Hanoi

Hanoi is awesome. Getting off the bus from Vinh, I was a little disappointed by the lack of obvious sights to see, or beautiful buildings... But this is just hidden behind some crazy neighborhoods and a bunch of cheap plastic signs. The city is full of narrow streets going in every direction. Every sidewalk is either covered in hundreds of parked scooters, or in street food stands with tiny tables and chairs made for 4 year olds. The tiny tables and chairs, are not just at some, or most street food stands, but at EVERY stand, along with most cheap restaurants. It is kinda fun, but also a little ridiculous eating with your knees over your food, and sitting 6 inches above the ground. The food is amazing, and cheap, but almost exclusively Pho, or Vietnamese noodle soup. We did our best to locate everything that wasn't Pho, but youhave to be really committed and very brave. Then you have to point at exactly what other people are eating, and explain that you don't want Pho!
We stayed in the old quarter on both our trips there. At first, the old quarter doesn't seem all that old or fantastic. The streets are really narrow, and very chaotic, filled with cheap lighted signs, tons of scooters, dirty food stands, not so special stores, and millions of power wires.
My favorite thing to do in the city, besides eating, was seeing Ho Chi Minhs body on display. Probably one of the strangest things i've ever done, the experience was entirely surreal. We were hurried in to the large marble mausoleum, and watched extra closely by the armed military guards in their best uniforms. Uncle Ho is lying in a glass case in a high ceilinged room, looking white as can be, and with extra long pointy fingers in an extremely Mr. Burns-esque manner. We were rushed through the room, and no cameras were allowed at all, so it was hard to get a real grip on what I saw, but I do know that it was strange, damn strange! There are rumors that he has been replaced with a fax model, madame tussards style, and I would say that those are extremely well founded. If he is real, then he definitely will not be brought back to life anytime soon, but probably more likely to be made in to a really fancy candle.
We saw the "hanoi hilton" and the hanoi hilton... I have pictures to prove it. It was surreal seeing where McCain was held for so long, and thinking that 30 years later, I was wandering around the streets outside with Mercedes and Gringos aplenty... and yes there is an actual Hanoi Hilton Hotel.
After our 3rd day of wandering around, and our second trip to the city, we finally found the fancy part of the city, or embassy area. This is the old French style I was expecting and is extremely nice. The area is really nice, and has some awesome bakeries, great parks, and some really cool old buildings that really bring you back to the Colonial days.
The old quarter is really cool, and if you can get past the obvious ugliness, and wander down some old alleys and look behind the plastic signs, you will see some really cool buildings, and get really experience the classic Hanoi. The city overall is tons of fun, and has lots of great sights and beautiful buildings. The traffic is truly awesome, and is a sight in itself. The food is great, cheap, and its really silly sitting in a chair for a 4 year old and eating some Pho with fresh hot peppers and a plate of mint leaves. Overall, Hanoi is the best city i've been in since Hong Kong or Beijing, has the best street food of maybe anywhere we've been so far, and is entertaining if doing nothing but just walking down the street!