Asia Archives - Wandering North

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Hello Kitty to the Rescue: A Layover in Seoul

I don’t know why, but in the last few years my travel planning has become a little bit more chaotic. I used to book my trips many months in advance, and I would spend time refining the itineraries and learning phrases in the local language and getting organized. But more recently I find myself booking the trips with just a few weeks’ notice. I still make a good itinerary, but it all feels a little rushed. I don’t think I can conceive months in advance of actually being able to take time off work, but then something happens and I just need a holiday and then I book it without much planning. This was one of those trips.

I had decided that I needed to go somewhere, and I decided to go to Mongolia. But I didn’t just want to go to Mongolia, I wanted to try to visit a couple of other countries. And that’s what I tried to do on this trip. I decided to go to Mongolia and Kuwait and Bahrain. I’m aware that Mongolia is nowhere near Kuwait and Bahrain, but it made for an interesting itinerary. And it started with an overnight layover in Seoul South Korea.

This was my third or fourth time visiting Seoul, although each of those visits has been on some sort of long layover. I’ve never actually taken a trip just to see South Korea. I probably should, but this would be another layover visit.

I don’t love Seoul. I know that Seoul is very popular but, overall, I am not enamoured with it. It does make for a good layover though. I appreciate its excellent public transportation and its affordable accommodations, and that there’s lots going on day and night to fill your time. As much as I don’t love it, I was happy to be back for my layover this time.

*Arex: the fast train into the city. Of course it has a cute mascot.*

I arrived at 4:00 PM and I would have to leave again at 9:00 in the morning, so I just had an evening. I booked myself into the Hostel Drip & Drop, which is conveniently located in Myeongdong and right by the Euljiro 1(il)-ga metro station. I took the AREX Express train (which is only slightly faster than the other train) into the city with my backpack and walked to the hostel and dropped it off.

Before I say anything else, I have to say how impressed I was with this hostel. I have fantasies of designing the perfect hostel because there are so many of them that just have design flaws, like having no lighting options between pitch black and blinding white or showers in shared bathrooms with no place to take off your clothes or hang them up outside of the soaking wet shower. This hostel was close to perfect.

It had an immaculate sleeping quarter. I opted for the girls’ dorm and it was one of those ones where every bed is a pod with a proper curtain, a shelf, lighting, and a comfy mattress inside. For the first time ever, I had a little bunk with a window in it. This hostel also had an adjoining room where there were lockers to put your backpack and your shoes, so you would take off your shoes and get your pyjamas, or do whatever you needed to do, and then you could either go into the room with the beds or into the shared bathroom. What this meant was there was no possibility of anybody in the sleeping room rummaging around in their bags, or getting dressed, or crinkling plastic bags because all of that happened in another room. I’m sorry if you’re not here to hear about effective hostile design, but I was very excited by this. And it was $56 Canadian per night. Not exactly dirt cheap, but pretty close.

I don’t know why it’s called Drip & Drop except that it has something to do with coffee and they do provide you with a coffee pour-over situation and they had a pour-over station in the common area. I mean, that’s pretty great. The downsides were no kitchen, and the common area was very sterile and didn’t really invite one to hang around, but that’s OK; I wasn’t there for long. I would 1000% stay there again.

Once I was finished admiring my hostel, I set out into the city. I decided to wander along the Cheonggyecheon, which is sort of a man-made urban river that runs through the city lined with pedestrian and bike friendly spaces with benches and sculptures. It’s a really wonderful use of public space and provides some serenity into what a busy city is otherwise.

I meandered around taking exploring the streets. There appeared to be some sort of festival happening geared towards children and there were a lot of inflatable things and children’s activities. I have no idea what was going on but it did make for some fun photos. It was blisteringly hot in Seoul, so, to cool off, I lingered by the fans set up outside next to some inflatable children’s water park set up for the event, until I realized that a single adult lingering near strange children is creepy.

I wanted to visit a cigar lounge before it got too late (and I needed an escape from the weather) and so I went to the Resolver Cigar Lounge. It was walking distance from my hostel in a commercial building. The lounge was a little bit difficult to find and I nearly gave up and left but finally I found it and it was worth the effort as it was a beautiful lounge. Dimly lit with comfortable leather chairs, excellent cigar accessories, and a sophisticated atmosphere. I visited the humidor and picked out a Plasencia Alma Fuerte – a cigar made at the Plasencia factory I had previously visited in Nicaragua. They had a decent selection of Cubans and some non-Cubans but the prices were very high, and this was the cigar that I decided best fit my budget and palate. The only downside of the lounge, if there was one, was that it was very quiet. There were a couple of other groups of men smoking cigars, but it didn’t have a very social atmosphere. I’ve noticed this a lot with cigar lounges in East Asia which is that people don’t really seem that inclined to talk to each other. Everyone seems to kind of keep to themselves.

By the time I left the lounge it was dark, but that did nothing to reduce the heat and humidity. Sweating profusely, I walked back to the area near my hostel to visit the Myeongdong Night Market. I was delighted to have a night market to go to. At first, it was terrific to walk around the area with the market. The neon signs were twinkling, throngs of people were out gawking at the stalls and eating things on sticks and there was food and merchandise for sale throughout the streets. It was a fun atmosphere. Except now not only was it hot, but it was hot and I was walking past stalls frying up food and producing clouds of hot greasy air.

I quickly became very uncomfortable. I also desperately wanted to eat something but, as is always the problem with night markets in Asia in my experience, it’s very difficult to find anything vegetarian; plus, I had forgotten to get cash from the ATM. After a while I just needed some air conditioning and relief from the weather and that’s when I saw it, like a beacon calling to me. My savior. Hello Kitty.

I love Hello Kitty and I’ve been wanting to go to a themed cafe forever. And there it was: a two-story Hello Kitty café, open late and artificially ice cold. While I was thankful for the air conditioning, I will say that the interior of the Hello Kitty cafe was so brightly lit that I felt like I was in some sort of alien spacecraft, but I was happy for it. I bought two food items that I’ve never had before and will certainly never have again which was a dragon fruit iced tea and a mango cake that was shaped like an actual mango inside a hard shell. It was delicious; or maybe I was just hot and famished. I sat by the window by myself, my eyes ringed in smudgy black eyeliner; I was looking goth-adjacent smelling of cigar smoke and thoroughly enjoying my Hello Kitty meal.

After that, I took one last spin around the market and then went back to my hostel for a shower and asleep. In a few short hours I would be up again and heading back to the airport to fly to my next destination: Ulaanbaatar.

*Temple at sunrise. Headed back to the airport*

Asia Yemen Yemen Trip 2025

Yemen – Shibam and Departures

We awoke on this, our last full day, at our beautiful hotel in the valley. The previous day had been our excellent visit to the villages of Wadi Doan. The routine was well established at this point: I woke up, had my cigar, and watched the sunrise, followed by breakfast with the group before we set off on our next excursion.

