If you've ever wanted to be a multilingual, jazz guitar playing, belly dancing martial artist who cooks a mean Pho noodle soup... you've come to the right city!
With so many extracurricular activities offered in Hanoi it's hard to simply choose ONE to do. (Although it seems the favored past time of the average expat drinking more than anything else.)
I'm a huge fan of accumulating pointless knowledge. Over the years I've learned more than my fair share. Let's see.. skateboarding (a lost art), stilt walking, pan pipes, guitar, crochet, fire twirling, basket weaving, oh and my recent favorite a hell-bent desire to perfect contact juggling (yes, I loved The Labyrinth), none of which I can perform with any skill.
Anyway, for the eternal procrastinator you may find yourself learning a language (Spanish anyone?), tango, Shaolin kung fu, Viet cooking, performance art, photography etc etc the list is endless.
... there are even drinking clubs... if your average weeknight/weekend bar crowd just isn't dedicated enough for you, join the Bia Hoi Appreciation Society.
http://newhanoian.xemzi.com/en/group/show/21/Bia-Hoi-Appreciation-Society
For art lovers Hanoi is scattered with arts museums, galleries and alternative art and photography (it's big here, everywhere you see dudes wearing khaki vests with serious lenses rivaling small artillery).
There's the Geothe Institute, the Cinematheque, bowling, roller disco, Tay Ho amusement park, karaoke, opera house and jazz clubs...
My favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon is to hoof it down to tree covered Lenin Park and spend an afternoon in the sun with fire twirlers and drumming circle or hang around a little later in the twilight to perfect that Thai Chi stance with a personal teacher.
www.newhanoian.com
Hanoi Grapevine
Hanoi Cinemateque
Apsara Dance Studio
Nghi Tam
Lenin Park - Cong Vien Thong Nhat
Hanoi has become one giant city of LIGHT! There's light doing amazing stuff everywhere here. Each day is more beautiful than the last with bright, blue skies, wispy white clouds and gorgeous dappled light filling the city. November's a popular time to travel to Vietnam and I can see why!
Apart from the spectacular deluge that hit the city a few weeks ago, days here are sunny with a cool, crisp feeling in the air. And with the steady stream of new tourists in the Old Quarter each day, it's obvious most people enjoy travelling in the cooler weather. Personally, I enjoy a tropical environment and have been quietly freaking out about our steady journey into what will be a cold, cold winter.
For weeks shop fronts have been displaying padded jackets and fur lined coats, colourful scarves and gloves and the inhabitants of the city are rugging up and showing off their winter attire. I've invested in comfy tracksuit pants, mittens, head gear, socks etc etc ... Since this is my first Hanoi winter, I don't know if I'm overreacting, but there's nothing worse than being too cold in my books.
Speaking of cold, I've just gotten back from a few days chilling in the mountains. I visited Sapa.. July I think.. it was gorgeous but the weather was cool even in the middle of summer. So again, I packed my backpack and caught the night train to the town of Lao Cai then up the snaking mountain to Sapa.
I stayed in a nice guesthouse with a balcony overlooking the mountain range shrouded with bamboo and white mist. I was literally, chilling, haha, an Aussie icicle, and glad I packed a few extra pairs of warm socks. Because of the fog and the cloud that envelops the high mountain town most tourists have stayed away ensuring I had a full few days of peace and quiet in the fresh air. It was as beautiful as I remembered it.
Living in such an aggressively busy, smog filled city really affects your sense of inner calm...throw in the traffic, a few constantly barking dogs, one very sick sounding rooster, crying babies and the occasional jackhammer and you find that stress builds up quite quickly if you don't take a break.
A quick visit to the mountains is always a good way to reconnect and stay sane :)
Independent travel to Sapa is easy as pie! A train ticket to Sapa will cost you 200, 000 for a soft sleeper. Guesthouses scatter the town and you can find a nice, clean room for around $4 - $6.
Tickets can be bought directly from Hanoi Train Station (Ga Hanoi)
Le Duan Street and bus tickets from Lao Cai station to Sapa town are 30, 000, easily purchased when you arrive in Lao Cai.
Photo of St Josephs Cathedral from Ben Payne.
Hmm, a more updated perspective on rain. I take back many of my warm goozy feelings about rain from my September post below where I was being naive...
Now that we are well past 25 hours of non-stop, unabated torrential rain, my feelings towards rain in general have changed somewhat!! I know where all of Australia's water has gone. It's here! and none of it is draining...
The rains came on Thursday, grey skies and cold but humid weather ensuring that nothing wet dries and the smell of mould permeated cupboards and clothing. The city was grey and most of us hoped the rain would simply wash the pollution away. It rains often this time of year, but usually.. IT STOPS!
Hanoi has notoriously bad drainage, and now by Saturday, well, the city is a smelly, watery brown puddle. The road outside my alley has become a vast brown river, water waist deep in parts. Hanoi is filling steadily like a blocked concrete sink trapping its occupants in their homes (the pub or wherever they happen to be).
I'm home with no cable TV (sigh), gas or food to cook with anyway. But high and 'dry' and happy to have power, fingers crossed. Around the city, there are people in bad positions, as many lakes have burst banks. So far more than 80 people have died, including a few electrocutions due to shoddy wiring hitting wet streets.
We all hope it let's up soon, I've never seen so many Hanoi expats on Facebook at the same time!
Photos from VN News: www.vnnewsw.com
If you've ever wanted to be a multilingual, jazz guitar playing, belly dancing martial artist who cooks a mean Pho noodle soup... you've come to the right city!
