Digital Wanderer

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Vietnam — 18, A Day in Hanoi

2011-06-12

The next day, Thuy kindly offered to take us downtown, to show us Hanoi.

A man holds an open green gift box of Haiyih brand oolong tea, lined inside with golden fabric. Inside are a tin of tea and individual packets, one of which the person is holding in their hand.

This is some kind of mega-tea, he gifted us three packets, it's delicious. Oolong.

The courtyard of a traditional Asian temple with a tiled roof and carved ridge, surrounded by neatly trimmed trees and decorative potted plants. Sunlight falls through the leaves of the trees, casting shadows on the paved square in front of the building. 

Quan Thanh Temple

An 11th-century Taoist temple. Not far from here, the senator and Republican candidate McCain was shot down, if anyone knows him. The temple is full of excellent bronze statues, and martial arts classes are held here. Usually, though, people just come in to pray for good luck, especially on the lunar new year, or during a full moon/new moon.

In the center — a sitting gray stone statue of an elephant with tusks, a trunk, adorned with a collar and a bell hanging from the trunk. In front of the statue is a pot with incense sticks, and in the background, lush greenery and part of a traditional temple building are visible.

An elephant Smoldering yellow incense sticks with white ash on the tips and a thin trail of smoke against the blurred background of a stone statue and greenery.

A large bronze censer with many burning yellow incense sticks emitting smoke stands in the foreground. Red and gold carved doors and elements of the temple's interior are visible in the background.

The smoke is billowing

Inside the temple, incense is stacked in bundles; you can just grab some and stick them in a pot. You leave the money yourself, tossing it onto a mountain of other bills, or you can donate it into a box.

 An information stand with text in English under the heading "THE TRAN VU TEMPLE" and two photographs of the temple complex on the right.

There's text in English too, very civilized

In the courtyard of a Buddhist temple, a young woman places smoking incense into a large bronze censer. Lush green trees and a carved dragon panel on the wall are visible in the background. 

She's got one hell of a broom

A wide city street with motorcycles and cars against a backdrop of classic architecture buildings, including one with a dome and an orange flag, under a clear blue sky. 

The opera house is nearby

Several people are sitting or squatting on wide steps in front of a large light-yellow building with columns. In the background, a large purple banner advertising an event in Vietnamese is visible.

People sitting on the steps for some unknown reason A bronze statue of Lý Thái Tổ in traditional robes towers in the center of a spacious paved square. It is surrounded by lush trees and shrubs, city buildings are visible in the background, and several people are strolling across the square under a clear blue sky.

Lý Thái Tổ

Lý Thái Tổ was what you'd call a badass. He founded a new dynasty and became a monarch despite being of common descent (he seized power, simply put). He founded Hanoi and moved the capital there in 1010, meaning Hanoi turned 1000 years old in 2010. Then the guy (who had been a Buddhist novice in his childhood) made Buddhism the state religion and showered them with cash. That wasn't enough for him, so he demanded the Chinese stop treating his lands (a chunk of Vietnam) as a Chinese province, and treat it as a vassal kingdom instead. The Chinese backed down, surprisingly enough. Lý also carried out a bunch of reforms, including tax reform, achieving stability and some prosperity for the land he ruled (Đại Việt).

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The weather was hot, 28-34, and muggy once again

Close-up of a bright pink adenium flower with five petals and an orange center against a blurred background of branches.

 

 Low-angle view through thick green foliage, with one large speckled leaf in the foreground, against a blurred park landscape and blue sky. A lake with greenish water, partially hidden by overhanging tree branches. Two flower beds with pink flowers float on the water, while city buildings, lush greenery, and a pagoda with a red flag are visible on the far shore.

Hoan Kiem Lake

Hanoi has very few skyscrapers and a whole lot of lakes, which is weird for a metropolis. But nice. According to legend, Emperor Le returned a magic sword to the golden turtle god, and since then the lake has been called the Lake of the Returned Sword. The latter, rumor has it, is still resting in the lake. Don't know about the sword, but turtles do seem to live there, albeit not many.

