A little bit of Europe in Asia : Ho Chi Minh

After almost a month in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh was our last destination. It felt like walking in a city which was weird combination of an older European (French concession) and Asian city. Add a hint of modernism to the mix and you get something like the picture below.

Unfortunately, I was sick for four days which made it impossible to hop from one tourbus to the next. Apart from that it was also about 40 degrees which made it impossible to walk for more than 500 meter without sweating like a pig. Two good reasons why we didn’t do that much.

We discovered that Ho Chi Minh is quite a trendy city filled with hipster bars that offer great food and beverages for even better prices. So we found ourselves hopping from one great bar to the next finding cool downs in between our walks in the city.

We didn’t find the city itself that alluring, maybe because we were templed-out and the markets start to look quite alike after being almost a month in Vietnam. We did however find different ways to amuse ourselves. For example a Vietnamese food massage which was absolutely lovely, learning a lot more about the vietnamese war in the War Remnants Museum. And last but not least, we enjoyed the AO show!

It is a show directed by Tuan Le, a man that also directed one of the great shows of Cirque Du Soleil, and it was truly marvelous. On top of that, it played in the operahouse of Ho Chi Minh which is famous for it’s history but also as astonishing as the show itself. Pictures were not allowed during the show, but I did managed to take a sneak peak for you to see. Below you’ll find that picture of the theater which also depicted the main attributes of the show : a lot of bamboo sticks and a bunch of huge bamboo baskets, which were used and combined in many acrobatic ways.

Short story even shorter : it was lovely to be in Ho Chi Minh, but it was also time to move on to the next country is search for some totally new experiences and impressions. Thailand time!!

Honk honk, here comes Hanoi

Hanoi, home town of more than 8 million people and capital of the Socialistic Republic of Vietnam. People don’t come here to relax but to be swallowed in one piece by the busy Vietnamese streets and the amazing culture.

Like I mentioned before, the Vietnamese Dong which is the currency of the Vietnamese people, is a very weak one. One million dong equals almost 43 euros. Being used to euro’s it’s quite difficult to adapt because you always feel as if you are paying so much in numbers for whatever you want to buy. But in hindsight, after you do the math, you’ll be amazed how cheap it actually was. You can for example eat a very decent meal here for 100.000 dong, which translates to 4,20 euros.. And of course lunch and snacks and juices and beers and cocktails are even much cheaper. A fancy cocktail in a restaurant will cost you somewhere between 60.000 and 80.000 VMD. Not bad at all. The problem however is that you’ll find yourself drinking beers and cocktails all the time..

The best thing about Hanoi is it’s architecture. I find myself walking around and looking above me to the buildings all the time. Because the architecture here is heavily influenced by the French people in the 19th century, most buildings are an interesting mix of Asia and Europe. Very colorful but in a way they have some kind of daunting spirit of an old French village upon them. Intriguing to say the least.

A beautiful spectacle here in Hanoi is the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. It already lures you in by the prominent and exquisite music that reverberates along the Hoan Kiem Lake every hour that the theater does a show. The show itself is just as astonishing as its music played by a little band and it tries to explain you about the culture and habits of the people in Vietnam with a funny touch to it. You see little wooden puppets dancing and playing on a water surface and they just seem so real. You can only guess when it comes to how they make those puppets move and it was only after the show that you see how many people are actually involved in the play.

And than you have the Vietnamese food.. It is so good! Most tasty thing in Vietnam for me would be the fruit. If you love exotic fruit and think a European pineapple or passionfruit is good, try these ones.. I merely get past the fruit buffet in the mornings. And next to that you have the fruits you can’t even find in Europe, like the custard apple that you can see in the picture below. They taste a bit like a very sweet lychee and are just delicious.

We also did a group food tour here in Hanoi and discovered a lot of street foods and drinks. I’m always a bit afraid of getting sick from that sort of food because it seems too cheap (whole meals for less than 1 euro) and not hygienic, but eating in little stalls and trying the food really made me interested to try some more!

Apart from the food stalls, there are also great restaurants that can offer you an entire meal plus drinks for merely 5 euros per person. Like for example the fried noodles with dill and seafood you can see in the next picture.

And than there is high end food like the meal we had at Cau Go on our last evening. This is a restaurant that offers exquisite food combined with a view over the Hoan Kiem Lake and all the hustle and bustle that surrounds it. This will cost you about 35 euros for two, starters and drinks included, but the experience and food is truly worth it.

Last but not least it is a city for people that love shopping. The city just has so much to offer and it is so much cheaper than the exact same thing in Europe. I for example found a real converse shop that sold exactly the same shoes and shirts as they do at home. The difference is however that everything simply costs 60% of the normal price. So that meant new all stars for me and a super awesome cartoon shirt for Sander in a tiny shop with a brand that only sells clothing in Vietnam!

Hanoi is a busy city and the honking scooters keep on going all day and all night. But at the same time Hanoi has so much to offer, don’t skip it because it’s busy and go beyond that by smelling it, tasting it, feeling its culture and embracing its beauty and architecture. There is just a lot to discover in this city when you look passed those honking scooters.