And now the companion piece – the emotional highs and lows of a month in Vietnam.
I have already written about a quiet day on a boat in Bai Tu Long Bay, hiking in Ninh Binh, riding on a motorbike, and generally being surrounded by captivating architecture. But here are a few other highs from hanging out in Hanoi:
Thai massage: I didn’t look into how or why there are endless spas in Hanoi with notably inexpensive massage services. I just knew that our local team had ‘get a massage’ on their checklist of ways to get the full Hanoi experience. It seemed almost daily that I would hear a positive recommendation from a different fellow traveller. So one day, I spotted the Urban Oasis Spa that seemed comfortable, clean, and welcoming, and I walked in. I have had many deep tissue massages and relaxing massages in my life, but this was going to be my first Thai massage. Given the many variations I’ve heard, I will specify – I was in a private room, I had my feet washed to begin, I was then loaned a pair of loose ‘gym shorts’, and throughout I enjoyed what sounded like a Spotify playlist of piano music. The only notable difference (besides the feet washing) was the older Asian woman getting fully on the table to put me in some yoga poses that felt great. I also realized that I had never truly had my calves and forearms massaged before, given how incredible they felt after this one.
Cheese Pizza: I realize that I wrote about pizza in Spain as well, which surprises me as I do not consider myself a real ‘pizza person’, though in Valencia it was far more about the experience of the restaurant. Pizza is not something that I crave, nor is it a regular ‘go-to’. As a test – if I were to imagine never having pizza again….I would be totally fine. Well, until Hanoi I would have been fine. I have been quite sure, for years, that the best pizza I have ever had in my life was a fresh out of the wood-fired oven, pizza diavalo (“deviled” pizza with spicy sausage and peppers) in Sorrento, Italy. But in Hanoi, I was regularly seeing recommendations to eat at Pizza 4P’s (a clever take on ‘for peace’). The universe presented the restaurant to me the moment I walked out of the massage – so I simply crossed the street to see what all the buzz was about. One look at their website will do it better justice, but in short – they want to make the world smile for peace by delivering wow and sharing happiness. Part of how they do it, is with house-made cheese and various other farm-to-table efforts. In my opinion, they are definitely dealing in Wow! One of their signature pizzas is four cheese (remember, they make their own cheese) which includes mozzarella, Parmesan, Camembert, and blue cheese. When it was put in front of me, it came with a tiny pitcher of honey, and every bite was more amazing than the one before. The reputation and the hype is real people. I have a new favourite pizza, and it is seemingly randomly in Vietnam. Unfortunately they have a relatively small delivery radius.
Interviewed for Vietnamese TV: Like most surprises, it starts normally enough. Two of us decided to enjoy a vegetarian restaurant for a long, lazy lunch. To reach the front door of Vi Lai, we had to walk along a path next to a koi pond. The feeling of tranquility then extended throughout the restaurant. Lunch was clearly not their peak seating, as we had the second floor all to ourselves. We enjoyed soup, spring rolls, and papaya salad, and a lovely four flower tea. For dessert, we asked if we could sit on the first floor on one of the ‘lily pads’ – they had four tables within an interior koi pond. That’s where I had a magical bowl blending coconut and banana that was delicious and where we played with feeding the fish and watching them almost jump for fish food. This is also where we saw, on another lily pad, someone we imagined was a reporter or blogger sitting with friends doing an “I tried it” piece. After we paid our bill, and were on our way out, I was surprised when I came out of the bathroom, that a full camera was set up, and I was being asked if I would talk about my experience – with a woman who seemed to just appear, and looked everything like a professional talk show anchor. After some quick positioning – stand this way but look this way, and relax – a microphone was up and I was rambling about how much I enjoyed my lunch, some of my favourite dishes, the koi pond, and that I was definitely coming back. Then the bright light went off. And that was that. Crazy right?! When we indeed returned for another lunch, our waiter gave us an update that they weren’t sure when it was going to air, and he wanted to temper my expectations on whether my clip would be included – that just makes me smile thinking about it again. I doubt I will ever know if I was actually on Vietnamese television, but it’s fun just knowing it’s possible!