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Spiral incense

A richly decorated red altar with gold patterns and characters, crowded with many ritual offerings. On it are vases with yellow and white flowers, fruit, a censer with spiral incense, banknotes, and a dark crane statuette.

A general view, cash just lying around

Red apples and orange oranges are piled up on a tray, with banknotes scattered between them. White flowers and green exotic fruits are visible in the background.

And fruit

 A young man lights incense at an ancient stone altar. Engraved characters, burning candles, and offering bowls are visible on the altar, with thick greenery behind it.

A hundred thousand tons of incense burned

A rectangular floating flower bed with green plants on the surface of a lake with greenish water. In the background, city buildings are visible behind a line of trees, and overhanging branches frame the shot from above.

A garden bed on the water

Two yellow plastic trash cans with the URENCO logo are mounted on a metal stand in a park by the water. A person sitting on the shore in a black T-shirt is visible in the background.

Trash cans look like this

A metal public toilet stall with a "WC" sign and a poster in Vietnamese, set up in a park behind a low metal fence. In the right foreground, a dark motorcycle is parked against a backdrop of green trees.

This kind of toilet

Two women in protective helmets, masks, and long-sleeved clothing are sitting on scooters or standing next to them on a city street on a sunny day. Tall trees and buildings with shops are visible in the background.

Spider-Man SWAT team

The yellow colonial-style building of the Hanoi People's Court, photographed through a black metal fence grate. An inscription in Vietnamese and an electronic LED sign with glowing red text are visible on the facade.

The bureaucrats have it civilized

 An old, shabby yellow wall with sharp shards of glass along the top edge, behind which a modern multi-story building rises under a blue sky.

The fence is thoughtfully decorated with broken glass. I think it's more against birds than thieves

 The entrance to a clothing store with a large red sign "TOLIA SHOP" and an additional oval plaque "SHOP "TOLYA"". Rows of various clothing and mannequins are visible behind the glass storefronts.

Here is this kind of store

Here, probably, it's time to talk about the bootleg clothing industry in Vietnam. It's no secret that thanks to cheap labor and the diligence of Asians, many Western clothing and shoe brands moved their production to Asia long ago, particularly to Vietnam. At first, lovers of cheap stuff had it good — theft and the production of "bootleg" copies were poorly controlled, and anyone could snag as much as they wanted. But years passed, and these operations were shut down. As you can see, though, not all of them. And the burning question of the day is this: is the stuff currently being sold everywhere in Vietnam as North Face, Columbia, or Deuter carefully crafted knockoffs, or originals stolen from the factory?

Some clarity is brought here by the fact that they steal "second quality" stuff from the factories — things with minor defects, like a button sewn half a centimeter lower, a decorative stripe of the wrong shade, etc. Usually, such goods are supposed to be destroyed or sold in the West with appropriate labeling. It's easy to believe that they're being smuggled out and sold on the streets in Vietnam, especially considering that the sizes are always "potluck". If the goods were fake, there wouldn't be any issues with sizes. Then again, far from the entire assortment is available — for example, there are no North Face membrane pants, while there are tons of jackets; this also confirms their legitimacy.

So, it seems the truth is out there somewhere — obviously, they sell both knockoffs and originals. The only question is how to tell which is which.

The store in the photo above is the famous "Tolya", located in the Hanoi Towers mall. It positions itself as selling only second quality/deadstock, and not fakes. Prices are one and a half times higher than in Sapa, so if you're ever in Sapa, it's better to stock up there. I bought a winter membrane North Face jacket at "Tolya" for 90 bucks, a thin Nike jacket for 30, and trekking socks — don't remember for how much anymore. Attention! On the streets of Hanoi (unlike Sapa) you're more likely to buy a fake than in a shop like "Tolya".

 A row of colorful jackets and outerwear hangs on hangers on a metal crossbar. Behind the clothing, against an orange wall, part of a person's head with dark hair is visible.

The saleswoman dozed off among the clothes

Traditional red lanterns with characters are suspended under the wooden canopy of a yellow building with decorative carved doors. 