Today, we would be heading to Shibam. As I’ve said in earlier posts, this was the thing that I most wanted to see. This was the picture that I had seen on the internet years ago, making me think, “Someday, I must see this place.” And that day was today.

The Old Walled City of Shibam is one of the highlights of a trip to South Yemen. The town was founded in the 3rd century, but the buildings that you see today were built in the 1500s. The structures are made entirely of mud brick and stand between 5 and 11 stories tall. They are narrow and built close together. Apparently, this particular design was meant to protect them from Bedouin attacks, but whatever the reason, it looks unusual and beautiful. Amazingly, the buildings remain strong and resilient. While they need regular, fresh applications of mud to the exterior, they have lasted all these centuries. The tallest ones are just over 30 metres high. It is the look of these closely clustered tall buildings that has given Shibam nicknames like “The Manhattan of the Desert” and “the World’s First Skyscraper City.”

Seeing it from a distance the night before was magical, but walking amongst the buildings was equally special. People actually live and work here. We saw pharmacies and honey vendors, little shops selling antiquities, and, of course, men sitting around smoking and drinking coffee. Sometimes, seeing things that you’ve been dreaming of can be a disappointment. This was not one of those times.

From Shibam, we drove back to Seiyoun, where we had started our journey; however, we hadn’t seen much of the city at the beginning. This time, we visited a museum in the market. I was delighted to explore the marketplace, finally try some Yemeni coffee, and browse through the little shops. I picked up some small bottles of oud as a souvenir. We sat around a café with our guide and driver, and I thought again about how much I wished I could just explore a little bit on my own. I could have spent all day sitting at a café, smoking and watching the people go about their daily activities.

We went to a specific spot near the market where they made jambiyas. A jambiya is a large, curved dagger that Yemeni men wear as part of their traditional ensemble, tucked into a thick, embroidered belt and worn on top of their futa. John and Doc had not gotten their jambiyas when they first bought their Yemeni clothing, but now they would. The craftsmen at the shop picked out the right jambiya for each of them and hammered holes into custom-fitted belts so that John and Doc could wear them with pride — right up until they had to go through airport security, I guess.

I bided my time at one of the nearby gun shops. This is another moment where I must emphasize that my trip to Yemen felt completely safe, and that the people were extraordinarily nice and hospitable, but there is a tremendous amount of guns. This little shop, which was no bigger than a single parking stall, sold an astonishing assortment of handguns, machine guns, and rifles. They even let us handle and pose with them—without any ammunition, of course. I couldn’t resist posing for a few photos. I had mixed feelings about sharing these pictures online, but I think I’ve been clear that Yemen is not a scary or dangerous country. I just really like this picture of myself with the machine gun. I’m not someone who does online dating, but if I did, I think this would be a fun picture to use in my profile.

Next, we made a specific visit to the honey market, where rows and rows of small shops sold an incredible variety of locally produced honey. Yemenis are very proud of their honey, and we had been eating it every day, but I had no idea there was such a wide variety. We got to sample different types and were told about how different varieties of honey were good for various ailments. Each of the three of us picked up a tiny little bottle of the most expensive honey (sidr) to take home. It was thick, a dark amber colour, and very strong-tasting. I think it was about $5 USD.

But there was still more sightseeing to do. We drove to the nearby city of Tarim, walked the streets, and took in the Al-Mihdar Mosque and some Sufi shrines.

We returned to the Hawta Palace Hotel (the place where we had stayed on our first night in Yemen) for our final night. We were called to dinner and told there would be a special surprise. A group of men arrived and set up for us just before we ate. There were about 8 men dancing and another 10 men playing musical instruments and singing as they put on a performance. It was wonderful, although admittedly, I was trying to juggle a bit of remote work during the show. My companions, John and Doc, were called up to dance with the performers. John tried to call me up as well, but it was very quickly made apparent to me that this was a men-only situation. No problem. I sat outside with my cigar and just watched the show. It was a terrific end to an incredible trip.

The next day was the day of our departure. We got up, had a leisurely breakfast, and went into the city to walk around the market a bit more. We even went to a sort of Western-style coffee shop for iced mochas and lattes. These fancy coffees were not included in the trip budget, and I think this brought the total amount that I spent on the entire trip to about $30 USD—not including the tips that we gave to our guide and driver, of course. I had no idea how much spending money I would need and had brought a lot more with me; it is always better to be safe than sorry. If you are bringing money to Yemen (and you should) make sure that it is crisp, new US bills. They won’t accept anything with any imperfections.

At the airport, we said our goodbyes to our guide and driver and headed through security. There was little to no fanfare or hassle at immigration. Once we were through, we found a little seating area with a café, and we spent the last of our local money on snacks. I realized at this point that I was no longer really in the country and no longer had to wear my abaya. I had thought earlier in the trip that I might bring it home with me, but after six days of wearing it in the heat, it was crusted with sweat and dirt. I was completely sick of it, so I took it off and left it behind.

We boarded the plane and said goodbye to Yemen. It was an amazing trip. While I wouldn’t visit those same sites again (simply because I think we did them justice) I would be happy to go back to the country if the northern part ever reopens to tourism, as I would love to see the capital, Sana’a.

We shared a quick overnight layover in Cairo before John, Doc, and I went our separate ways. Next was a short layover in Cairo where we spent the night and I got interrogated at the airport.

A few more pictures from that final day in Yemen.

*i accidentally snapped a photo of the most handsome man in Yemen*

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Yemen – village life in Wadi Doan

On our third day in Yemen, we awoke at the hotel in Mukalla, and after a morning cigar and breakfast, we were back on the road. This would turn out to be both the best and most trying day of the trip so far. We drove to our next accommodation, the Haid Al-Jazil Hotel. It sits pretty much in the middle of nowhere—but what an incredible nowhere! Approaching the property, it simply appeared to be sitting isolated in the middle of a dry desert plain. The hotel itself consists of a series of landscape-appropriate bungalows alongside a main building housing the reception and dining area. However, stepping just past those bungalows revealed the most extraordinary view.

Before us lay a massive desert valley with a thin ribbon of green slicing through the bottom, marking where water flows at certain times of the year. Rising up from the middle of this valley was a large, round plateau topped by a tiny town. A compact cluster of mud-brick buildings sat perched high atop this rock, isolated in the heart of a desolate landscape. It was one of the most remarkable sights I have ever seen, and our accommodations offered a front-row seat.

This was Wafi Doan (aka Wadi Dawan). A wadi is a desert valley, and Wadi Doan cuts through the larger Wadi Hadhramaut region. It is globally famous for its distinct architecture and premium honey production. Looking down from the hotel’s vantage point, I could see tiny people leading tiny creatures along the valley floor. I suppose they were actually regular-sized people leading regular-sized animals, but from that immense height, they looked like miniatures. It was simply amazing.

