Hanoi: Hard won knowledge in a city of surprises

View Photos (1) Image © 2005 Floyd Sweeting III

Arriving in the evening, on Air France from Bangkok, I needed a taxi. I exchanged money and exited the terminal looking for an "official" taxi; something with a meter. Several young men approached offering a taxi which I politely refused until one of them thrust a wallet sized printed card in front of me announcing taxi $12.00. I looked at his chubby face which seemed kind and harmless and said, "$12.00, OK". He then took me across a parking lot to his car and I realized too late that it was not an official metered taxi but a private person wanting to make a few dollars. Another fellow appeared from nowhere and got in the passenger side.

They both tried to chat with me in limited English and I felt we had a rapport. After a quarter mile or so, he pulled over to what looked like a toll booth and excitedly said something in Vietnamese ending in 3! He said it twice and looked nervously at me. I shrugged and he got out of the car, ran over to the toll booth and returned with a piece of cardboard covered in plastic. Written on it were the words Trip to Hanoi 300,000 and some other indecipherable words (I suppose to make it look official). I consulted my wallet sized currency conversion cheat sheet and said, "$19., that's a lot" but did not get angry although my face must have dropped as I realized what was going on. He looked panicked and said, "I'm sorry". He began to drive again and I dug into my wallet for 300,000 dong but intended to hold on to it until I and my bags were safely outside of this car. We rode in silence through dark streets and I wondered if we were indeed going to the 3-star Hotel I had booked and paid for via the internet back in New York.

I remained calm but imagined various scenarios where I was relieved of my wallet, abandoned on the side of a dark road, dumped over the side of a bridge, etc. Miraculously we arrived at the hotel but (what I did not realize) the driver and his friend took my bags into the lobby of the hotel next door.

Relieved, I held out the 300,000 and said, "This is almost $20. you said $12.", He said, "I'm sorry, it's the trip," and grabbed the money from my hands and turned running saying, "Just the 300, ok!"

Turning to the indifferent hotel receptionist, he said, "your hotel next door".

Welcome to Vietnam, I thought. I was tired, wary and hotter than I'd ever been (annoyed at myself for letting this happen). It was dark outside, there were hundreds of motorbikes buzzing up and down the street stirring up clouds of dust. There seem to be few if any streetlights in Hanoi. I lugged my things next door and up a long flight of stairs to a more attractive and reassuring hotel.

After checking in to a nice enough (air conditioned) room and showering, I was eager to find some of the fabulous food I had heard about. I left the hotel to poke around the dark, hot but bustling streets and was immediately confronted by a young woman with a baby in her arms and an upturned baseball cap. I smiled and kept walking and she began to follow me and then to scream at me in Vietnamese. I walked faster with her following me and eventually (to my chagrin) actually ran back to my hotel.

I ended up eating a somewhat plain but adequate dinner in the deserted hotel restaurant and talking reluctantly to the waiter who stood right next to me asking questions the entire time I ate and finally wanted to know if he could exchange money for me on the black market. (I politely declined his offer and he disappeared.) After dinner I asked if I could use the internet access and was told that it costs $1. USD per 15 minutes. I declined and went to my room tired and just a bit disillusioned.

After watching CNN, sleeping the deep air-conditioned sleep of the exhausted, I felt much better. I realized that I had made a few mistakes, should have gotten a metered taxi at the airport, should have taxied to a good restaurant directly from the hotel. I still wanted to explore on foot with a map and take in the local color and make my own discoveries. This would go better in day light.

I also realized that the taxi scam fellows had actually either felt guilty or botched it (or both) and had gotten only about $8 out of me rather than the $20 they had planned. Of course, $8 USD is a good profit in Hanoi and they probably learned enough to perfect their act for the next neophyte foreign visitor.

My first pleasant surprise was the charming hotel reception staff with whom I chatted for 30 minutes while waiting for the breakfast to begin. Over the course of 4 days, I had many such conversations and got to know 4 of them a bit and one of them particularly well.

The four young people, two young men and two young ladies were university educated, charming and high-spirited. They were shy at first but excited and curious to talk to someone from America. They told me about their lives in Vietnam and asked many questions about mine.

