I’ve had the good luck to arrive in Hanoi during the worst continuous rain they’ve seen in thirty years.  (Is this in the Western press?  Because if not, I’ve got some good YouTube ready video of cars and bikes negotiating two foot high water!)   Our mini bus hydroplaning en route to the city from the airport was just a small indicator of the amount of water I’d see in the next few days.  But, accepting it as reality and part of the experience, I’ve actually grown somewhat accustomed to spending most of the daylight and evening completely..soaking.. wet.

Hanoi is a lively, colorful small river-side city that wakes up early and shuts down by midnight.  The air quality isn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, coming from Shanghai (where an hour outside made me practically vomit).  Motorbikes however, are commonplace and are the easiest way to get around.  There are “xe om” supposedly everywhere- the motorbike taxi service.  The problem is, I’m still not sure how to tell them apart from just a dude on a bike.  I asked a Vietnamese person how to tell them apart once, and she just laughed and went to hail one for me.  As far as I can tell, they look exactly the same… which is why I often end up standing on corners trying to look a little conspicuous so  they come to me instead.

Luckily for me, I’ve had an old classmate from MIT, Hubert, here to take me around on the back of his bike.  Also luckily for both of us, he is a good driver and easily maneuvers through Hanoi’s newly flooded streets and traffic.  On my first full day here we did a drive-by of many of the famous sights in the city, including a lakeside temple whose entire courtyard area had become a pond, due to the heavy rains.  We waded in to see the altars and to join the locals who were there for everyday worship.  Fishermen perched upon a foot wide barrier between the lake and the land, which was now barely peeking out above the water on either side.  Hubert warned me not to go near the edge- I thought to myself I would comply, because the thought of losing my camera and mobile on top of everything else I’ve lost would be just too ridiculous.

Afterward, we went to a gem of a “hidden” cafe in town, where motorbikes have to be wheeled in through a shop front and parked in the open air middle of the building.  Up a few flights of stairs in the back and you reach a couple wall-less seating areas overlooking the central lake, where you can sit and order fruit and drink and enjoy the view.  Our view on this particular day, was accompanied by lots of rain.  It did impart a beautiful and somewhat mystical feel, but the experience was also cold and somewhat short lived, as the water creeped towards our feet on the floor and the sideways torrents threatened to reach our seats.  I ordered “mango macerated in milk”, and had fun tossing out the topping of ice cubes onto the floor.  After acquiring Delhi Belly from the water in India, I’d prefer not to take my chances here!

The food in Hanoi, is delicious.  Just like everyone warned me it would be.  With my non red meat eating habit, I was expecting to be somewhat limited in what I could partake in, but so far the alternatives have been just as appealing.  There’s everything from street food markets to high class dining.  On the first day for example, lunch was fresh fish fried at the table with noodles and green vegetables, afterward a snack of shrimp crackers twist tied in a plastic bag, followed by dinner at Bobby Chinn’s- a fabulous fusion restaurant (grapes covered in goat cheese!!!) with a hookah bar, and topped off with drinks and dessert at the Intercontinental bar that is reached by walking long lit pathways to a central hub surrounded by still water.  Amazing.

If you’ve been reading my prior posts, you know that I’ve been feeling a bit out of shape due to all the good food and lack of proper exercise.  So this morning I finally put the running shoes I bought in Singapore to use, and did a stint around the lake in the middle of town.  I went out at around 7 in the morning to avoid the traffic fumes, but I could have probably done it an hour earlier and saved some lung capacity.  Because it was raining (of course), I missed seeing the crowds of group aerobics and male weighlifters that supposedly frequent the area in the early mornings.  Hubert describes aerobics as being somewhat in its infancy here, which perhaps explains why the exercise consists more of finger wagging and hip holding than any movement of the legs whatsoever.  Hopefully when I come back through Hanoi in a few days, I’ll be able to check it out.. and maybe participate!

Pictures to come soon…