Brief Encounters | What to do in Hanoi – Vietnam’s capital is an easy weekend break from Hong Kong
- A 60-minute flight whisks weekenders away to a city that is still demonstrably Asian rather than a cookie-cutter metropolis
- Top quality cuisine, artisanal crafts and many a photo opportunity ensure wanderlust is sated
Where to stay
Presumably there’s a city ordinance decreeing that any Hanoi hotel aspiring to hipness must include one of the following in its official names: boutique, legend, trendy, apricot. Sarkyness aside, it’s quite a good rule of thumb for picking out short-stay accommodation.
Heritage buffs won’t need to be told about the Metropole – opened at the turn of the 20th century and since restored well beyond its former glory – there’s air-con for a start. The new wing is OK but a tad ho-hum, the original quarters have scarcely changed since Charlie Chaplin made the bedsprings squeak here in 1936 on what he and Paulette Goddard gave out was their honeymoon. The list of other celebrity guests reads like a telephone directory.
Where to shop
The artisan still comes some way ahead of the factory owner pumping out “Vietnamerie” en masse. The wonder is that handicrafts survived saturation bombing a mere half-century ago.
Silk is an obvious starting point, though not everyone has the grace, style and bone structure to wear an áo dài. Delicate hand embroidery is something everybody can agree on, ditto paper products made from wild plants that grow on river banks. Lacquerware and bamboo handicrafts perform that delicate balancing act between practical and cute. Best deal is the ethnic minority products, especially textiles.
For anyone who is havering, though, ask yourself seriously what you could possibly do with a conical hat at home.