Finding the sophisticated metropolis

On my fourth day in Hanoi, I started getting more used to the traffic and crossing the streets felt like part of the tourism sport. In general, I strated liking the city a bit. And more was to come. I had read an interesting article on the New York Times about the contemporary art scene in Hanoi, "The Awakening of Hanoi", and I was inspired to look at some bits of this awakening. I followed my dorm mate's advice and visited Mai Gallery and Apricot Gallery. I have to admit, I was impressed. For 3000 dollars you could buy some pretty great paintings (next door they were being copied by lesser talents). I especially fell in love with Nguyen Van Cuong's powerfully coloured paintings of Vietnamese women.

My art tour was followed by an espresso (oh, it felt good: even though Vietnam is a huge coffee producer, the coffee here is extremely sweet, almost tasting like hot chocolate, the Italian coffee snob in me speaking again) in a little coffee house, La Place, next to St. Joseph's cathedral. The neighbourhood around the church gave me a glimpse of that sophisticated Hanoi some articles were writing about. I was sitting next to three local hipsters that really caught my attention with their cool clothes and fashionable hair styles. I started talking with them. It turned out that one of the guys, Nick (right in the photo), was actually a fashion designer himself and sold his clothes in La Cage, in the very expensive neighbourhood close to the opera (he's photos are all over La Cage's website). Perhaps, an avantguard of Vietnamese fashion. Nick had lived in London and spoke perfect English with a Brittish accent. I felt bad in my crappy traveller's clothes. I quite didn't understand before arriving here that Hanoi is actually a capital just like any other, and as in London or Paris, people don't walk around in trekking shoes but girls are wearing high heels of 10 cm. Nick however noticed my Marimekko bracelet and with a sparkle in his eyes admitted that he was a big fan of the Nordic design (maybe I pushed it a bit though...).

Mausoleum.

Contemporary art, espresso, and local fashion designer, not all that bad for getting into Hanoi's sophisticated side. Well, let's not exaggerate, I also visited Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, one of the creepiest tourist site's ever and got into the socialist side of Vietnam as well. After queuing for one hour in a strict order kept by many soldiers in their white costumes, I spent 20 seconds around HCM's body (not that I had wanted to contemplate the waxy body any longer). I was almost laughing out loud; the idiot stuff you need to do when you're a tourist... Next to the mausoleum, there's also a museum dedicated to HCM. It's only slightly less weird than the mausoleum but definitely worth a visit. It's quite unlike any other museum I've visited. On display were many installations and documents that introduced HCM's ideas and achievements to the visitor mostly in a very symbolic level. It was socialist propaganda in almost a cute format that made it feel very unreal.

Ho Chi Minh.

The text for this weird display read: "The symbols of nature in its beauty contrasted with industrial plants in this hall represent Uncle Ho's expectation that Young People shoulder the reponsibility for the protection and preservation of peace and the environment, and prevention of aggressive and destrucive wars." Well said, even though the Alice in the Wonderland kind of a display is pretty funny.

Sharing

Toilettes in the National Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi. A view that was maybe even sligthly more interesting than the water puppet show.

Hanoi Rocks?

For a limited period, this blog turns into "Great Escape" as I'm travelling in South-East Asia celebrating the end of my PhD thesis.

I left Finland's extremely cold and snowy weather on 29 December. At the airport I had a glass of prosecco (in memory of Florence); I was so happy to leave Europe and my thesis behind that I had to hold the tears coming. During my second prosecco I talked with a Finnish man living in Shanghai for the last 13 years and we contemplated the advantages of travelling alone. Later in Hanoi, I met others travelling alone and others admiring those going solo (or maybe they just pity us). It is quite liberating and relaxing to travel alone, and the Vietnamese are happy to chat and help you around, so there's no need to feel lonely. Instead, I feel that I'm more open to things happening around me and I can more easily immerse to my surroundings.

