Hanoi, you were hot, humid, and smelly but I liked you

I had been to Vietnam before, 4 years ago. My stop included I think 2 nights in Ho Chi Minh, a visit to the Vietnam War museum (I guess it's now the War Remnants museum?), a jazz club (Sax N art), and only one banh mi and one spicy beef noodle soup. No pho ga, which is an atrocity since pho ga is one of my favorite things on the planet. It did give me an introduction to Vietnamese iced coffee but I just remember leaving Vietnam feeling like I hadn't really experienced the culture. It also was the last stop on my Southeast Asian tour and I think I had hit a wall and was ready to come home. Or I just missed Thailand. Who knows? The point is, I was ready to experience Vietnam properly this time around. I think I did it right!

Our Remote Year spot was in Hanoi. Northern Vietnam vs the southern Vietnam I glimpsed last time around. The smells of the city hit you fast. Rotting fish, rancid smells, just... not good smelling things envelop Hanoi. Next that hits you is sweat. Lots of it. I don't know if I've ever sweated more in my life than in Hanoi. It's sweltering. You wander around seeking solace from the mugginess from one air conditioning spot to another. However, once you get past the smells and the heat, Hanoi is a pretty cool place! What's really neat is that the small local food shops all seemingly specialize in a dish. A lot of places only do ONE thing but man they do it oh so well. For instance, there's a pho ga spot that only serves pho ga. Not just pho. But pho ga specifically. And on the flipside, there's a spot that only serves pho bo (beef pho). There's many places like this that serve just one dish. It's pretty cool. Not shockingly, I had some of the best pho of my life in Vietnam this time around.

Vietnam is also dirt cheap. You can ride a scooter taxi around anywhere for basically one US dollar. Scooters are far and away the go-to method of transportation around Hanoi. I remember in Ho Chi Minh I was terrified to cross the street because there were just so many scooters. Hanoi was the same. Scooters everywhere. But once you learn the pattern and have the intestinal fortitude to just cross the dang street you realize it's easy not to get hit. Drivers will go around you and everyone drives relatively slowly anyways due to all the congestion between cars, scooters, and pedestrians. The trick is to not hesitate and not alter your speed too much. That's easier said than done sometimes when it feels like you're going to get broadsided by a car or scooter but really, these drivers are used to obstacles and maneuver their way around you with. I'll fully admit I was a little nervous to ride the Grab scooters as a taxi method. But once I got the first one out of the way, I really enjoyed them as a way to get around the city. It was super fun.

As for Hanoi and its sites, I didn't explore too much. I did see the remains of a crashed B-52 bomber from the war in a little lake which was interesting. We tried to go see Ho Chi Minh's tomb which is apparently a thing but he was being renovated. The Hanoi Hilton aka a prison for political prisoners during war times (that was also on the same land as our workspace) was an eerie tour spot. It was interesting but just like any old prison or lockup in those times, it was pretty grim.

One thing I did learn to love about Vietnamese culture this time around was the different coffees. I had never heard of "egg coffee" or "coconut coffee" before until this trip and... wow. The egg coffee was a very rich dessert like coffee that tasted a lot like a Christmas drink. However, I fell in love with coconut coffees. I may have diabetes now because of it, but I had one per day. It's essentially frozen coconut cream with coffee. Full of sugar. But in the hot humidity, so delectable. My description doesn't even do it justice. If you're ever in Vietnam, just get one. Every day. They're basically coffee milkshakes. They're magical.

I didn't spend the full time time in Hanoi, however. A group of us took a side trip to central Vietnam, where we visited Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue, and Phong Nha. This was an unexpected trip for me as I really didn't know what to expect but it became my favorite part of our Vietnam stop. Hoi An was my favorite of the four towns we stopped in. It was very backpacker-y and definitely caterered to tourists but it also felt like a real Vietnam experience. Hard to make sense of that I know but I loved it. It didn't hurt that it housed the best banh mi I've ever had. And it's not shocking it was an Anthony Bourdain spot. Banh Mi Phuong had the best banh mi's I ever had. I had 4 in two days. I had a bite of my friend's "mixed" banh mi which basically had everything on it. I had the chicken and cheese banh mi. And one of the pork banh mi. They were all phenomenal. Hoi An is a really cool town though it's hard to find after-hours nightlife past midnight. I could have spent more time there easily. They are known for having great and cheap tailors and I definitely had some customized items made while there. If you ever go to Vietnam, don't skip Hoi An or that banh mi. That's all I'm saying.

