Having only seven full days in Vietnam, I limited our exploration to the North, and rented a dirt bike to explore the areas around Hanoi. We spent two days in Hanoi itself, in the Old Quarter.
Two things I noticed right away: The driving is BANANAS! The only rule seems to be: Don’t die. Seriously, there is not procedure for right of way at an intersection, just don’t hit anyone or get hit. And we succeeded! I did not drive while in the city, though. If you’re interested in motorbiking, but never have, check out some of these beginner’s motorbiking tips.
The second thing I noticed was the stark difference from Thailand, in terms of wealth inequality. While traveling through Laos, the only evidence of communism was an occasional, and sort of half-hearted billboard of illustrated peasants pumping their fists. While in Vietnam, the hammer and sickle is proudly billowing next to the yellow on red star flag, there is propaganda reminiscent of the Soviet era all over town and country, and I even passed by some political meetings that made me really want to understand Vietnamese.
In terms of wealth inequality, I did not see any extravagant wealth, nor did I see any homeless people. Not one. Friends who have visited southern Vietnam had a different perspective, and claimed there was quite a bit of visible poverty. That’s not to say that it’s a harmonious utopia, as there is a lot of almost literal back breaking labor. A staple scene of Vietnam is the lush, verdant rice fields and straw-capped farmers tending to them. I saw a few women with spines so contorted, their faces were barely a foot off the ground.
In just a short seven days, my experience in Vietnam was surprising and adventurous. Nine out of ten people are generous and hospitable, but of course there are some scammers afoot. I had been exploring Hanoi for all of ten minutes before a suspiciously jubilant woman forcibly put her wares and hat on me. I was not remotely interested in the photo op, and had more than a vague notion I was about to be bamboozled, but what did I know? I had only been there ten minutes, was I so jaded to think she couldn’t just be making friends? Was I so savvy that I thought I could sniff out a scam at a moment’s notice? So I went with it.
Then she demanded $10 and basically dove headfirst into my boyfriend’s wallet. It was impressive.
We spent two days in the backpacker filled Old Quarter of Hanoi, which has a lot more history than we explored. Our two big stops were The Temple of Literature and the Women’s Museum, both are unique and fascinating. We didn’t stay in the city long, however; We rented a fully manual dirtbike from Flamingo Travel and started planning out route.
Most of our time was spent riding around on our dirt bike taking pictures, for which we relied heavily on googlemaps. When exploring, especially via motorbike, it’s essential to get off the highway and take the smaller, scenic routes that are less marked and full of turns. We ended up in someone’s backyard once or twice and we almost pulled a Michael Scott and drove into a river, so we learned that googlemaps, just like the rest of us, makes mistakes (no judgement here, I almost drive into the Mekong).
As rustic and unmarked as some of these country roads were, if I hadn’t gotten off the well worn path, I would never have seen the pervasive French colonial influence and the amount of Cathedrals all over the countryside.
They rival the pagoda count!
I definitely plan to return to Vietnam, next time on a culinary tour of the south, where the pho comes with fixins, and I hear the traffic is ever more harrowing.
For tips of what to do and where to go in Hanoi, check out these destinations.
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