The north of Vietnam is full of amazing sights! For spring break, a friend of mine and I decided to embark on a trip from North to South Vietnam! Hanoi was our first stop! We completely underestimated how cold 55 degrees felt like anymore! I didn't realize how much I've adjust to the 90 degree weather of Singapore; we came out of the airport and were absolutely freezing! We were transported out to the interstate on the tiny green cart you can find below! After that we were switched into a car and taken to our hostel "Hanoi Rocks." Below you can also see the scenery that passed us on the way to the hostel! The countryside is filled with green! Rice fields occupy every space they can! The first thing we did when we got to our hostel was shop through the markets for pants and a jacket! Luckily everything is really cheap in Vietnam!
Above you can see the street view from outside our hostel in the old quarter of Vietnam! Almost everyone drives scooters in Vietnam. Crossing the street is basically like playing frogger; if you don't keep moving, you're going to be squashed. The streets of the old quarter are lined with shops that sell everything you could think of! All kinds of knock of items, especially North Face because that's actually made in the south of Vietnam.
Below you'll see me hiding from the cold inside a local spa, getting a $5 manicure! We met some really cool Australian backpackers there that gave me some cool tips for when I visit there as well!
The next four pictures are of the hostel we stayed in! There was a bar on one side, a cafe on the other, and a super cool fish in the middle! The also sold laughing gas balloons for a little over a dollar that make you burst out laughing for about a minute, and then it wears off. It was super fun to try!
Here's a few pictures of the food we had in Hanoi! Vietnam is famously known for their baguettes! I indulged quite frequently in the tasty little sandwiches during my time in Vietnam! :)
On the weekends at night in the old quarter, they block off the roads and shops open up in the streets and every nook and cranny they can fit! You can find street food, like the picture above, or jewelry carts, clothing carts, shoe carts, etc! Everything you could imagine is in this night market! The shops set tiny chairs outside their restaurants and locals fill up every spot! The night life fills the streets overwhelmingly. Beer and cigarette brand girls fill the streets in special company outfits and try to sell their products! There's colorful lights gleaming from every possible direction!
Little shows pop up all over the streets as well! Around every corner you could find singers, bands, artists, or comedy skits like the one above!
Below are pictures of the new quarter of Hanoi! It is very developed, just like any other large city in Southeast Asia. We visited the old war prison here where political prisoners were kept during the Vietnam war, or as they refer to it, the American War, as well as during the French-IndoChina War. You could even find pictures of a young John McCain from when he was kept there. As Vietnam is communist, the museum was very filtered to paint the communist north as empathetic and fair both now and during the war. It depicted American prisoners having fun in the prison with sports, card games, and holiday celebrations, which was not really the real story.
We also decided to explore the women's museum in Hanoi! It had 4 levels of information on the history of women in Vietnam! The had huge roles in history, especially in the war. There were entire teams made up solely of women in the war. They carried top secret documents through the country. Many recounted extremely graphics depictions of the war, which left your jaw hanging wide open. It's very different reading of such high roles of women during wars of this time. In America, women were not seen as valuable in warfare, and still aren't today. The roles of women in Vietnam are quite different than the roles of women in America. Even today they work in the rice fields and other extremely taxing jobs that most women would not be seen fit to work in America. Gender equality seems to be a very different discussion in Vietnam, than in the states. It's always amazing to learn about the world from such a different culture and point of view!
