Hanoi Vietnam July 13th 2025
What do you say when your time in Thailand is nearly done and you get violently ill from something you likely ate? Or from licking doorknobs. Who knows.
You say, “Phuket!” And bounce outta the Muay Thai Ring to Hanoi. Good morning Vietnam! Coffee like God intended it to be, lucky me.
Back on the correct side of the road as we took our “taxi” to the hotel. I thought the streets in Bangkok were chaotic. Perpetual rush hour here, but it’s truly fascinating to watch, from the back seat anyway. The rules literally do not apply. I shan’t be renting a bike here! Everyone seems to do what they want with their vehicle, but it’s a collective. 10 or 15 vehicles will cross an intersection at a red light and the cross traffic just weaves its way through the maelstrom. Drivers have their left hand on the wheel and their right on the horn. The cacophony of car horns, while at first traumatic to the ears, like your nephew Gus learning to play the saxophone in 5th grade, soon becomes just background chatter. Horns appear to be a type of prophylactic communication; preventative medicine, just letting others know when a car or bike is going to merge. And it works, it all just flows. Somehow.
Our first night in Hanoi when our appetites actually showed up, a little old man stepped into our deer in the headlights gaze, took my hand and showed us how to cross the street. He just waved his other hand in the air and stepped into traffic. I shucked my ego at the curb, and giggled all the way to the other side. It’s just Frogger, with faith. And now I go out at night, just to play in traffic. Since i stopped licking doorknobs, I’ve got to find something risky to do.
We had coffee the following morning at the Cong Caphe in the old quarter. Like it was built during the war and remains unchanged. Sort of a revolutionary, beatnik vibe. A maze of corridors and small rooms filled with relics and secrets. Pictures on the walls of Castro, Che, Zapata, and Ho Chi Minh. Stacks of books and creaky floorboards sharing their own secrets. Clandestine Coffee! Breakfast next door and a menu filled with Vietnamese delicacies: frog, squab (young pigeon), Mi Quang. Our queasy stomachs decided on something a little less risky. We’ve got 2 weeks here and will get a little more adventurous as we journey south. What a beautiful city, vibrant and bustling filled with options, filled with life!