Tracing History in Hanoi: From B-52 Lakeside Relics to Street-Side Beers
Since watching the Vietnam Top Gear special all those years ago, Vietnam has sat firmly at the top of my travel wish list. Not just for its scenery, food and culture, but also because I wanted to see the remnants of a war that still linger quietly in certain corners of the country. They sit as reminders of an incredibly painful chapter that cost so many lives. On our first full day in Hanoi, there were a couple of places I had pinned on the map that I was determined to see. The only question was: How do we get there? Unlike big cities in other countries we’ve visited, Hanoi has no metro system, and the roads are - as I quickly discovered - the very definition of controlled chaos.
After staring at the streaming motorbikes weaving past each other like a school of metallic fish, I pitched an idea to Annie. The solution: Grab. If you haven’t used it, Grab is Southeast Asia’s answer to Uber, except in most cases you’re booking yourself a spot on the back of someone’s motorbike. A few taps and a couple of minutes waiting on the pavement, a local driver turns up, hands you a helmet (sometimes with the strap barely holding on!), and off you go through the city for less than the cost of a packet of crisps at home.
I wasn’t sure Annie was entirely convinced, but she trusted me enough not to protest. Two bikes were ordered, and as luck would have it, Annie’s driver arrived first. On went her helmet, and off she rode into the traffic while I waved, silently praying she’d end up at the right location. Eventually my driver arrived, and my own short yet exhilarating ride began, crossing over the famous train street while shoulder to shoulder with other riders and grabs alike. Our destination was a quiet little lake containing the rusting remains of a crashed U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber. The sight alone stopped me in my tracks as I got off the bike and nearly forgot to pay the man. There it was, twisted metal still rising out of the water, half-submerged, unpolished, unmoved. This wasn’t behind glass, nor sanitised. Just there, existing quietly in the middle of daily life.
Across on the opposite side of the lake sat a tiny local street bar, a few tables, a and a few stools. There were a couple of older men chatting, smoking, laughing, and rubbing their tired feet after what looked like a long morning of work. It felt completely authentic, untouched by tourism. We decided to sit for a beer, to just take in the moment. No crowds or tour groups, just us and the people who lived and worked there. All with the constant reminder of war behind us, it seemed right to raise a bottle to those brave men and women. When we got up to leave, one of the men shouted something at me in Vietnamese. I turned to see him gesturing wildly, turns out I’d left my hat. Vietnamese people truly are some of the kindest humans I’ve come across.
From there, we walked through back streets in the heat of midday, a heat that clings to you and saps your energy instantly. But as exhausting as it was, this is always how I like to see the real day-to-day life. People cooking at their doorways, scooters squeezed into impossibly small courtyards, children running past, and tiny shops selling bottled water for 18p. This was still the cheapest we bought on the entire trip although I’m sure if you look harder you’ll find cheaper.
Our final stop was the B-52 Victory Museum, free entry, quiet, respectful, and filled with relics from aircraft brought down during the war. Pieces of metal bent and scarred, components of landing gear and engines, all within reach. No barriers or alarms, just history displayed plainly. Standing there with Annie, walking through the space at our own pace, I couldn’t help thinking about what life must have been like here during those years, how loud those nights would have been, how terrifying, how surreal. Visiting places like that is humbling. You see fragments of something enormous, something far beyond statistics and dates. I’m grateful to have witnessed, touched, and respected, and it will be something that stays with me for a very long time!
And that was just our first day…
