Slab is Scary in any Language

I’m well into week two of my time in Hanoi. I’m having an absolutely lovely time, and I’m feeling great about the work I’ve been able to get done. I don’t have any amazing stories to share, but perhaps some vibes.

Each morning, I wake up around 6:30 and see what terrible things Dear Leader has done while I was asleep. Then I triage the ~100 or so emails and Slack messages from the Minnesota workday. By 7:30 or so, I’m usually caught up and sufficiently filled with dread. Every other morning, I head to the nearby gym for some cardio and strength training. On the way back, I get a breakfast bahn mi (two eggs, cucumbers and herbs, hot sauces) and make coffee at home. On mornings I’m not going to the gym, I’m just eating some yogurt at the apartment.

Most days, I’ll head out around mid-morning and visit a coffee shop. Vietnam has more coffee shops per capita than any country in the world, and within 3 blocks of my apartment there are probably more cafes than I could visit in my whole trip. So far, I’ve been hitting between one and three cafes each day, and I haven’t repeated yet. It’s a little overwhelming!

I’m also yet to repeat a lunch or dinner spot, though I’ve been making a lot of notes so that when Kat and my friends arrive later this month, I’ll have some well-curated options for them.

I try to wrap my work up around five, and then go out wandering the city. The Vietclimb bouldering gym is about an hour walk from my apartment, right through the heart of the city, so that’s a good trek. I’ve been going up there every other day or so. The gym is a great community – a mix of local and expat regulars with short and long term visitors. It reminds me a bit of my gym in St. Paul – everyone either knows each other, or is comfortable striking up a conversation. Climbing is a pretty universal language – we all cringe at the same time when someone slides face-first down a slab wall. Yesterday, the humidity arrived and the holds became incredibly slippery, and we were all commiserating. Emphasis on the misery.

I’ve popped into a few temples and shops, but mostly I’m just enjoying the city. Now that Tet is firmly in the past, the city life has picked up a bit. Even though the traffic lights have made the roads a little less threatening, it’s still a 24/7 city with a lot of intensity, friendly people, and plenty of dogs. Here’s a photo dump of random scenes from the past week.