[2024] Back to Hanoi (Vietnam): Leathercraft Class Round 2 & Foodie Adventures
After Osaka, here we are in Hanoi, Vietnam. My hometown. It’s been 2 years since we last returned to Vietnam, and this time, the city hasn’t changed much. Probably due to the economic slowdown, many people are struggling, losing their jobs, and trying to survive while waiting for better days.
We spend the first few days at my parents’ house and enjoy Dad and Mom’s home cooking (spring rolls, free-range chicken, vermicelli, cốm, fruit…). Before we arrived, I placed a big order of books that my father took the time to receive, and I’m thrilled to have them all with me to either scan or read. These are books not available in ebook format, or I can’t read them as ebooks because the content is too difficult.
I then found a photocopy shop that scans my books for 800 VND per page. That rate is high, but I really can’t be bothered to trek 5 km (it’s cheaper if you do it near universities). The scanning is done by hand, page by page, so the books are preserved (instead of cutting the spine) and I can resell them. This way, a large portion of the books can be read on my e-reader instead of bringing them back to France.
Vietnamese service is exceptional: everyone wants to complete their service right away, so everything is fast, everything is quick. My laptop repair takes 2 days, and I receive apologies every day for the delay, whereas in France I’d wait 3 weeks just for a first response. My book scanning, 2,000 pages no less, takes less than 24 hours! Clothing repairs take a few hours, or even just minutes if you know the tailor well.
The downside of this general impatience is having to speed up constantly. In the streets, in restaurants… you have to go fast fast fast. Despite my tons of books, I can’t read a single page because I feel like I’m running around without knowing why.
We’re renting a room in a hotel near the Old Town (HNC Premier , Ly Nam De Street, Booking link). I chose it because it has a garage for motorbikes, which is quite rare in the city center. Plus, the rooms feel like apartments (we have a kitchenette) but still get daily housekeeping. It’s a particularly feng shui hotel, I learned, from chatting with the receptionist. She says some people live right next door but come to stay 1 or 2 nights now and then to soak up the energy of the place. That would have been fine if those people hadn’t been my neighbors and filled both the hallway and my room with the reeking smell of their cigarettes. Twice! As a result, they’re now banned from the hotel for life.
JB rents a scooter from HaiBanh Garage for the duration of our stay. They’re the ones who taught JB how to ride a manual motorbike, which allowed JB to get his A2 motorcycle license. The service is always friendly, and the bikes are always clean and in good condition. We paid 1,600,000 VND for 2 weeks of rental plus a $200 deposit (you can leave your passport instead).
After 2 days of scorching heat where we thought we’d die of the heat and got sick from the constant hot-cold, it finally rained, almost every day, making the temperature bearable. However, my cold persisted, and I had terrible headaches for several days, until I came across a beauty institute offering medicinal herb shampoos. In 1 hour, the masseuse cured me of several days of cold, and I’ve been going back regularly with JB for massages, medicinal baths, and shampoos. The owner knows her medicinal herbs, and all the water she uses for us comes from plants she grows somewhere in the Vietnamese countryside. Once, a woman came in urgently to treat her swollen foot (she slipped and fell), and she applied a medicinal leaf dressing; the woman could walk again the same day. So on the eve of our departure, when JB suddenly had severe heel pain to the point of not walking properly, we also went in urgently to get treated by her. After an hour-long foot massage, JB was almost pain-free. Just in case, here are her details: 38 P. Nguyễn Trường Tộ, Nguyễn Trung Trực, Ba Đình, Hà Nội
During the first week, aside from a few extremely tedious administrative tasks, all my focus was on my leathercraft teacher DOLIO. 5 days of lessons to learn how to make a women’s wallet, in a style radically different from what I had learned from him 2 years ago. I’m very happy with this course because it helps me correct the bad habits I’ve picked up working at home. He was able to tell me why my stitching wasn’t very pretty (I was pulling the threads too tight) and why sometimes I didn’t cut straight (I was pressing too hard).
Here’s the final result. I was able to buy leathers at a promotional price, even though they’re excellent quality. Outer leather: Negonda. Lining leather: Swift. This wallet has several metal parts, and I really enjoy working with that kind of hardware.
I admit I spent ages at 3Q Leather looking at reinforcements and skiving the leathers I already had. After doing several workshops with artisans, I conclude that leatherworking is what I enjoy most. I’m now going further by getting a real machine (made in Vietnam) for edge work. And I’m going to start making more complicated bags in the future. Still just for fun.
To support my artisans, I order from them products I can’t make myself. More info here , and and there.
