had stood up and left that café, I went at my own leisurely pace, letting the crowd ebb and flow around me. I no longer tried to keep up with the frantic ant’s pace that seemed to possess the city of Hanoi, which I had previously been doing. In this I saw Hanoi for what it was, an experience of raw culture as opposed to the adrenaline-filled vacations that other destinations offer. It wasn’t about surfing off the perfect wave, rafting down the river inside a used tire, or even going to the ruins of a temple to marvel at its splendor. Hanoi’s beauty was in experiencing Vietnam life the way the Vietnamese live it.

It was all around me. Eating pho ga from a fat old lady handling the food with her bare hands, walking around the Hoan Kiem Lake watching the lovers whisper sweet nothings to each other while imagining how many young men said their goodbyes to their sweethearts on those very shores just before being called to the front lines, or even shopping for old propaganda posters, all these gave me a glimpse of what it was like to be Vietnamese. When one absorbs a culture, when one sees firsthand how life is for another race, that is, in my humble opinion, when one can truly say one has been to a country.

There are still many aspects of the Vietnamese culture that I have not yet seen, many heartwarming and many heartbreaking. I’m sure I shall get more peeks into our indefatigable Asian neighbors' personality as I continue my journey, but for what I have been allowed, that which has been shared to me by the many Vietnamese characters in this play, I am truly grateful.