Hanoi was that day the most polluted city in the world. My throat was burning, it was like I was constantly walking behind an old truck.

– It’s because of the weather, city traffic and… he hesitated a bit, China.

I was staring at his phone showing on red AQI 170. Better than Hanoi were Katmandu, Beijing, Chiang Mai, Mumbai, Dhaka…the champions of poisoned air.

I was doing a free city tour conducted by a Vietnamese student who was using this job to practice English. His wish was to study in Japan next year. But until then, he was showing me his home city, Hanoi.

The city looked alive. In a profound contrast to how I found it the night before. After midnight Hanoi is emptying it streets and closing all restaurants and shops behind roll up storefront grilles.

The night before

When the taxi stopped on that street in Old Quarter I was so afraid the host from the guesthouse won’t open the door and I will sleep in the street.

In desperation I started knocking the grills. All quiet around…no sign of anyone awake. I insisted and thank God a voice finally answer from inside. The grilles have been rolled up and I steped in. Before I acomodate my eyes with the light inside I saw three large dogs coming toward me barking. Damn, I made a step back…. But my host was there and started talking to them and even convinced me I won’t be bitten. I wasn’t that sure, these three were huge and angry. How the hell I will live here with the beasts for the next days, I thought…

I excuse myself repeatedly for the late hour and once in my room I felt like home, all was spotless clean and cozy.

The next morning, the dogs, two huge white Akita and a white stray female didn’t even look at me as I passed by then. My heart was not so calm though. But in the following days we got from this to me stepping over them as they were sleeping all over the floor all the time. All the attention I got was a slightly open eye… they were adorable. I remember one day I was sitting on the couch, talking with the father of the family. All three of them came to me to sniff around. I was not afraid anymore and I wanted to pet them and play with them but a no, please from the father was the sign they wanted to keep these dogs as guarding dogs not cuddling dogs.

In the first morning, when I went out from the guesthouse it felt like I was in another city, not the one I arrived the night before. Restaurants with tile floor and plastic tables with little stools around, all the same maybe just different colours from a a restaurant to another. I stood still and just looked around me: Hanoi was alive! People cooking, people cleaning, people opening their stores, rushing on foot or riding bikes with large baskets with vegetables, fruits or flowers while wearing their iconic conical hats. It was the Vietnam I imagined.

Soon I met my guide for the free walking tour.

We started… in French style, with Hanoi Opera House. This reminder of the French colonial times, modelled after the Palais Garnier in France, gave me a feeling of teleportation in Europe. But the motorbikes rushing around brought back the local Vietnamese feel.

Ngọc Sơn Temple, accessed by the crimson Thê Húc Bridge, sits on Hoan Kiem Lake – Lake of the Returned Sword. The name comes from a 15th century legend about a turtle god. And south from the temple sits Turtle Tower, dedicated to this mystic divinity. In that cloudy day, staring at the murky waters of the lake, the crimson bridge surrounded by mist, still having in mind the two huge stuffed turtles that once resided in the lake, now kept in glass cabinets nearby… I was in a state where I could fully believe any legend.

Trần Quốc Pagoda is Hanoi’s oldest pagoda, rises high on an islet in West Lake. It is believed it was built 1,400 years ago, so this means it is older than Hanoi! So how came? It was transported here in the 17th century to protect it from the flood damage. With the amount of rain I saw those days in Vietnam…no wonder! This is also why all the temples have steps and a high wooden doorstep, to keep water outside.

We remained in the past for the next stop: an Ancient House, on Ma May Street. Stepping back in time, in late-19th-century Hanoi and see how a wealthy family lived back then was incredible. I felt instantly absorbed by the past, forgetting the present once I stepped inside. Every piece of furniture, every decoration object, every cup of tee, all beautifully crafted, sent you in the past. I walked the two floors of the house, the central courtyard, the small mezzanine. The small courtyard in the middle of the house was my dream place of the house, decorated with bonsais, a drinking table, with the open sky serving as a roof, to watch the clouds and the stars. Just imagine seeing 19th century Hanoi! Even a glimpse of it is a gift.