Next up was Da Nang. Da Nang is the third largest city in Vietnam but I wasn't really impressed with it. It did seem to have a very awesome beach but we were only there for one night and I didn't have the urge to explore it very much. While I did get to meet up with a buddy that currently lives there, I found Da Nang to be like Santiago and Mexico City... a city-ish feel that I wasn't really excited to explore. If we had more time there I likely would have sought out more sites but I was ready to move on to Hue. We didn't get to take the train to Hue which seems like a missed opportunity. From what I've heard, the train ride from Da Nang to Hue is glorious. Instead we took a bus and it was maybe the worst bus experience I've ever had. We were the only non-Vietnamese on it and it was miserable. That being said, it was an experience and now that it's in the past, I can say at least it makes a good/funny story.

Hue was unexpectedly awesome. I thought Hue would be a sightseeing town but kind of boring. I was way off. They had a great nightlife scene and I had a ton of fun in Hue. The citadel was a highlight but checking out an abandoned waterpark was equally awesome. We wrapped up our central Vietnam trip with a trip to Phuong Na (or Phong Nha?). This town is tiny but is a backpacker's go-to area. The town itself is literally one street maybe. It's known for its caves and also houses the largest cave in the world. We didn't see the biggest cave in the world, but we did go into the Dark Cave, a cave that, you guessed it, is pitch black on the inside. It's also known for it's mud and everyone in our group took a mud bath when we reached the furthest point inside you could go. The highlight was when all of us turned off our headlamps and probably experienced the darkest dark I've ever seen (or not seen, I guess). After the dark cave, we had some fun at the mini waterpark they had near the entrance. We stayed at the Easy Tiger hostel which was great for partying and had a pretty epic rain storm to boot. We also got free Easy Tiger tank tops for ordering yards of beer. Overall, the central Vietnam side trip was a huge highlight that I hadn't anticipated partaking in initially. I am so happy I went.

Overall, I think Hanoi and central Vietnam were a great stop. I ate all the pho, had the best banh mi of my life, and experienced scootering all over the city. I appreciated the culture and learned that I'm not as big a Vietnamese food fan as I thought. I loved the pho (duh), the bahn mi's were hit or miss, and some of the other cultural dishes were decent to downright scary. I fell in love with coconut coffee and I already miss the regular Vietnamese iced coffees with condensed milk. The beer left something to be desired (I stuck mostly with Tiger beer, not the local beer like Hanoi Beer or Saigon beer) and the spring rolls were pretty decent. On my -5 to 5 scale I'd give Hanoi a solid 2.

Here are my recs:

For coconut coffee, go to Cong Ca Phe. It's a chain and they can be found all over Vietnam but it was my favorite. Another good spot was Xofa, which was a late night food/coffeehouse place that the group loved. Their coconut coffee was also great.

For pho ga, go to Pho Lam. Its a hole in the wall where they only do pho ga. It was really really good.

My favorite pho bo was found at Pho 10 on Ly Quoc Su street. They only do beef pho and it's amazing. They offer a variety of different types and my favorite was the "Tai". I felt the broth was amazing as is but I still added chilis and hot sauce which helped give it a kick. Truth be told, the "normal" broth was great and I was sort of sad I sullied it with the hot sauce but both are just really really good.

A few of us guys had an amazing steak lunch at El Gaucho Argentinian Steakhouse. It was superb and what made it even better was the complimentary caramel dessert vodka shots we got after our meal. We were perhaps overserved in this area and we did not complain.

We also had amazing pizza at Pizza 4P's. There's several locations but the pizza there is legit fantastic. You'll likely need a reservation though so keep that in mind!

Also, you have to stop at Beer Corner (or Bia Hoi) to get a sense of the madness that is essentially the Bourbon Street of Hanoi.

And if you're in Hoi An and fancy yourself a tailored suit? Feel free to go to Duna!

Here are some pics from our Vietnam jaunt: