Hanoi – Feels kinda like a week in Europe with the Vietnamese

2006 – Hanoi, Vietnam

I’ve never been to Europe before, but Hanoi made me feel that maybe somehow I was actually there. Wide streets lined with trees, a lack of skyscrapers, instead with two and three story colonial era buildings in their place along the centre of town. Maybe I was actually in Europe? Ummm, no. There’s bazillions of motorbikes and scooters, people sitting at fragrant roadside noodle shops on tiny stools (what’s up with that anyway??) and most buildings look like they need a coat of paint. But this is the charm for me, you have an amazing mix of two continents in the one city. Europe but with the Europeans replaced by Vietnamese.

From a working perspective, the office I was in had a culture that I originally disliked, but now can fully appreciate as the best way. 5pm, everyone leaves. When it’s a birthday, they get a cake and everyone goes down for a chat for half an hour on a Friday afternoon. This is not lazy and inefficient, it’s fun and preserves a quality of life for the staff members I haven’t afforded myself for a while.

No good idea what they're up to, guessing tradition over vandalism.

Our hosts were especially friendly, with her taking us out to a different style of Vietnamese food every day. Time has worn away my memory and I can’t remember what they were. Only that each was stunning with its fresh ingredients used, and that it was much more than just pho noodles.

Another bonus for me that we were staying in the Hotel Nikko – a Japanese international hotel chain. Something about going from sleeping in a kimono, to travelling to work each morning in a tide of scooters along roads lined with buildings of French architecture really appealed to me. Where else can you do this?

Friends who have visited Hanoi nearly always complain of the persistent and interfering touts, which put them off from visiting Hanoi (and Vietnam) again. It’s a pity, as Hanoi was such a refreshing location for me – so different to all other cities in South-East Asia I’ve had the pleasure to visit.