Not long after the National Day festivities (only two days later, in fact) it was time for an event I'd been looking forward to in anticipation for some time: Zach coming to visit! I may have a few pictures of Zach on here from my Chile days, as we met and bonded over our mixed feelings towards certain aspects of our experiences and shared love of pichangas while volunteer teaching there. Zach arrived bright and early in the morning and I am proud to say I figured out (with only a few mishaps) how to catch the bus to the airport to pick him up. With my A3 poster made on ILA's dime I made my way out to the airport to greet him. He was, understandably, very jetlagged. But he was (and is!) also a trooper. So after dropping his things at my house we headed out to get him some bún chả at a great local place on Ngọc Hà. As for Zach's inital impressions of Vietnam, well, I can at least say that it was apparent immediately that the country of Vietnam is not made for someone of Zach's stature (6'6").
First mouthful of bún chả. I promised not to put this on Facebook but I made no such promises about documenting this momentous occasion on my blog. Mmmm... bún chả.
We made our way on the bus over to Hoan Kiem Lake (I really wanted him to have the full Hanoi experience!) and I finally took a moment to photograph this amazing billboard across the street from the bus stop, which I see every day on my way to work and which is one of the better pieces of propaganda of all the ones I see around Hanoi.
After showing him the sights we decided to something I can't believe I haven't done before now considering how very popular of a tourist site it is: cross the Welcome Morning Sunlight Bridge (real name), otherwise known as Cầu Thê Húc and visit the Temple of the Jade Mountain, or Đền Ngọc Sơn. By this point Zach was getting a little delirious and by the next day I am not entirely sure he remembered this visit taking place but I still enjoyed myself so here we go!
Across the bridge (which just goes from the shore to about 20 feet out into the lake) and in front of the temple entrance. Zach is so ridiculously tall. This point will be reinforced many times throughout my writings about his visit, I am sure. As we walked around the city the cries of, "Oi gioi oi! [Oh my God!]" could be heard by various shocked onlookers.
Turtoises are a big deal in Vietnam and especially in this lake.
Inside the temple.
Outside in the courtyard, looking out onto the lake.
Tháp Rùa, or Turtle tower, in the distance.
By the time we finished wandering around the little island and made our way back across the bridge and into Old Quarter Zach's jetlag was well and truly winning so I decided it was time to introduce him to Vietnamese coffee, despite his protests of disliking coffee. I decided to go for the big name stuff and took him to the Highlands Coffee next to the lake, which has a great view of the hustle and bustle of the street and the comparative peace of the lake. Normally the place is a little overpriced and Starbucks-y for my tastes (although for those interested, Hanoi does in fact have 3 Starbucks as well) but it was a nice, gentle introduction to the wonders of cà phê.
Zach went for cà phê sữa đá, or iced coffee with condensed milk. Good choice for the casual, non-coffee drinker. I went for đen đá, or black and iced, because this wild heart cannot be tamed. He also got a hold of my camera. Chaos ensued.
After refueling with coffee we were feeling a little turbo so we walked around Old Quarter for a bit, checking out some propaganda poster shops and the general melee that is the most touristy but also probably one of the coolest parts of the city.
Zach was flagging again so I asked him if he'd mind taking the long way home, as the bus would eventually deposit us about 10 minutes from my house but not before giving a little tour of some of the districts farther west in Hanoi. Zach hesitantly agreed, probably not realizing the extent we would be bussing, and I jumped on that so once again we were off! Thankfully we managed to sit down in the back of the bus so people started but not as bad as they would on later bus rides where were standing and Zach's height was quite obvious. Ah well.
An interesting spot down one of the alleys near my house. I'm fairly sure, after the barest bit of research, that these are advertisements for concrete vendors.
We spent the rest of his first day relaxing at my house. We had an early day the next day, off to Ha Long Bay for the weekend on then making our way down into Cambodia and Thailand. But more on that next time!
Accidental emo livejournal photos are the best.
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