Coming from Hong Kong where things are -in a way- hectic, Hanoi my first stop seems city-less...in the greatest way possible.
There is everything you need ATMs, fancy food, street food and a beautiful promenade. Why is it city-less then? because I have a feeling that lately cities translate to shopping and you Hanoi you are not shopping oriented you are good-food oriented. What do I mean by that? Simple: no McDonalds nor Starbucks.
You get not one but TWO thumbs up and a freaking highfive too!
I want to eat Vietnam, everything there is, all the things I see make me want to be hungry. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case. I eat and then keep making lists of the things I want to eat next. I wait until I get hungry and then proceed but how I wish I could eat everything I see, on the spot and then move on to another spot and keep eating.
From the little I've seen this city revolves around food. My true love and by the way Heinz did suggest I get another hobby that is not eating. I -very politely- declined. It's not a hobby I'm collecting information for my personal theory.
I do think, anthropologically speaking, that you can get to know a culture by its food. That is what I told Heinz when he came up with that silly comment. My theory is that people connect through food. You can tell what events are considered important and what is worthy of a celebration which kind of always means cooking a special meal. The different types of foods, types of restaurants, who eats where, who eats what, who eats first, who doesn't eat it all can tell you the way a society is structured. Think about it, you can even tell a countryies' economy by the price of a cup of coffee.
Hanoi was short but emotionally overwhelming. I did occasionally tear up because I had a mix of contradictory emotions that I'm still trying to figure out. First, there was the feeling of longing something. It seems to be that I feel so far away from what I call home which is weird because I'm actually maxed out on El Salvador right now, so I don't understand why I feel this way. Then there is that sense of belonging. Vietnam has made me feel the way few specific places do. I don't believe in reincarnation but why is that I feel so at home here? why is it that sometimes we feel we are part of a place we've never been to?
My aunt once told me a story. She told me there is a belief that when you are born your first cry breaks up into pieces. Those pieces travel to different places in the world and stay there. This is why you may feel you've been in a certain place before even though you haven't.
Coming from a family broken up by migration there is something about traveling, moving, nomads and resettling that will always interest me.
Anyways back to the food, luckily I still have 4 more days to go which multiplied by 3 make a total of 12 meals. As my 3 year old nephew would say: Oh oh trouble!
I need more than 12!
Next stop Hoi An.
PS. When in Hanoi a visit to Ha Long bay is a must.