After taking in the view, we got back on the road to visit some of the local villages. We hiked down into the wadi, but after that point, I get a little confused about the exact order of the places we saw. Trying to piece it together later by looking at my photos and searching online didn’t make it any clearer. I know that on this day we descended into the valley and visited Ribat, Qarhat Ba Humaish, Qarn Majid, Al-Hajjarain, and Sif, but distinguishing between them in memory is difficult because they sit relatively close together.

We began with the descent, which was probably the only low point of the entire holiday. The plan was to hike down to the valley floor to visit that charming village on the rock. No problem, right? I was told it would take about 90 minutes going downhill. I love hiking, so I wasn’t initially concerned. Where it became an issue was the dress code; while the guys were exempted from wearing traditional clothing for the hike and could wear shorts, I was still required to wear my abaya.

As a result, I was hiking through an exposed desert landscape with absolutely no tree cover while wearing leggings, a t-shirt, socks, heavy boots, a thick fabric abaya, and a hijab. I don’t know exactly how hot it was, but I would estimate it was well over 40°C. I overheated very quickly, and the climate took a massive toll on me. Furthermore, while the hike wasn’t overly technical, the terrain was covered in loose rocks. I had to be incredibly cautious about my footing to avoid twisting an ankle. Perhaps other people wouldn’t be so worried, but I have a historical habit of falling off mountains, so I was trying to be careful.

On the way down, I just grew hotter and hotter. My abaya kept catching on thorny bushes, which was incredibly frustrating. The closer I got to the bottom, the more lightheaded I became, to the point where I actually collapsed a few times. Frankly, it felt humiliating. Despite that, the views were beautiful, and descending into the valley remained exciting. When we finally reached the bottom, I allowed myself to collapse onto the stones to drink some water before we walked into the village.

The village itself was incredibly charming: dirt roads lined with three-story mud-brick structures, and small market areas where locals hung out in the shade of palm trees. It felt like a true oasis, even though I didn’t see any actual water. We walked through the paths, stopping to admire the goats and the fruits and vegetables for sale. There was a little open-air, covered structure where a group of men had gathered to play dominoes. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to see us, and a few people even asked us to take their pictures. It was astonishing.

There are not many places left in the world where you can travel and feel like you are truly somewhere different—where there is no mobile phone service, no recognizable Western businesses, and people do not dress the way they do back home. As much as globalization is likely beneficial for the world overall, it does chip away at these unique pockets of cultural experience. But here, at the bottom of a valley within a valley in Yemen, it felt entirely distinct.

Our driver met us at the bottom, picked us up, and drove us through the various towns and villages I mentioned earlier, stopping so we could explore points of interest. We saw small palaces clinging inexplicably to sheer rock faces, brightly coloured buildings, beautifully carved wooden doorways, and winding paths through mud-brick neighborhoods where children peered down at us from windows. Everything we saw was beautiful.

One site of historical significance we visited was the ancestral Bin Laden family home. I don’t think it is a house Osama ever lived in, but it belonged to his father. We couldn’t go inside, but we looked at the exterior and took a few photos. While we were there, a young boy rode by on a motorbike and stopped to gawk at us. John asked him if he could try riding the bike, and the kid nodded. It is not clear if he actually understood the request, because when John took off down the road—going maybe 50 feet—the kid panicked and ran after him yelling, thinking he was being robbed! Thankfully, the misunderstanding was quickly resolved, and everyone had a good chuckle.

Driving between the villages, we occasionally spotted women minding livestock. While the task itself is common, their outfits were extraordinary. These women wore full black abayas, niqabs, hijabs, and what appeared to be gloves. I didn’t find the coverage unusual, since I also prefer to stay covered up in intense sun, but their hats were completely eye-catching. They wore comically tall, peaked, brimmed hats that looked exactly like witches’ hats, except they were straw-coloured. Some had the very peak and the band around the brim painted black or red. We passed them too quickly to get a clear photo, though we tried.

The hat is called a madhalla. They are woven from date palm leaves and can stand up to two feet tall. Apparently, the extreme height is designed to keep the wearer’s head cool by creating an insulating pocket of air. I have no idea how the women balance them so effortlessly while navigating that rugged terrain and tending to goats, but it looked incredibly stylish.

Walking through the villages, we also noticed a number of locals carrying firearms. We were already somewhat accustomed to this, as our tour group traveled with a guide, a driver, and an armed guard. Our driver carried a semi-automatic handgun, while our guard carried an older automatic rifle. Because a few days had passed and we felt more comfortable, we finally asked if we could take pictures with our guard and his weapon. I understand that people in Yemen do not want their country portrayed as a scary, gun-crazed society; it isn’t. That is America. Our guard carried his weapon strictly for our protection. I am not certain we actually needed protecting from anything, but if it provides a job to someone in an economy where employment is scarce, I am all for it.

Our last stop of the day was another village whose name escapes me. We drove to the end of a road and sat on a rocky outcropping looking out over the valley, and there before us was the skyline of Shibam. Shibam was the city I was most excited to visit on this trip. Because we were scheduled to tour it the next day, I will save my full description for the next entry. However, looking out over that cluster of tall, narrow, ancient mud buildings in the middle of the valley, washed in the warm glow of the setting sun, was a truly special experience.

In the early evening, we returned to our beautiful hotel with its commanding view of the valley we had just explored. We had dinner, and I sat outside at leisure, enjoying my cigars and watching the landscape until the view completely dissolved into the blackness of the night.

At one point, while I was relaxing at the hotel in my regular Western clothes, four young girls approached me. One of them spoke a little bit of English. They were fully dressed in abayas, niqabs, and hijabs, so I couldn’t see their faces. They walked up to me, said hello, and giggled. They asked me where I was from, and giggled. They asked if I liked their country, and giggled some more. I asked them a few questions about themselves, and they kept giggling. Eventually, they asked to take a photo with me. I agreed, on the condition that I could also take one with them on my own phone. Finally, twittering with excitement, they all flipped up their niqabs to show me their faces, smiled warmly at me, dropped the veils back down, and ran away giggling.

It was a wonderful interaction. I suppose they don’t see many foreign women. I thought it was incredibly neat that they felt it was appropriate to show me their faces. Personally, I am all for people wearing whatever they choose to wear, but I struggle with the idea of anyone being forced to wear certain attire because a government, culture, or religion dictates it. Even that is complicated; if your religion prescribes a dress code, and you love your faith and genuinely want to follow it, then there is nothing oppressive about that choice. Still, I certainly have mixed feelings about societal systems that imply women must be covered up. I don’t know what the exact situation was for these girls, but I was simply happy to have met them.

This was by far the best day of the trip so far. While the first two days were great, today was truly amazing. By this point, all the money we spent and the bureaucratic hoops we had to jump through to get here felt completely worth it. The next day, we would finally visit the ultimate highlight of the trip: the ancient city of Shibam.

