Everyone in Vietnam is, of course, partial to their hometown. For locals, it's the place they grew up; for foreign residents, it's where they first fell in love with Vietnam. But for one intrepid traveler, there is a Vietnamese city that is among the world's greatest.
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In case you've never heard of him, Gunnar Garfors is a Norwegian media professional who has visited 198 countries and holds a Guinness World Record for jetsetting to five different continents in one day. Earlier this year, he published a book about his travels, titled 198: How I Ran Out of Countries.
Being the travel expert that he is, a few weeks back Garfors published a list on Thrillist of his top 20 all-time favorite cities around the world and the Vietnamese capital was among them. In addition to Kiev and Copenhagen, Mumbai, Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul, Garfors ranked the Vietnamese capital number nine on his list of must-see cities.
This is, of course, a compliment to the people of Hanoi, however if we're being honest, his assessment of the city certainly bucks a few stereotypes. “If you hate when strangers talk to you, don't visit the Vietnamese capital,” Garfors writes on Thrillist. “The friendliness you're likely to experience will probably make you feel uncomfortable.”
The overwhelming warmth of Hanoians is not exactly a common sentiment you'll hear from visitors to the city, however Garfors carries on, waxing lyrical about xe ôms, to which he refers as “moped taxis”.
“The [xe ôm] drivers won't rip you off,” Garfors insists, “but their taxi colleagues will.”
Though it all makes him come off as a bit of a noob, if it's good press for Vietnam we'll take it. In the end, Garfors does manage to say one thing we can all agree on: “Hanoi is about hanging, observing and soaking up the relaxing (but never dull) atmosphere that infuses city life.”