I learned that in Vietnam, a university education does not guarantee employment. Unless your family knows someone who works in government, you have limited opportunities. If your father is a farmer or a coal miner, you will not be able to work in your profession or to get a government job.

My impression of these young people is that they are extremely talented and capable, could learn anything given the right conditions and opportunity.

One of them told me that he had a university degree in economics and despite a poor working environment, he knew computer programming, Photoshop, Dream Weaver and could learn anything given the right equipment but that there were no opportunities for him to use these skills. He said the Vietnamese were so resourceful that if something appears in New York, it would appear in Vietnam the next day.

Tourism is increasingly becoming an employment option although it is highly competitive and one must speak good English as well as other languages. One must be resourceful, able to deal with sometimes difficult clientele from different cultures with different expectations. To acquire the enviable position of tour guide, one must furthermore be able to speak fluently about the history of Vietnam and Hanoi in relation to the various city sights.

A typical salary for a young person such as those I met is about USD55 monthly. Out of that, $10 is paid for a bed, $30 for food. The remaining $15 covers everything else and one must send something to help the (much poorer) family and to try to save something, to perhaps buy a motorbike. Unlike tour guides, tips are not a usual part of their compensation.

I found out about motorbikes. Almost everyone in Hanoi rides one. A Chinese made one costs USD500 and a better quality one made in Japan costs USD1,500. Huge bundles are transported on the back of these bikes. I saw towering bundles of furniture, vegetables and fruits (one man rode laden down with baskets of football-sized durians) and when he passed I noticed a final one tucked between his knees). Several times I saw two large pigs carried on the back of a motorbike. They were trussed up, placed side by side and upside down on their backs. They were alive but looked stunned, bouncing along in the heat and dust.

I learned in conversation that some Vietnamese eat dog. There are special restaurants for this and special times of the month considered lucky for eating dog. It's expensive and the dogs are raised on special farms. You have to drink a lot of alcohol with dog, my friend told me. It makes your stomach very hot. I said I know it's a cultural difference but I just don't want to eat dogs. He said that many Vietnamese refuse to eat dog as well. He said that some dogs are intelligent but some dogs are just to eat. I said that I used to have a dog and that I had probably spent more money on my own dog's comfort, health and general care in his 17 long and happy years than you can imagine. Neither of us felt antagonistic about it, we were just curious and chatting about the differences.

I also learned that the delicious cuisine which visitors take for granted is considered far too luxurious for them and they eat a more ascetic diet; a lot of rice and vegetables and very little meat. I wondered if in the absence of refrigeration (one of the advantages is that fresh food is bought and cooked daily for guests) that the staff did not get to eat the leftovers. I didn't get a clear answer on this and do not know where the leftover food goes - perhaps to the hotel owners?

I ventured out for a 10 minute walk to the Old Quarter, hoping to capture the flavor of Hanoi, perhaps chat with people and to see some of the sights. I found it hard going with all of the many loud motorbikes kicking up dust and almost everyone squatting on the sidewalks cooking and eating and lining up wares to be sold. It was a bit grim, more mundane than I had imagined and much more difficult to negotiate. I did learn to cross the street by walking straight out into traffic (there are no streetlights or crosswalks on most streets) and walking slowly and evenly to the other side. Actually arriving in one piece is exhilarating. A good first-timer's trick is to stand next to a local and follow them closely across, look straight ahead and do not look at the traffic which will flow around you.

About every 5 minutes or so someone would say hello and speak to me but this was always a prelude to asking me to buy something, a xich lo ride, a motorbike ride (called xe om or hugging bikes), a postcard, a book, map, etc. There are a few standard phrases that you hear over and over again, "I know you don't need anything but maybe you can help me?" "If you buy something I will remember you forever." "I not lucky today, if you buy, my first customer, I lucky" Some of the vendors were students and mentioned how difficult it was to work and go to school and how poor they were. One fellow who wanted to sell me postcards did not even have any postcards but was going to run across the street to buy some and then sell them to me. I smiled and said again that I just didn't want any postcards.

I tried to smile and remained calm, even when frustrated and most people though persistent remained civil as well. One older man offered me a motorbike ride I did not want, then began to curse me out in his language when I smiled and said thanks but I want to walk.