Asia Yemen Yemen Trip 2025

Yemen – Mukalla

After a short sleep at the Hawta Palace Hotel in Seiyun, Yemen after our arrival, I awoke buzzing with excitement. We had just arrived the night before, but apart from buying our clothes at the local market, we hadn’t seen or done anything yet. I couldn’t wait for what the day had in store. I got up early and took a walk around the grounds. Because it had been dark when we arrived the previous evening, this was the first time I saw the light hitting the mountains and the flowers on the trees. It was like a beautiful oasis. I had a morning cigar and drank coffee while I waited for John and Doc to join me.

Our guide and driver arrived, and we drove to Mukalla, the main city of the Hadhramaut region on the Gulf of Aden. This was our first real glimpse of Yemen, and it made a great first impression. The city was bustling. It lacked the chaotic crowds of major cities in India or Africa, but it was still incredibly lively. People were going to and from the markets and shops, and children were out in the streets playing football and pool.

Most people looked at us with some degree of curiosity, but no one gave us the kinds of glances I’ve experienced in other cities—where people look at you with disdain or subtle hostility. Everyone we interacted with seemed friendly. Of course, those people were strictly men and children. There were women out on the streets, but they were entirely covered, including their faces, and they did not greet or acknowledge us. The men were friendly and the children were curious. John and Doc kicked a football around with the kids in an alleyway while I took some pictures and watched goats wander between the buildings.

The liveliest part of the city was along the waterfront. A river ran through the city, and it was filled with people on boats flying flags high and playing music. Yemen has two flags: one for the South and one for the North. The people here were flying the Southern flag. Additionally, some people and children were carrying pictures of figures I understood to be leaders or notable political and military figures of Southern Yemen. You know how kids love to carry around pictures of famous politicians and military figures? Maybe it’s a Yemeni thing.

The political history of Yemen is far too complicated for me to explain here. Go read a book. In short, though, Yemen used to be part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1918, the region became independent but was split into two halves: North Yemen was an independent state, while South Yemen became a British protectorate and, later, a British colony. The UK left in 1967. The two halves were briefly unified, but a series of wars broke out between them until 1990, when the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) and the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) officially united to form the Republic of Yemen.

Unfortunately, the fighting has not stopped. The region operates, effectively, as two separate countries: the North and West are controlled by the Houthis, while the South and East are held by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) and southern factions. Skirmishes and bombings are ongoing, mostly concentrated in the northwest. All of this fighting has created extreme poverty and food insecurity across the country, a crisis compounded by the fact that most Western nations maintain strict sanctions against Yemen.

The view from the harbour was absolutely beautiful, with whitewashed, boxy buildings clustered together along the shore. The water shifted between different shades of turquoise, and everything was framed by the dry desert mountains. It was the sort of place I wished I could have wandered around on my own. It certainly felt safe enough to do so, but that is simply not how things are done there, so we stuck close to our guide as he led us through the city markets before we stopped for lunch.

The restaurant we went to (I don’t know the name, but it was a place we would visit more than once on this trip) seated us in a private room separated by a curtain. We sat shoeless on layers of carpets. In the middle of the floor was a blanket layout holding all the plates of food, which we ate largely with our hands. The thing that always amused me about these meals was that it wasn’t just shoes lined up by the door; various handguns and weapons were also set aside on the carpet just long enough for everyone to eat. Shoes off, guns down. Time to eat.

After lunch, we visited a fruit, vegetable, and fish market, which is always delightful. I don’t know what it is about seeing food sold in other countries, but it never ceases to amaze me. Mangoes stacked up in slightly different ways than they are back home? Fascinating! Truthfully, it is just interesting to see how different people go about their daily lives, and a local market is a great way to experience that.

[Update December 2025: Mukalla was such a pleasant city to visit and seemed so safe, but in late December of 2025, the port was bombed by Saudi forces targeting unauthorized weapon shipments. It serves as a stark reminder that things can seem safe—and may actually be safe for a period of time—but in volatile parts of the world, realities can change instantly. In short: go when you can, because you never know when a window will close.]

Later in the afternoon, just before sunset, we made our way to a new accommodation: the Ramada Mukalla Hotel. It felt more like a standard western hotel compared to our last stop. My room was adequate, and the property featured a massive lobby cafe where the staff had no issue with me smoking cigars indoors. I did quite a bit of that during our down times.

One of the things I quickly realized on a tour like this is that you have quite a bit of down time. The mornings start a little late, the evenings wrap up a little early, and there is always time for a rest in the afternoon; plus, there is a lot of eating. It was a bit too much food for my liking, but I certainly can’t complain about being well taken care of.

It was a perfectly pleasant day visiting Mukalla, followed by a quiet evening at the hotel. The next day, we would head toward even better sights as we left the city and ascended into the valley to experience village life.

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Yemen – Logistics and Arrival

Planning

I had wanted to go to Yemen ever since I saw pictures of Sanaa and Shibam, but actually getting there seemed like an impossibility. For as long as I have been thinking of going to Yemen the only real way of visiting it seemed to be either to illegally cross the border from Oman and just see a very small part of the country, perhaps for the day, or to visit the island of Socotra. Socotra looked interesting, but I really wanted to see the mainland and had decided to hold out for that. Slowly, some people started to do organized tours into portions of the mainland, but it just seemed so prohibitively expensive for a solo traveler. And then I got a WhatsApp message.

One of the members of my social travel group in Vancouver (we get together periodically and swap travel stories and tips) posted into the group that he was thinking of going to Yemen with a friend of his from the US and he was looking for a third person to join the group. I was walking down the street in Buenos Aires when I got the message and I immediately said I would go. The tour company and the itinerary had already been picked, I just needed to opt in.

At this point in time, it was not possible to visit any part of Yemen without going on a tour. I’m not a tour person, apart from hiring a guide for a day trip and the prospect of joining a group tour never appealed to me, but the person who was going on this trip with someone that I had already gotten along with and I figured that was enough to vouch for his friend. Plus, a group of three seemed more palatable than a larger group of strangers.

The tour was arranged through a fellow named Kais Al Qalisi, who is a well known tour operator in the region It would be six days visiting Seiyun, Mukalla, Wadi Doa’n, Hawfah, Ribad, Al-Hajjarain, Sif, and Shibam with a guide (Radfan) and driver (Mohammed) and a series of armed guards, starting and ending in Seiyun. The itinerary is posted here. The price for each of the three of us was about $1,450 (each), which included all of our meals in our hotels, water, and visa assistance and we did not have to share rooms at any of the hotels. It did not include the flights from Cairo to Seiyun, which could only be done on Yemeni Airways at exorbitant price of 900 U.S. dollars round trip for the six-hour flight. Yemen is not a cheap trip.