 

A light-colored card-operated telephone booth with an open door is located on a street in Vietnam. Inside the booth, a phone with a handset and keypad is visible; green trees and parked motorcycles are in the background. 

Lebedev-style

A busy hardware store under a blue awning, with walls completely covered in tools, locks, and metal parts. Two people stand at the entrance, and a scooter is parked in front. 

I haven't seen any massive warehouse stores in Hanoi, tools are sold on the streets, just like everything else

A narrow, semi-dark corridor with peeling walls and sections of exposed brickwork. Numerous wires and pipes run along the left wall, and a faint light source is visible deep in the passageway.

 

 A large clear bag filled with many thick, rolled-up pieces of brown bark, resembling cinnamon sticks. Two bright food packages and a gray tiled floor are visible in the background.

Cinnamon?

 IMG_6143 Plastic bags with dried traditional medicine ingredients: a bunch of seahorses in the center, small pieces and a tag with the number 10 on the left, ginseng roots on the right.

 

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Backpacks

I should specifically mention backpacks. The prices for them are dirt cheap (if you haggle), but the sizes on them are slapped on randomly, which rather proves they're fakes. The build quality looks quite high. I bought myself a 70-80 liter backpack for $25 (hard to tell the exact size), we'll see how it holds up. Back home in Latvia, one like this costs 100-120 Ls, which is 200-250 dollars. It's frustrating that many Vietnamese and tourists walk around with North Face and Deuter backpacks for $10. I was walking around with a Deuter too — but a real one, for 60 pounds, which is almost $100 at that exchange rate, meaning ten times more expensive! And visually there's no difference. I'm no fashionista or brand fanboy, of course, but it leaves a sour taste.

Above the entrance to a building is a sign "Democracy Hotel" with the name written in a decorative font on a black background. Below, on the glass doors, the red letters "HOTEL DEMOCRACY", reflections of trees, and part of a "SINH CAFE" sign are visible. 

Exploiting Western trends and cliches, I approve

A woman in a white polka-dot blouse squats on the street, sorting stacks of ritual paper money imitating US dollars and other bills.

Souvenir fake money

 Bowls with various ingredients for an Asian dessert are arranged on a table: dark syrup, white tapioca pearls, black jelly, sweet beans, and colorful fruit cubes. A glass with spoons and containers with toppings stand nearby.

Eating

 A bright yellow and blue bus stop sign in Vietnamese, surrounded by lush green tree leaves and a bright sky. A bus icon and route numbers are visible on the sign.

Bus stop design

A view of the interior of a Vietnamese dental clinic through a glass door with the words "CHINH RANG" and arrows written in large letters. Inside, dental chairs with equipment, cabinets with supplies, and promotional posters featuring a smiling woman and teeth are visible.

The dentist drilling in plain sight

 Several slices of white baguette on a bright green plate against a dark background.

Bread from my favorite steakhouse

Grilled meat served on a white plate with fried plantains on a bed of fresh lettuce, complemented by tomato slices, broccoli, and garnished with onion rings.

This is what the steak looks like

 Two smiling men, one of Asian descent in an Armani Exchange T-shirt, the other a European in glasses and a Livestrong T-shirt, stand next to each other in a room that looks like a cafe or restaurant.

The manager, very welcoming

 A busy kitchen scene with two chefs in blue shirts cooking food over an open flame and on stoves under metal hoods. Around them are many pans, ingredients, and kitchen utensils.

The cooking process (the dudes were getting mad that I was in their way)

In the evening we went to the "Kira" cafe, which you're already familiar with, and got wasted there on cocktails at a lat ($2) apiece, and also gorged ourselves on ice cream. Blue Hawaiian, B-52, Kira Sunrise and other yummy stuff. However, I'm currently going through another alcohol-free phase, and I think it's for a long while this time.

 A bright green cocktail in a martini glass, garnished with a pineapple slice and a lime zest spiral, against a dark blurred background.

 A layered drink in a tall glass: a red bottom layer, a white middle layer, and a frothy top layer. The glass is decorated with a long spiral lime zest, a pink stir stick, and a bright pink curly straw.

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