Vietnamese Women’s Museum: I have discovered my new favourite way to explore the history of a place! It is through the women’s stories of their lives and their contributions to the growth of their communities, to the war efforts, and to the culture. Hanoi has its fair share of museums, including a war museum, and a prison museum. But the second floor of the Vietnamese Women’s Museum taught me about female resistance fighters and leaders throughout the First Indochina War (French War) and the Second Indochina War (American War), and I had no desire to see the other museums. Add to that, the first floor that championed women’s roles and traditions over centuries (including matrilineal communities where girls inherit family wealth and the youngest girl is the most privileged, and the oldest woman has a decisive role in family affairs – why aren’t there more matrilineal societies in our world??) Then, the third floor was a full display of colour – with fashion through the centuries, including the elegant áo dài. I definitely needed more time in that place!
Tailored dress: I happily got pulled into a word-of-mouth experience. Step one, was going with a friend as she went to pick up a dress from a tailor. Leading up to step one, I heard about how the tailor looked at the existing piece that my friend wanted replicated, and took measurements. I heard about how the two of them went to a fabric market and picked some out. Now it was time to go see the final product, try it on, and get any necessary adjustments. I thought I was just tagging along. But once in this tiny closet of a shop, I started imagining what I would order….and my friend and the tailor started asking me guiding questions, and before I knew it, there was a sketch of a sundress to help in hot climates. I got measured. And we all piled in a Grab (local version of Uber) and I was suddenly overwhelmed by what looked like every fabric in the world, creating a rabbit warren of pathways between more vendors than I could count. Picking one actually didn’t take as long as I had initially worried. So step two, was to go to the tailor when it was ready – just a couple days later. And I had two other friends in tow…who were by this time more prepared than I was, and had their ideas ready, complete with photos. I had loosely heard that getting clothes made in Asia was inexpensive, easy, and quick. Well, I now have a tailor in Hanoi I can call anytime and she ships overseas!
While there were fun highs, Vietnam had its share of lows too….
Initial adjustment period: In our welcome/orientation session, our local team, with great awareness, shared that people are either A) excited and dive right in, or B) down and overwhelmed, and there isn’t much of an in between. Our initial adjustment period was further stressed by it being Tết, which I wrote about earlier, that had closed numerous restaurants and grocery stores. My head assumed with my optimistic and easy-going attitude, I would be in group A. My gut was still getting rid of malaria medication, was hungry with the obstacles to food, was wondering when laundry would ever air dry, and was cold because there was a snap drop in the temperatures and I struggled with the apartment’s thermostat controls. So I quickly landed firmly in group B. But it just takes talking about it to get comfort with others who are in the same boat. It was also easy to join the local team any and every time they proactively announced a coffee shop break or a group dinner, which helped me gradually recognize certain food words and see more of the city. The temperatures warmed up and the landlord set the controller himself to make sure the HVAC was perfect. If you had asked me in the first few days, I would have said that I wasn’t enjoying being in Hanoi. I now respect that some places just need an adjustment period. When the fog of the malaria medicine finally lifted by day 6, I felt a big smile on my own face (under a mask) as I rode on the back of a motorbike on a new adventure, knowing and looking forward to what I was going to have for lunch.
Virus uncertainty: It was February. China was right next door. I had access to lots of information, and as a group we stayed up to date and stayed steady. Through the month, the Vietnamese government closed or cancelled more and more public events which made sense to me. I never saw the famous Night Market. I never went inside the Opera House. I almost bought tickets to an Iliza Shlesinger show (random right?) but it was cancelled as I started to look for seats. The majority of tourists that Vietnam expects, come from China, but in February, no one was traveling across the border from China. Some roadside restaurants closed for lack of visitors – which made for some uncomfortable distances between pit stops on our road trips. The heartbreaker and brain twister was near the end of the month, seeing hand written signs on restaurants in Hanoi that said, in English, that “Chinese will not be served”. At that time, the virus was a health crisis predominantly in China. No restaurant wants to be tied to a health concern, be it E. coli or COVID-19. Still, to broadly exclude – who? Anyone who spoke a Chinese dialect or looked Chinese? – was the first direct expression I encountered of how fear about the mysterious virus could manifest in unusual and unsettling behaviour. Best I could grant them at the time is that they wrote the signs quickly and on impulse to keep their businesses running. I just hope those signs came down with more thought and awareness.
Vietnam’s highs seem particularly sweet, given it wasn’t easy at the start, and the world was beginning to unravel at the end. For now I am looking forward to visiting some Vietnamese restaurants in the future, though I know I will need to prepare myself for much higher prices than 35,000VND for sidewalk bun cha! (And I really hope they have kem xoi!)