We were connected with a woman on WhatsApp who worked at the airline in Cairo; we wired her the money for the trip and she arranged the tickets which we would pick up at the airport.

For the visa, we simply needed to send our guide copies of our passports and personal information as well as a letter from a doctor. This was the trickiest part. For visa to Yemen, at least at this time, you needed a letter from a doctor that confirmed that you had been tested for and were negative for all diseases. I went to the travel clinic, and they looked at me like I was crazy. How could they possibly issue a letter like that? Would it even be possible to test for all diseases? Most of the travelers I talked to said that they had just forged their own letters, which seemed like a reasonable proposition for some, but I’m a lawyer and I just didn’t feel good about that. What I did feel ok about was a doctor that I knew socially who shall remain nameless who wrote the letter for me. While this doctor didn’t use the language that I had been tested for all diseases, they did say that I did not have any communicable diseases, which seemed to satisfy the visa people, to the extent that they even read the letter which I doubt.

In some ways, arranging all of this seems like kind of a hassle. It’s not as easy as just booking a flight online and showing up at the airport, but it was far easier than some of the other difficult countries I’ve visited like the Congo or Sudan. If you have the money to pay and a person to arrange it for you, you can get the visa.

The Airport

I had flown from Vancouver to London to Cairo and I found myself at the airport in Cairo in a queue at the check in desk to collect my ticket to Yemen. I got to the airport a bit ahead of my two companions and so I stood by myself with about six people ahead of me and a few behind, all of whom had towers of luggage on carts. I had a small backpack. All of them looked at me with a great deal of curiosity. More than one person approached me and asked me if I knew that I was in a queue for a flight to Yemen and I responded with “Yes, I can’t wait to go!” and they thought that was amusing. They laughed and smiled and then seemed genuinely pleased that I was choosing to spend my vacation days in their country.

Finally, I saw a familiar face in the crowd and my friend from Vancouver had arrived with his friend from the United States and our little travel group was united. In the interest of not using their real names (I don’t know if they would object to me using their names but I’m just going to choose to preserve their anonymity), I shall refer to my Canadian friend as John (as in Rambo) and my new American friend as Doc. We picked up our tickets and went to a lounge in the airport, where you could smoke (!) and got to know each other a bit.

The flight from Cairo to Seiyun was unremarkable. It’s always exciting to fly a new airline, but I can’t say that there was anything super unusual about Yemeni Airways. It didn’t have an in-flight entertainment system or Wi-Fi, but it was a standard plane that we boarded from the tarmac and they served us a meal.

And just like that, we landed in Yemen.

Arrival and Shopping

At the airport, we were met by our guide, Radfan who walked us through the visa process, we went to a little room and quickly visa stickers were placed in our passports and without any real questions or fanfare we were led through the airport and to our driver, Mohammed.

We landed at 5:00 PM and by the time we got out of the airport it was probably closer to 6:00 PM and the city was dark but lively. The first order of business was getting appropriate attire. One cannot travel in Yemen, at least at this point, in your normal clothes. You need to wear Yemeni clothing. So we went first to a little shop that sold women’s clothes.

This is probably the number one question that I was asked when I told people that I was going to Yemen, which is what would I have to wear. The answer is you must wear a black abaya, so you are covered from your neck to your ankles and wrists, and you wear hijab to cover your head. The question of whether or not you must also wear a niqab to cover your face seems to be somewhat loose. Our guide did not make me wear the niqab at any point. We did however run into another group with women travelers who are required to wear the niqab at all times. I have absolutely no problem wearing the abaya or the hijab, but I was very thankful that I did not have to wear the niqab as I think I would have found it restrictive and it certainly would have impeded my cigar smoking. The men in the shop helped me pick out a suitable black abaya with some black embroidery around the cuffs. I thought it looks alright. I like wearing all black anyway. For any women who are reading this and are wondering what you wear under the abaya, you can probably wear anything you like but I thought it was most comfortable to wear leggings and a t-shirt. Basically, that is the outfit that I wore every day while I was out and about in Yemen. In the evenings when I was at the hotels I could dress in my own clothes, provided they were reasonably conservative. So, at the hotels, I would wear leggings and a knee-length dress or something similar.

After I was suitably attired, we went to a different store and the gentleman picked out their clothes which were much more interesting. They were these long, wrapped skirts out of patterned and colourful fabric called a futa, a plain colored, short-sleeved button up shirt, and a wrapped headdress called a shemagh.

The clothes were extremely affordable (my ensemble was $22 US) and were one of the only expenses that we had on the trip as everything else was included in the price of the tour.

From there we went to our hotel, the Hawta Palace Hotel in Seiyun. I didn’t know what to expect with regard to the accommodations, but this exceeded any expectations that I had. This place was awesome. It was a couple of two- or three-story buildings in gleaming white Yemeni architecture with the serene courtyard, green gardens, a swimming pool, and flowering trees. It was a bit away from the city and felt quiet and safe. My room was enormous and extremely comfortable if sparsely decorated. We arrived and got sorted and had dinner.

Most of the meals that we had in Yemen, including the one at this hotel, were extensive and quite tasty, if not particularly varied. As a vegetarian, most of my meals consisted of lentil soups and salads, hummus and bread, some fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt and local honey. It got a bit repetitive, but everything was very tasty. There was also coffee, tea, and water. No alcohol of course. The rest of the group had various types of meat and fish as their main dishes.

We were given Wi-Fi codes at the hotel and technically there was Wi-Fi, but it worked inconsistently. I had been prepared to have no Wi-Fi whatsoever on the trip but most of the hotels had some connectivity in some places at sometimes. It’s not the sort of place that you can go and plan to get a lot of remote work done. In fact, it may be one of the few places in the world where you can still go and be kind of off the grid.

After dinner, everyone else went to bed and I sat up in the courtyard and had a cigar. This became a bit of a ritual on the trip; I would stay up a little later and get up a little earlier than everyone else so that I could enjoy smoking and some time to myself.

John and Doc proved to be excellent travel companions. We seem to be like-minded and share a similar sense of humour and I had an excellent time with them, that said, it was still a bit of a different experience for me to be around people for so much of the time and I needed to have a little time to myself.

Safety

A note about safety. This is probably the second most common question that I was asked about going to Yemen, which was is it safe? Yemen obviously has a bad reputation in terms of safety. They have a long-standing civil war and there were frequently bombings and violence. But as with most countries that face these problems, the war and violence is relegated to certain parts of the country or does not happen all the time. Yemen is large and different parts of the country are controlled by different groups (more on this later) and we would be visiting the parts of the country that were relatively stable, which are in the Hadramaut region or South Yemen. Confusingly, South Yemen is mostly the eastern half of the country in North Yemen is mostly the western part of the country, but it’s this South Yemen part that is relatively safe and the North Yemen part that has the majority of the conflict. The days that we spent in Yemen felt completely safe. I appreciate that that safety may have been created somewhat by the presence of a guide and a guard but there was nothing that we saw that gave me any inklings that our presence would be met with anything other than kindness and hospitality.