At my teacher’s, I met two other students, and they’re quite successful in their careers. I mention it to JB, and he tells me “of course!! You’d have to have nothing better to do than spend a week making a wallet for fun.” When you’re passionate about something, you think everyone else is too. Leatherworkers themselves are passionate. 4 out of 5 leatherworkers in Vietnam have to change careers due to the economic crisis, but still hope to practice their passion again. The other student and I are now best friends and have some super technical conversations lol.
The rest of the time, we go from lunch to dinner… to see other family members: cousins, aunts, uncles… as well as friends. Since we’re only staying two weeks, the pace is super intense, but it makes me so so happy to see them again. It’s like we just saw each other yesterday.
It’s traditional to bring a small gift for each person, but luckily my family isn’t too fussy, and I only give gifts when I think they’ll really please the person. We’re no longer in the old days when we lacked everything. Now, people lean toward minimalism, and gifts need to make sense and truly match people’s needs.
For my cousin, I managed to find a limited-edition book. It’s one of my favorite books and it’s even numbered. It was hard to get because there are only 500 copies, but being part of specialized groups helps a lot. Vietnam is now able to produce beautiful books; it’s not quite at the level of French fine editions yet, but it’s getting closer and closer.
The second week is less busy, but it rains almost every evening, which prevents us from exploring the old town at night. In Vietnam, there are restaurants open only in the morning, afternoon, or evening, so depending on the time of day, the whole street can transform. We never know exactly what we might find on such and such a street at 5 PM, for example, hence the importance of going back at different times—we might find boiled snails, grilled chicken feet, or traditional banh mi.
Since we’re not far from Train Street, JB suggests going there one evening to see the train pass by right before our eyes. Especially since he walked past one evening and saw it was nicely lit. A Vietnamese man offers us a spot in his restaurant and asks if we want “thrills.” Of course we do. He seats us right next to the tracks, and 15 minutes later, all the tables are moved back 50cm in anticipation of the train. Everyone is bustling. The train arrives, honks… and we’re literally 30 centimeters from a train speeding by. It’s absolutely incredible! It’s a super touristy activity, yet few Vietnamese people know about this place.
I go to see my favorite jeweler DUONG HA twice, and the first time, I “played shopkeeper” in his store 😀 Tourists pass by, and I act as a translator while adding my sales pitch 😀 Result: I “sold” 4 bracelets and 1 jade ring!! Well, it’s easy too when the products are top quality and 100% natural.
The second time, he took me out for breakfast, then we went to see a workshop where several people design custom jewelry on computers. He tells me that each stone is measured by hand, then sent to the design team. A wax model is printed using the 3D printer. This model is then sent to the caster, then to the setter. The setter takes stone #1 to put in setting #1, following the design and placements to the letter… That’s how you make a 100% custom and unique piece in just 3 to 5 days. Next time you come to Vietnam, stop by my jeweler Duong Ha, I’ll give you his Google Maps. You can send your ring design and size before you arrive if needed: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GRJJxo6ze1tNNhCq9 Duong Ha Natural Gemstones & Jade, at 139 Hàng Bạc street
Here are some photos of the dishes we ate during our stay. Meals with the family aren’t photographed because we’re too busy eating.
Now, even the little bui bui have QR codes for bank transfers in seconds. The principle: you scan the QR code with your bank’s app (Vietnamese), then enter the requested amount and show the confirmation on your phone. Cash is used less and less. This measure was put in place during Covid. I can also make instant transfers, but with fees, thanks to the Wise app. I only do it if I’m desperately short of cash, and I minimize fees by topping up my Wise account in advance (via bank transfer).
JB takes advantage of our trip to Vietnam to renew his wardrobe. He particularly likes the brand Giordano for bermudas, and my parents gave him 2 Lacoste polos (thanks!). The Lacoste here are shorter than those sold in France, so they look better structured.
JB misses Japanese onsens a lot. Thanks to the increase in Korean expats, there are more and more Japanese onsens and jjimjilbang in Hanoi. We tried Amare. While the Japanese onsen area (where you have to be naked and separated by gender) went fine, in the Korean area where everyone wears pajamas, I find that people don’t respect my personal space at all. While waiting for JB to come out of the onsen, several people sat in front of me even though there were 300m2 completely empty—I think you should be able to relax in an environment where you feel particularly vulnerable (because in pajamas) instead of being hit on non-stop.
The trees are blooming around the Restored Sword Lake and on Kim Ma street. Hanoi is super super pretty in May, and with the rain, it’s become bearable despite a heat wave in early May.
And when that heat wave comes back, we’ll already be on the plane, heading to Bangkok.
