Okay, we did a ton while in Hanoi with my parents and loved so much about the city, but when all is said and done, what we’re going to talk about the most down the road is the Sofitel Metropol hotel in which we stayed. We slept in a luxurious room filled with pillow menus and Hermes toiletries. We ate and had complimentary happy hour drink in the club level restaurant. We were catered to by our personal chefs. And we never wanted to leave the hotel. We know it sounds incredibly materialistic and that we should be excited about such different things in this incredible city, but we can’t help ourselves. This hotel was as good as it gets. We’ve been spoiled ever since Tony and Anna Marie showed up, and it hit a peak when we set our bags down, no, when our butler set our bags down in our heavenly room.
Our room's bath tub where Tania spent many a moment during our time at the Sofitel Metropol.
But we did do more while in Hanoi. We toured Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum (which was impeccably and tastefully done), the presidential grounds (which is probably the only yellow mansion to pull off that color so well), small but impressive pagodas, and the Hanoi Hilton, which is the prison where so many Americans were taken hostage, including John McCain during the war. Touring this jail now converted to a museum, we read the obligatory propaganda while looking at pictures of the horrific conditions these soldiers needed to endure, and also artifacts such as McCain’s flying suit in which he was captured over Lake Ho Tai. Our tour guide gave us a fascinating tour through the city.
Outside of Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.
Speaking of our tour guide, his name was Mr. Ein and he looked like he was about 16. In fact, though, he was 35, married, and lived with his family in his parents’ house because that is the duty of the youngest Vietnamese sibling to live with and care for the parents. He was the quietest of our tour guides, but as soon as we hit the Hanoi streets, he knew everybody that crossed our paths. Apparently he knew the entire city because he was raised and went to school here. He studied tourism, and did a hell of a job showing us his hometown.
In addition to enjoying one of Vietnam’s most treasured traditions of water puppetry, we also took a cooking class with famous French chef Didier Corlou, who is most well known for opening the restaurants at the Sofitel Metropol. He was since gone solo and opened his own place, Verticale. We met him and his wife at the restaurant, and he gave us a private tour of his favorite local market. After the ingredients were purchased, he passed us off to his wife who drove us to their private house about 30 minutes out of town. We weren’t happy about spending so much time in the car, but we forgot all about it when we walked through the gate into their incredible home. The mix of zen-like decorations and countryside furniture, chef Corlou’s wife taught us how to make dishes such as curry chicken skewers, bun cha, and fresh and fried spring rolls. We enjoyed our work over a nice glass of wine in their living room. It turned out to be an amazing experience, one that we hope to replicate soon by testing our newfound skills.
The rest of the group also went on a tour of the city via cyclo, which is a bike drawn carriage famous in these parts. I didn’t join them, instead opting for a nap, massage, and hair cut, but the report back was that they had a blast on the cyclos and exploring the inner parts of the city. Don’t worry, though, Tania and Anna Marie made up for lost time by booking a spa day of their own the day before. When you can get so much service done for such little money, it’s hard to pass up.
Momma cruisin' the town on a cyclo.
My mom’s tour group Cox and Kings made reservations for us at several trendy (for all the right reasons) restaurants where we enjoyed some of the best meals we had on the trip. Top notch every step of the way, which shed a whole new light on Hanoi versus the first time we were in the city and eating pho in corner holes in the wall. If you ever want to experience this city, or any city in the world for that matter, give Anna Marie a call because her taste and connections will never disappoint.
We only had a few days in Hanoi before taking off for Ha Long Bay, but we made the most of the time by learning how it’s always been done in this city, and how well it is done nowadays.
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