Day 4–Evening in Hanoi

One of the gifts FlashPack provides is free time. I didn’t know if I would love unstructured time, but Vietnam has felt very safe and finding time with my new friends has been delightful. Tonight, the ladies set out together. Roxana did the research and used Google Maps to guide us. We started toward the river.

You’ve never seen Vespas like in Vietnam. They fly down the street and provide incredible versatility—the record I’ve seen is five on one Vespa!

The people gravitated toward the water. Swan boats filled the scene while others walked from store to store. Others enjoyed the park areas. As we walked across the bridge I noticed dead fish. They popped up everywhere. Concerned, I later asked Lee about it. He stated that, yes, pollution exists but also the flooding caused things to sweep down stream that would aid in the fish’s demise.

Our main goal was to return to Train Street. We passed our hotel and Andy joined us. He decided to stop in to a Michelin rated restaurant, so Kirsten joined.

Roxana, Corell, and I continued to our goal. We walked and walked and walked. GPS took us through the Sunday bazaar in the streets. Tables lined up in the middle of the streets as vendors hawked their wares. Corell purchased a water bottle for around $5. Returning to the GPS…it did not direct us to Train Street.

We knew we had walked too far, so we started back. Google Translate and pictures of Train Street helped. We walked a few blocks then stopped to ask. Fingers pointed the way we had come. Repeatedly we asked. Repeatedly fingers kept pointing. Finally, we arrived!

We sat at the tables and ordered drinks. Mango smoothie has become my drink of choice. Delicious mango blended with milk makes for a soothing, delightful drink.

As we sat to wait for the train, we discovered an Australian family sitting next to us. We struck up a conversation and found the college-aged girl has been enjoying a gap year. Her mother and brother came to visit in the midst of her travels. The daughter stays in hostels where she organizes groups within the hostels to explore certain areas together. Then, they move on to the next destination.

The train had not arrived yet, and we had made dinner reservations at the Michelin Star restaurant Mam Mom. As we started to leave the woman at the restaurant encouraged us to stay. She then called the restaurant for us and arranged a later reservation, so we could stay. In addition she called us a Grab (Vietnam version of Uber), so we could enjoy the train again. Her customer service skills flew off the charts!

So, here’s night 2 of the train:

We reveled in the experience then rushed to the street for our Grab. Within minutes we arrived to Mam Mom. We entered the lobby and quickly found ourselves in the elevator to floor four. Andy and Kirsten were finishing up as we walked in. They raved over the food.

We ordered a five course meal. It started with soup, then salad. We moved to shrimp wraps and then the most delicious tiger shrimp. We ended with a hot pot filled with vegetables and beef. Each step of the way our taste buds danced! The food surpassed my expectations.

One of my favorite experiences happened in this restaurant. A young boy came over to us and said “Hi” in perfect English. I asked if he spoke English, and he concurred. This opened up a discussion. I asked him to teach me a word in Taiwanese. He said the word for lion! I then showed him my African Safari pictures of lions. We became fast friends. His family enjoyed my interaction, and our conversation only stopped when we began to eat.

So, biking to explore started the day. Walking to explore ended the day. I slept knowing my day had been practically perfect!