I’ve already said so much in this post about what it was like to prepare to go to Yemen and what it was like arriving, that I’ll talk about what we actually saw and did in the next posts. It’s difficult to be brief when talking about a place as unique and fascinating as Yemen.

Read on here.

Asia Cyprus Cyprus Christmas trip 2024

Nicosia: the Divided City’s Northern (Turkish) Side

I had already spent a day and a night on the Greek side of Nicosia, Cyprus, which I’ve written about in my previous post. But after breakfast that morning it was time to cross over to the other side. The Turkish side. I had already seen the border crossing multiple times, but this was the first time I would actually cross it. Approaching it, it feels like a real border. There are checkpoints on either side and signs. I queued up with the rest of the people and showed them my passport; unfortunately they didn’t stamp it, but they did look at it and looked at me, and then handed it back and told me to have a nice day. So in many respects it was just like any other European border crossing. I didn’t know what to expect on the other side.

On the other side it was a bit like Dorothy stepping through the door into Oz; things were quite different. On the other side was a market and it was very clearly Turkish. The side I had just left, felt like Greece, but this was Turkey. Baklavas stacked high, hookahs in the windows, Turkish style textiles and pottery, mosque minarets rising up towards the sky. It was incredible.

I walked immediately to my hotel, Hotel Valide Hanim Konak. This was a little bit of a splurge, but it looked so charming I couldn’t resist. And it lived up to the pictures. I went and wandered around.

As with the other side there wasn’t much in particular that I wanted to see I just wanted to absorb the atmosphere.

I loved the streets and the cafes and buildings of the Turkish side. There were mosques and a caravanserai. Charming markets and side streets. It was sort of place that was perfect for aimless exploration. I had a delightful time. No museums or attractions of that sort, just lots of walking and looking around. I had a very nice dinner and slept in my comfortable bed. In the morning, I had an excellent coffee and a bit of a Turkish style breakfast in the market, watching people hang out their wares for sale and cats lurking around for a bit of attention.

I couldn’t find any cigar stores on this side, but smoking on patios wasn’t a problem although the weather was not particularly cooperative. It started raining and became windy, which put a bit of a damper on my evening activities.

I will say that the Greek side had more to do in terms of attractions and overall it was probably a little bit more picturesque, but I preferred the Turkish side because I just generally I’m more drawn to that sort of cultural vibe, but both sides were excellent. I think Nicosia is one of those places that would make a good travel destination for anyone because there’s enough to see and do and it is just so terribly interesting to visit because of its geographical and political anomalies.

I took the bus back to Larnaca and then a taxi to the airport and flew to Munich.

I had spent about 3 and a half days in Larnaca and Nicosia, which was an amount of time that I was satisfied with. I think I may go back someday to see more of the country.

I would arrive in Munich quite late but with just enough time to have a small sleep in the city and take in something of the Christmas atmosphere.

Nicosia: the Divided City’s Southern (Greek) Side

I left Larnaca for Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, was the reason for my trip. The last divided capital city in Europe, it is bisected between the Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. When Cyprus got its independence from the British in 1960, conflict simmered between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. It boiled over in 1963 in the superbly named “Bloody Christmas” (not to be confused with the very entertaining horror movie Christmas Bloody Christmas) when Greek Cypriot policeman killed two Turkish Cypriots. Violence erupted and over about four days, and ending on Christmas Day. 538 people were killed, with the Turkish Cypriots taking a little more of the casualties. Following that, more conflict until 1974 when the Greek side tried to take over the Turkish side and the Turkish side in turn invaded the Greek side. So a proper demilitarized zone (officially the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus) was set up between the two states and dividing Nicosia in half. And that is what I wanted to see.

Getting to Nicosia

Unless you’re driving, the easiest way to get from Larnaca to Nicosia is by bus. It’s just a regular city bus that runs between the two cities and costs about €7.00. They leave about every 30 to 60 minutes from a bus stop on the main road in Larnaca that runs parallel to the sea. You can’t pre book and I recommend getting there early because the day that I went there were so many people that the bus filled up with not everyone getting on board. Also being the first person there doesn’t necessarily guarantee a seat, so I recommend arriving early and having sharp elbows. The ride was pleasant and dropped me off right in the town, on the Greek side.

*bus stop in Larnaca & bus stop in Nicosia*

Where I stayed

I made my way to my hotel, Kipros Accommodation. It was an odd little place but with some charm. It was a good location, and I had a room with a private bathroom sort of upstairs from a tiny little reception area. It didn’t have much in the way of amenities, but it had everything that I needed and when I arrived until the room was ready they immediately offered me coffee which I appreciated. I had decided that I would spend my two days in Nicosia spending one night on the Greek side and one night on the Turkish side so I could have the best of both worlds.

Exploring Nicosia

I went out to explore.

The main attraction for me in Nicosia was really the border, but other than that it was a delightful town with attractive old streets and some old churches and occasionally a bit of street art. There were a couple of streets lined with busy restaurants and shops. (There was much more to the city outside of the more historical centre in which I spent most of my time but I didn’t venture into the other part of the city except to find the odd cigar store.) It doesn’t rank as one of the most charming European cities that I’ve been to, but I absolutely liked it and I think it was a good place to spend a day and a night. Also, I was happy to be there at Christmas as they were nice Christmas decorations and occasionally people playing live music and it had a good festive atmosphere.

I visited the Cyprus Museum, which was a small to medium sized museum of antiquities, which was excellent. Given the age and geography of Cyprus and the fact that Nicosia itself has been inhabited for 5500 years, the artifacts on display were impressive. The museum itself feels kind of old and rough around the edges, but the displays were wonderful.

I also visited the excellent Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, better known as the NiMAC, which is the largest contemporary Art Museum in Cyprus. It was also enjoyable and filled with new and unusual art and installations.

I wandered around and explored the area, which was interesting because occasionally I would be walking down a street and then suddenly come to a dead end, not because the street ended but because it would be the green line border between the city’s halves. There were two places that had checkpoints, but other than that the streets would end with barrels stacked high and barbed wire with a patrolman on a little platform of above, or sometimes it would just be another wall cutting the street in half with video cameras on top monitoring activities. It was very peculiar. I was so curious to crossover but that would wait until the next morning.

*walls to block traffic before the border wall*

Smoking Cigars in Nicosia

One of the best surprises about Cyprus was that it is an excellent place for cigars and cigar smoking. There were several cigar stores on the Greek side, and I visited about three of them including a La Casa del Habano. All of the stores had wonderful selections and tremendous prices. I bought a box of Ramon Allones Specially Selected and it cost about the same as what you would pay in Cuba. (And, no, they weren’t counterfeits.) The first store that I went to (Cigar Haven) was a tiny store with a little humidor and a couple of chairs. It also had a lounge, but I opted to sit in the store and chat with the owner. A delightful guy we chatted about cigars and life in Cyprus, and he played Tom Jones music nonstop. Tom Jones actually became sort of the unofficial soundtrack of my time in Cyprus because people everywhere seem to be playing his music. I learned that he had recently performed there and lot of people had (re)discovered his music and were digging it. I can’t complain.

