The horrible sound of an alarm clock woke me at 6am. Thanks to the “Symphony of Horns“, I realized quickly that I was waking up in Hanoi. By 6:30, my dad and I hit the streets of the old quarter. From our lodging at the Viet Hotel on Hang Than (Hang=Street), we meandered along Dong Xuan until we got to Hoan Kiem Lake. The city wasn’t sleeping, but it wasn’t yet at a full bustle either. Now, sitting in the hotel room again, it is just after 9am, the sound of children playing (there is a school next door), horns honking and beeping (whats the difference?) and other unidentifiable noises fill the air. The walk around the lake, awakening with life, was very interesting. Left, right and center you could observe locals of all ages, sizes (well, they are all rather shorter and thin-ish compared to us) and social layers doing what I think is Tai Chi or other spiritual or physical exercises.

We were definately the red cherries in the green fruit basket – we didn’t see any other westerners until we had gotten back to the north end of the lake where we had started. As we rounded the lake with its murky green water, Hanoi started to wake up and get into a bustle. Traffic increased, as did the related noise. The activity on the street was amazing. Cars, buses, trucks, pedestrians, bicycles and hundreds of motorbikes and scooters going in all directions – seemingly all at the same time and in the same few square meters!!! Hoangs tips from the previous evening about crossing the street came in very handy – “don’t run, just keep the same speed. Then they [the cars and motorcycles] will miss you”… Enough said.

After a breakfast overlooking the rooftops of Hanoi, which in bad weather is a gray and dismal site, but with some sunlight turns into a colourful mosaic, we took a snooze. Partly to deal with the jet lag and travel fatigue, partly because we got up so early and had a two hour hike behind us, sucking in all there was to see, small and hear. After our snooze, we headed over to the travel agency, Footprint Vietnam Travel, to get the latest trip info and to settle the rest of the bill. As the hotel ushered a taxi, the receptionist handed us a map of the city, with some useful translations on the back, titled “Useful Vietnamese”. It was a list of 17 important words (the 17 MOST important?), terms such as ‘Hello’, ‘Thank you’, ‘how are you’ and ‘you are beautiful’?? What? The footnote did state clearly that this term was ‘for women only’. For women to use or for to be used for women? No further explanation required nor recieved…

We were greeted in a most friendly manner by the rep at Footprint. After some more details about our trip, and reviewing the route on the map, we headed back into the city jungle. A roughly 2km walk along Trang Thi street with its hundreds of liitle shops and street vendors brought us to the Temple of Literature. But not before we didn’t look at some of the shops and stop for lunch on the way. All the shops were similar. A very small storefront, maybe three of four meters wide, and six to ten meters deep. Behind the shop was usually the bedroom, or what seemed to be a common room. Live and work in one place seemed to be a very common thing, and also, many businesses were run by the whole family.

The temple of Literature was the first university in Vietnam, built in honour of Confucious. A well kept, impressive site, shielded from the craze on the streets by a wall around the whole perimeter. Although the engine noise and horns did not stop at the walls, they were more subdued on the inside of this beautiful historical site. Almost a subtle place, for Hanoi… It was interesting to see how the vietnamese honoured Confucious, and even more it seemed, honoured the 72 stone turtles, each representing a high teacher. Many vietnamese didn’t pass by the turtles without patting each and every one on the head. It is said that doing so gifts the person with immortality. At the far end of the Temple of Literature, vietnamese music was played on a dong, a single string instrument which is plucked, and with a vertical lever, the tonality is changed. There was also an altar, and statues, stories and paintings of a time long past.

A rather wild and overly expensive taxi ride later, thanks to the rigged taxi-meter, we arrived back at the hotel, tired from the walking, heat and a sensory overload, at about 4:30pm. There, we reviewed the itinerary for tomorrow, as that is when the big tour starts. Then, dinner at the hotel restaurant, simply because we were too tired to take more then 20 steps in any direction. After dinner, we did muster just enough energy to head back towards the market place, where we witnessed traditional song and dance, so lucky we did. Back at the hotel, we captured our days experiences in our little books that would be further filled with great memories over the next 14 days.

If you come back in a few days, you’ll be able to read all about our first day on the road, from Hanoi to Nghia Lo.