In the airplane, I watch Eat, Pray and Love and I feel I'm not part of the target audience. I almost envy the Korean guy in front of me watching an action flick with Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone (I guess). My mind is wondering away from Julia Roberts' monotone narrating: maybe I should have gone to Bali as well, and hey, I certainly don't have that kind of fancy hippie clothes with me, and why is she meditating with full make-up anyway. Julia Roberts' 'finding herself' -trip ends with her falling in love. How disappointing! Well, it is Javier Bardem, but still. I wonder how her trip would have ended if she wasn't extremely pretty, and in general, should this kind of soul-searching involve something else than finding a handsom lover? Would Clint Eastwood's Marlboro-man type of a guy settle with just falling in love or would he continue alone, trying to find out what it means to be a human being in a desert/jungle/Indian meditation centre for Americans, breaking women's hearts but not compromising his higher objectives. In short, I felt disappointed with the story ending with a typical romance, maybe the feminist inside me woke up again with this traditional structure of woman finding the solution (or the sense of life) in a man.

Well, back to my great escape (not including any yoga or meditation). I arrived to Hanoi, Vietnam, three days ago. First impressions: pollution, pollution and chaotic traffic. I felt like I want to move on immediately. The traffic is like the end of a football game in Campo di Marte, Florence, when hundreds of motorinos hit the streets simultaneously. Except that here it's ten times worse. I've never seen so many scooters at once. It's almost hilarious. Except when you want to cross the road, when you're spelling "schaisse" in your mind and hoping they would have even the slightest respect for the pedestrians. They don't. The sidewalks are parked full of motorinos, so you need to walk on the road and cover your mouth and nose in order to avoid the worst fumes. The locals seem to be glued on their scooters and there are hardly other pedestrians than the exhausted tourists. I've seen locals sleeping, having their coffee and reading newspapers on their motorino. And of course, it seems safer than stepping down and walking.

Like most hotels, also my hostel is in the Old Quartier of Hanoi. The streets are full of locals going on with their daily business and the tourists wearing their khaki shorts trying to figure out how to cross the street safe. Closer to the opera house, I spot a Gucci and Louis Vuitton stores (where there is LV, there is capitalism: where there is McDonalds, there is democracy, so far I have only spotted a KFC so don't know about the latter here, and for example Facebook is blocked so I don't think we can talk about advanced democracy to say the least). This modern side of Hanoi has received a lot attention in the few articles I've read about Hanoi: "Vietnam's capital has experienced extraordinary growth over the last two decades, evolving from a grim, famine-ravaged place into a sophisticated metrpolis with high-rises, sensational cuisine and world-class art", writes The New York Times, and in another article: "Instead of being a squalid third world capital struggling to recover from years of war and isolation, it is a stylish European-influenced metropolis with manicured lakeside promenades, tree-lined boulevards, ancient pagodas and French-colonial building painted in palette of jade, turquoise and burgundy."

I'm not sure if I can sign all that. For sure, Hanoi is no longer a third world capital but it is still far from being a sophisticated metropolis, if only for the traffic. There seems to be considerable middle-class eating nicely in the restaurants and driving big cars. Lots of men wear business suits (those silk ones that make them look like Chinese mafiosos) and women are dressed with care, though the style is closer to that found in Parisian banlieus with lot of glitter and cheap tight materials rather than smart-casual style. At the same time, at least in the centre, you can't really see poverty, nobody is begging on the streets and you don't need to feel like a rich Western voyeur. In comparison to Egypt for example, there's much less haggling and people let you go around without forcing you to buy things or give money. Everybody seems to be busy working - or driving. Older men are playing with Chinese cards in the park (one had long white hair, a fabulous tweed jacket and Woody Allen glasses, I guess he didn't understand how fashionable he was), kids are waiting for a bus to take them to school, women are cooking in the outdoor restaurants and surprisingly many are taking their wedding photos in the parks.

It's my first time in Asia, so obviously I'm interested in pretty much everything and it is funny how so many of those cliches are true: the huge burdens carried around with motorinos, women with their conical hats, locals sitting on those tiny plastic chairs and having delicious lunch. But Hanoi is too hectic, noisy and bad for your health (after 3 days spent here, I guess I've shortened my life by 2 months just by inhaling the pollution, it's like smoking constantly), I'm looking forward to getting to the mountains in the North of Vietnam. But one thing I have enjoyed greatly is this incredible food (coming soon in this blog... with some photos).