I think I should preface this entry by highlighting just how crazy of a place Hanoi is.
Everything is moving. Everything makes noise. Everything is alive.
Sometimes, just going out onto the street is jarring. The roads confuse you. The heat disorients you. The bikes overwhelm you.
It’s my second day here and I left my hostel with the intention of exploring outside the Old Quarter as I had yesterday. After walking along the Ho Hoan Kiem Lake, I looped around into the French Quarter of the city, aiming for a museum I’d spotted. Well, two hours of wandering have passed now and I haven’t found the museum but I’ve somehow ended up a six minute walk from my hostel, at Coffee Nang.
Like most places I write about, I stumbled upon Coffee Nang by chance. It’s on the second floor of a busy street corner with an entrance nestled between two street stalls that you’d be forgiven for missing, as I did. Once one of the vendors had moved her wares to grant me passage, I ventured down a narrow, barren concrete alley that was barely as wide as your shoulders. After a few twists and turns I was concerned I was in the wrong place, that was until two equally confused British lads appeared at the end of the corridor looking for the way out.
Once I’d ambled up the dilapidated concrete staircase and past the room that looked like the inside of your dad’s shed, I found Coffee Nang. A small pentagonal room painted a dusty yellow with maybe fifteen seats and a balcony that wraps the corner of the street.
I was greeted by the staff who asked where I wanted to sit, and of course, I elected for the balcony. Once I’d selected my pew, one of the staff came and took my order for a white Vietnamese coffee at a rate of 35,000 Vietnamese Dong (£0.99/1900₩). I usually only drink plain black coffee, but the sugary condensed milk they use here in Vietnam has got me hooked.
The coffee arrived in what felt like an instant and I sipped on it whilst overlooking the chaos of the street below. The headiness of the ground level had left me and I could see the city from a new perspective. I can only liken what I saw to the sea. Each road is a current flowing unceasingly in one direction. Each vehicle part of a never-ending school. Up here, I am the only static, with everyone passing by in moments, never for me to see again.
I got lucky with my visit here, in a way I sometimes do. Upon finishing my coffee, the heavens opened and lashed the streets for a good half an hour, providing me with the perfect excuse for a couple of Bia Saigon.
Part of me would be happy living up here. A little balcony hermit, masquerading as a fly on the wall, at peace and safe from the bedlam below. But alas, more adventures await, and there are more pockets for me to find.
Pockets 