The early morning hours in Hanoi

Published: 12:00 Friday - December 21, 2012

A traveler finds himself facing the pre-dawn streets of Hanoi after a long train ride south from Sapa. An experience to enjoy or not?

Arriving at 4:45 in the morning is never a pleasant experience in any city. It is one of those lost hours of the day, when most are at the tail end of sleep or in much need of a well-earned rest from doing the jobs that require off schedules.

I arrived in Hanoi during this witching hour after a shaky train ride south from Lao Cai and was forced to start my day. A walk outside the dusty ghost town train station presented me with a few phở bình dân and coffee shops, inhabited by the sleepless crowd of no chatter and endless football television matches.

Taxis buzzed and flagged, and motorbikes sped off to sleep. Where to go? Tourists thumbed and stumbled through the pages of guide books over and over, looking for some solace in this empty hour.

I carried my pack into the foggy morning streets of Hanoi in search of a hidden lane with a 24 hour cafe/restaurant. I walked along the rails and looked around, but couldn’t find any street names I’d known before amidst the lifeless veins of the city which is bustling with activity during the day.

After a few wrong turns the street came upon me, and I settled into a morning cafe sữa đá waiting for the sun to come up. I slipped into the scene of smoky downstairs huddles, uncleared tables filled with empty bottles left by nighters from a few hours earlier.

When the sun rose higher in the sky, I decided to head to Hoan Kiem Lake. On the way I found the streets slowly coming to life with shoppers, walkers and various modes of transport. Then, coming from the Cathedral I was impressed by foot traffic around the Lake. It was time for morning exercise.

People of all ages walked around the perimeter; young buffs did push ups on the curbs, while old men and women bent side to side, back and forth, doing everything imaginable to increase body circulation.

Music played around every corner where women and men moved together to the beat, snapping fans, shaking hips and dancing in twos, while lines of parters slapped each others backs and muscles into motion. Bicycles coasted, rode and sped around the lake, dogs and their owners walked in unison, and Tai Chi practitioners moved with the motions of the breeze.

I joined the walkers with a pack on my back, and rode my cafe Sữa đá around the perimeter watching the city coming to life. My morning grog seemed hours away, the bad taste of early morning travel left my mouth, and I experienced a whole new side of Hanoi where there’s no boredom in the early morning hours.

Daniel Robbins - VOV online