An especially personable motorbike driver told me I would be very happy if I let him give me a tour of Hanoi. I laughed and smiled but said no I want to just walk.

I learned that most Vietnamese have no hope of travel and had not even been to neighboring countries like Thailand for example.

I became a bit overwhelmed by all of this when an attempt to sit for a few minutes quietly by the Hoan Kiem lake resulted in such an encounter.

I decided that I had to change tactic and found a recommended, popular Travel Agent Cafe and inquired about a day tour of Hanoi. It was already after 8:30 am by this point and too late so I booked one for the next day. For $45, I get an air-conditioned car, driver and guide who would pick me up at my hotel and take me to the museums and sights of my choice. Lunch will be at a (very good) restaurant which trains juveniles in difficulty to learn the food service business.

For the rest of that morning, I wandered around the Old Quarter (but had the same kind of frankly exhausting encounters). I decided to find the famed Sofitel Metropole and have a nice long air-conditioned lunch and then taxi over to the Fine Arts Museum for the afternoon. I was coming to the conclusion that it would be impossible to wander the streets alone. As a Westerner, (even casually dressed in GAP jeans and a short sleeved shirt) I was too rich, too different looking to blend in.

The Spices Garden at the Sofitel Metropole provided a quiet, elegant setting for me to get out of the heat and indulge in upscale versions of Vietnamese street food. After my introduction to Hanoi, a glass or two of wine was welcome. Young people I met here were also talkative but about American politics rather than economics and asked if it were true that we really did not know the outcome of elections before they were over?

After a 5-star lunch (for $13), I taxied to the Fine Arts Museum which is well-stocked with antiquities, particularly some beautiful wood carvings from old communal houses and paintings that transition awkwardly in the 30's and 40's as the Vietnamese absorb western artistic theory and incorporate it into their own. From the 60's onward, the painting becomes quite interesting.

The next day's tour was a completely different experience and I covered a lot more ground with much less effort. I saw the Ho Chi Minh complex and not only learned about him from the memorial sites; mausoleum, home, museum of his effects, but also from my guide. Uncle Ho is revered by all Vietnamese, a hero, saint, saviour and kindly uncle. The Vietnamese expect everyone to be married and Uncle Ho, who never married, is explained away by saying that, "He was a normal man, but gave his life to his country instead of marrying". At various times I was asked where my wife was, why I didn't bring my wife with me and one person who actually inquired and found that I was not married said, "Lot of Westerners come here, already getting old and still single." I smiled and said but I'm in my 40's and have had two long term relationships, for 10 and 7 years respectively. I'm single at the moment.

I found out from one person I chatted with during an hour long rain at the Temple of Literature (a lovely place to sit out a rain storm) how the government works. If for example one needs a document stamped, one can end up waiting in a government office for 4 or 5 hours (occasionally inquiring, only to be told not yet) until one remembers to pass some cash through the window to the clerk while inquiring. Suddenly it is ready and you are on your way. I was told that 60 per cent is automatically skimmed off the top for construction projects so that inferior materials end up getting used and that there had been problems with buildings collapsing from shoddy construction.

No one is allowed to criticize or question the government.

I saw the infamous Hoa Lo Prison (dubbed "Hanoi Hilton" during what the Vietnamese call the "American War"). What strikes me most about the prison (which features a real guillotine and photos of the heads of some Vietnamese revolutionaries) is that the French colonization dominates and the American war was but a small period in a long struggle for independence.

The Museum of Ethnology is a new museum and gives a fascinating overview of the many ethnic groups that make up Vietnam. A chance to visit the spectacular tribal houses constructed on the grounds of the museum is worth the trip alone.

I left the next day for a 2-day tour of Halong Bay which is an entirely different story and highly recommended to any visitor.

I was there for 3 days and I want to return at some point to spend a few more days in Hanoi before going off to explore other parts of Vietnam. It is not the most comfortable vacation destination and it is very different from the West but the people, places and history are absorbing and they somehow take up residence in your heart and mind. I was beginning to understand how to negotiate the city and beginning to understand some of the people and their situation. I want to see more museums, try more restaurants and to engage more with the local people. I want to ride on the back of that xe om, employ that driver and let him show me his Hanoi.

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Published on 7/8/05