I enjoyed my visit to that cigar store, but I also smoked at the lounge at the La Casa del Habano, which was on a residential street in a yellow house and I went to another store with the lounge (Tobacco House Cyprus) and chatted with the guys there as well. The best thing was smoking cigars outside of the shops wasn’t really a problem. Occasionally a restaurant would have a no smoking sign on their patio but for the most part smoking on any patio was fine.

My greatest smoking experience there though was when I saw this adorable little cafe, and I wanted to go there for breakfast. They had a few seats outside and I thought it would be perfect to sit outside and have my morning cigar (a Davidoff); it was raining, but there was an awning over the patio. I went inside and asked the fellow if I could sit outside and he said “why don’t you sit inside?” And I said “Because I want to smoke.” Her replied, “You can smoke inside.” I said, “Can I smoke this?” And I held up the cigar, thinking that surely that would be a deal breaker, but he smiled and said, “It is no problem, you are in Cyprus.” I melted with warmth and happiness. I ordered to show my appreciation I ordered more food and coffees than I would have normally and I sat there enjoying my coffee and my cigar in this charming cafe, which had several cats in it by the way, and no one even looked at me sideways. How civilized.

All in all, I had about a day and a half on the Greek side of Nicosia. I was satisfied with that amount of time, but I also wouldn’t object to going back. I think I would like to see more of the country and I would certainly go back and avail myself of the hospitable cigar culture there.

But after a nice sleep, I awoke the next morning had my cigar breakfast and prepared to cross the border to the other side of the city. More on that in the next post.

Asia Cyprus Cyprus Christmas trip 2024

Christmas in Cyprus

Christmas Day fell on a Wednesday this year and it seemed only reasonable to take the Thursday and Friday off work to create a stretch of five days off (and to leave work at 1:00 PM on the 24th to catch a flight).

Cyprus was on my radar. It is small and seemed just close enough to see something of it in a few days. Christmas seemed like the perfect time. I flew to Munich and changed to a flight to Larnaca. Soon I was in Cyprus, a new country to me.

Cyprus is in the eastern Mediterranean with Turkey to the north, Lebanon to the east, and Egypt to the South. Geographically it’s in Asia, the Middle East, but parts of it do feel European. Cyprus is most famous for the conflict that has persisted since it got its independence in 1960. While it is an independent country now, It is still divided politically and culturally between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. More on that later.

Being so close to Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon, maybe it’s not surprising that Cyprus has settlements going back to 8th century BC and today is sprinkled with ancient ruins and antiquities. It’s terrific actually and deserves more of my time, but on this trip my goal was to see the capital Nicosia, but the nearest airport to Nicosia is in Larnaca, which is why I found myself celebrating Christmas Day in that city on the sea.

I landed at about 4:00 PM in Larnaca (also spelled Larnaka) and took a taxi to my hostel: Le Mat Hostel. It was one of those places that didn’t have a front desk, so I let myself in via a key code. When I arrived, the common area was made more cozy with the light of a blue Christmas tree, and three companions were huddled around an old wooden table deep in conversation. I made my way up to my room, which was a small, private one with a door to the outside. As usual though, there was no time for lying about; the sun had just set, and I had things to see.

The name Larnaca derives from an ancient Greek word that means box, chest, or coffin and there was a theory that the reason for this was because there were a lot of sarcophagi that were found there. There is some casual Internet research, but that’s what I’m told. Can you imagine if the name was actually Coffin? That would be pretty cool, but not good for tourism. Larnaca was clearly the better choice.

There wasn’t really anything in Larnaca that I felt that I had to see or do. I had marked on my map some old churches, a square, and the lookout point from the sea and I started to walk my way through those different spots. It was evening and the churches were closed. (On Christmas. Go figure.) But it was very pleasant to wander around the streets. Most things were closed but as I got closer to the sea there were some restaurants and souvenir shops that were open and people milled about. It was completely dark at the point I walked out on a pier. The view was black but for the foam on the waves rolling into shore. There were a few objects illuminated with festive lights.

I really wanted to have a cigar and a bite to eat (I hadn’t had a morsel since the plane), so I picked a little local eatery that had two tables outside on the street and I ordered an assortment of delicious vegetarian treats. Falafel and white cheese and hummus and pita bread, and a tiny coffee. It was, after all, my Christmas dinner. At this point it was fairly chilly, but I was so happy with my food and my cigar that I didn’t mind a bit.

I wandered around a bit more and found a cute little street that had a few bars and cafes open and I made my way to one that was that had some outdoor seating in a little courtyard, a bit sheltered from the wind and with some Christmas lights strung up. It felt cheerful. I went there and ordered a negroni. Upon lighting my cigar, the people in the restaurant came out and brought me a proper cigar ashtray. Always a way to make me feel at home.

As part of my wanderings, I walked to a cigar store. I knew that it wouldn’t be open; I had checked the times online and saw that it was closed on Christmas Day, but I thought I would walk by it anyway and do a bit of reconnaissance. Much to my surprise, as I walked by, I saw that the store was open. I mean it wasn’t officially open, it had the closed sign up, but the door was propped open a little bit, and the lights were on, and I could see someone inside. I went up to the door and knocked and sure enough there were two men in there smoking cigars. One was the owner, and the other was a friend I guess. I asked if they were open and they said no but they said they’d be happy to sell me a couple of cigars, so I grabbed a couple of cigars, lit one immediately and had the first part of it there at the store. How delightful it was. A Christmas miracle: the cigar store that was open on Christmas Day.

I meandered back to my room and went to sleep. I probably only spent about six hours in Larnaca that Christmas Day wandering the streets but it was great.

Did I think Larnaca was amazing? No. I don’t think a person needs to visit it, except that if you’re visiting Cyprus is a very good chance it will be flying into the airport there so you may as well spend a day or night and taking a bit of what the city has to offer before going elsewhere. And it is a pleasant place to pass some time on Christmas.

The next morning, I was going to take the bus to Nicosia, the real focus of my journey.

Asia Vietnam Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Hanoi: Vintage Motorcycle Tour

On my second evening in Hanoi, I realized that I had done most of what I wanted to do but that I still had a half a day before I went to the airport the next day. So I looked into what sort of walking tours perhaps I could do. But I found something even better: a tour of Hanoi on a vintage motorbike. This was offered by Hanoi Backstreet Tours and I booked it immediately.