Next I served a big dose of local street art on Phung Hung Mural street. Each of the murals on this 200m long wall are showcasing a fracture of the city’s long standing history, folklore and locals activities. And not to mention, the instagrammable value of the place…

Speaking of value, Temple of Literature is where students come nowadays to pray for good luck at their exams. Founded in 1070 by emperor Ly Thanh Tong to worship Confucius, after it became the first university of Vietnam. Until the colonial times, for over 700 years, hundreds of students studied here. Inside the large structure lies the temple itself with, of course, a high wooden doorstep and a beautiful shrine inside with plates with huge Buddha’s hand fruits. I never saw this lemon with fingers fruit before, that is believed to bring good fortune in Asian beliefs and is used as an offering.

A calligraphy master writing calligraphy in the digital age is something like a balm for the soul and a bliss for the eye. In a hidden corner, facing a yard full of bonsai trees, with no one around but silence, it was this gentleman surrounded by beautifully black painted letters.

My last image of the Temple of Literature that day was a group of graduates having their photo taken in this full of significance place, a true temple of education.

Back to the street, I mean… Train Street, cause Hanoi has that too! Placed in the Old Quarter, this is the gathering point for social media fans/freaks and the rest of the tourists/travellers that arrive in Hanoi. Leaving all aside, it’s a cool place just because not every day you get to see a train crossing on a very narrow street among colourful houses and where you can sit at one of the coffee shops there and watch the train passing by so crazy madly close to your cup! It’s a nice experience to live, like Mae Klong Railway Market close to Bangkok. I took a photo with my pink umbrella while dinner was being cooked. I was jealous, I would fancy such a dinner, on a railway.

Vietnamese food is so praised all arund the world. We had a stop at a place famous among locals for…of course, pho. This dish is everywhere, as a true national food deserves. A salty broth with rice noodles, chicken or beef, served together with a plate of fresh herbs that you add in this hot soup to enjoy all those fresh flavours at once. It’s delicious, full, healthy and cheap. For someone that grew up with soups almost every single day, like me, pho feels like home, though different.

During all my staying in Hanoi, I had this feeling that I didn’t know how to really enjoy the best of their food. This was a moment when I missed friends, so we can share a table, order different foods and taste that and that and that. Almost every time I felt like what I saw in other people’s plates around me was a better choice than mine. But still, I did have great food.

I said goodbye and thank you to my student guide with a tip.

The last landmark to see was St Joseph’s Cathedral, the Notre Damme of Hanoi. Built in 1886, this neo-gothic building is in an absolute contrast to its surroundings, resulting an an Asian – Europe mix. A dance performance in the front, with young girls wearing long white scarfs and slow moves was a beautiful end of the day.

I walked the streets in Old Quarter that late evening. People cooking, people eating, people drinking, people selling. At the end of the day in front of every restaurant the dishes were washed on the pavement. I took a photo that I knew would shock my mom. The next day I will eat again from those plates, so what?!

I stopped at a store with the most crazy colourful prints. A guy was trying a shirt and shorts with banana print. He looked hilarious. I bought a pair of shorts with watermelons, also hilarious.

I had one last stop close to the guesthouse, where a lady was selling every evening barbecue and peeled sweet crunchy full of flavour baby pineapples. In Hanoi people either sell something or eat something. Her father insisted that we have a cup of tea together. They had seen me before so now we were neighbours. This sums up in a gesture how people in Vietnam are. I told them my plans for the next days: Halong Bay and Sapa.

Back in my room a had a guest. Opening the door something black and big flew on the floor. My phobia was activated. The biggest cockroach I ever saw, plus, the beast was not just super speedy but also flying. I asked for help.

– Well, it’s a tropical country…bumbled my guest trying to catch the beast behind the bed.

My fear of bugs comes with me in any country, tropical or not, unfortunately. I so wish I didn’t had this damn ridiculous fear!

I fell asleep in my room, in the guesthouse in the Old Quarter in Hanoi, grateful for something awesome: I was in Vietnam.