I was picked up at my hotel by a fellow riding a vintage-looking army motorcycle. We were joined by another two guides each with a guest on their motorcycles. A couple from Japan. And off we went. It was terrific. It took us through areas of the city that I had not visited and gave me some small photo opportunities. They also took us through tiny little back streets, that we skilfully wound through on the motorbikes. They took us to some interesting shops including one that made wedding cakes and another that made replica luxury goods out of paper for burning to achieve good luck in the afterlife. We went to a market and saw chickens and fish and other creatures. A lot of interesting historical details were shared.

We even left the city at one point and went across a bridge and saw some of the shantytowns down by the river.

While near the market, we passed a small square where young men were smoking big bamboo pipes. I had seen this already the day before in my walk around but I wasn’t sure what they were smoking in them. The guide explained that they were smoking tobacco, called thuoc lao. It’s not cigarette tobacco. It is closer to the sort of tobacco that you would use to roll a cigar, though it is not fermented in the same way. The pipe, made from bamboo and called a điếu cày, Is kind of like a water pipe. Of course I wanted to try it.

The guide spoke to one of the young men who agreed to let me try his pipe. He lit it for me, got it going, and then handed it to me. I placed my mouth over the end and inhaled deeply, taking in a lungful of the potent smoke. I am a daily cigar smoker but I have never smoked cigarettes, so inhaling is not a natural thing for me. I immediately started coughing and laughing at the same time, much to the amusement of the small crowd of young men that had gathered around to watch the idiot tourist try the giant pipe. Below is a still from a humiliating video of me trying the pipe. Still, it was a fun experience I’m glad that I tried it.

It all wound up with an excellent lunch. It was superb. We covered more ground on the motorcycles, and it was just fun.

Rather than having them drop me off at my hostel, I asked her to drop me off at the La Casa del Habano, that I had passed earlier. I had just enough time for a cigar. I went in and had a Quai d’Orsay in a very civilized environment before catching a Grab back to my hostel and a taxi to the airport. It was a terrific way to wind up my time in Southeast Asia on this trip.

My next trip would be to Eritrea and Djibouti, via Cairo.

Asia Vietnam Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Historic Hanoi

I flew to Hanoi from Luang Prabang, Laos. Really, it would have been cheaper and made more sense for me to fly back to Vancouver via Ho Chi Minh City, as that was where I had flown through on my way to Laos. But I hadn’t been to Hanoi, and this seemed like a good opportunity, so I booked the ticket.

Arrival

I arrived in Hanoi late on a Friday night. I had my e-visa and had paid a little extra to skip the queues so I could get to bed as soon as possible. I took a taxi from the airport to my hostel: Old Quarter View Hanoi Hostel, which was, of course, in the Old Quarter.

There was no question in my mind that I wanted to stay in the Old Quarter. It had all the historic neighbourhoods and markets, as well as lots of restaurants and cafes. What I didn’t appreciate, was how incredibly crowded it gets on the weekends. My taxi wasn’t able to take me right to my hostel and dropped off about four blocks away. I was irritable that he wouldn’t take me the rest of the way, but I understood once I saw the crowds. The entire neighbourhood of the Old Quarter was shoulder to shoulder with drinkers, diners, and drunks. They spilled out of the bars and restaurants on to tables on the street and then filling every footpath. It was loud and crowded, and honestly, annoying. I was tired and I had just gotten off a plane and just wanted to go to bed. I snaked my way through the raucous streets to the hostel.

The hostel was perfectly serviceable. I had booked a dorm room, which was a super bargain. ($15 a night CND.) If I was doing it again, I might have gotten myself a private room, only because a dorm in this neighbourhood means that your bunk mates are all people that are out drinking until the wee hours. When I woke the next morning I saw girls quite literally passed out in their clothes half on the bunks and half off in various states of disarray. I might be getting too old for this stuff, but I can’t resist a bargain.

Of course, I did go for a walk before bed and enjoyed a cigar.

Morning and Coffee

The next morning. I was up and out early and excited to explore the streets.

Hanoi, the Old Quarter anyway, is beautiful. Very inviting streets with a million cafes, and shops selling lanterns. Leafy trees, colourful rickshaws, and historical buildings. It’s delightful. I didn’t have much of a plan, but I decided to visit some temples and neighbourhoods, and stop for as many coffees as possible en route.

And I did just that. Hanoi is a coffee drinker’s dream. Even better than Ho Chi Minh City. There are charming and picturesque cafes serving everything from espressos to every conceivable iteration of Vietnamese coffee. I don’t typically like iced or sweet coffee or coffee with cream in it, but I put aside my predilections and I tried several unusual coffees including coconut and even the dreaded egg. None of them really taste like coffee to me. They all taste a bit like dessert, but the allure of a nice coffee on such a hot day was hard to resist.

Here are three of the best cafes I visited. There are so many more.

*Giao Mua Coffee* *for an espresso & Vietnamese iced coffee*

*Vi Anh Cafe for egg coffee and a small cigar*

*Loading T Cafe for an iced Saigon coffee*

Temples and Markets

I visited the Ngoc Son Temple, which had a moderate entrance fee (~$1.50 CDN), which was worth the price as it was quite beautiful and walking distance from where I was wandering anyway. It was set on a small island, accessible by the Huc Bridge.

I visited the market and eyed the exotic fruits and colourful vegetables. I stopped in at a cigar store and had a cigar with the owner and some of his friends. I sought out a street that had murals of historical Vietnam.

I also visited the amazing “Train Street,” but I have written about that in a separate post.

Getting Around

This was all on foot. It was an excellent city for walking, but it was very hot. So by the end of the day, I offered for a Grab back to my hostel. A Grab is like an Uber but, fantastically, it gives you the option of having a motorcycle pick you up. This is clearly the best option. They provide a helmet, and you get to feel like you’re being taken on a little tour of the city.

Cigars and Summing Up

I think I like Hanoi better than Ho Chi Minh City. And I really like Ho Chi Minh. Hanoi had a bustling energy. It is 8.8 million people. Plus, it has historic charm and interest going back centuries. There are slightly fewer cigar lounges, but still enough to keep me happy. Plus, I had no trouble finding bars and restaurants that would allow the smoking of cigars. This one was my favourite.

I had only a day and a half in Hanoi. I felt happy with what I was able to see in that time. One day of wandering, two nights of smoking and relaxation, and on the second morning before going to the airport in the afternoon, I did a classic motorcycle tour of the city, which I’ll write about separately. Had I more time in the city I would have done at least a day trip to Halong Bay, which is not far away. For this reason, I have a feeling that I will be back in Hanoi someday, but on this trip, Hanoi was my last stop and, although brief, it was satisfying.

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Tag: Asia

Planning

The Airport

Arrival and Shopping

Safety

Getting to Nicosia

Where I stayed

Exploring Nicosia

Smoking Cigars in Nicosia

Arrival

Morning and Coffee

Temples and Markets

Getting Around

Cigars and Summing Up