NOVEMBER 2018 - SCOOT IN-FLIGHT MAGAZINE

HANOI
PHOTOGRAPHY STANDING BAR
ABOVE
There are
19 beers
on offer at
Standing Bar’s
impressive
tap room.
CIRCLE
Wooden
signages add a
beatnik vibe at
Standing Bar.
Of course, modern
Hanoi is not just about
creative agencies, left-field art
venues, tucked-away bars,
and cutting-edge restaurants.
Ho Chi Minh City may have
witnessed more breakneck
development, but there’s cash
aplenty in the capital these
days – I witness at least six
Bentleys negotiating through
the swarm of motorbikes on
my first day alone – which
means that bohemian doesn’t
equate to basic.
Indeed, my hotel, the Sofitel
Legend Metropole Hanoi, is a
fine example of this. Built by
the French in 1901, the
Metropole was described, with
typical Gallic fanfare, on
opening as the ‘largest and
best-appointed hotel in
Indo-China’.
Previous patrons include
louche, creative icons like
Somerset Maugham, Graham
Greene, and Charlie Chaplin.
Folk singer and anti-war
activist Joan Baez, meanwhile,
is believed to have hunkered
down in the hotel’s “secret
bunker” during an American
bombing raid in 1972.
While the Metropole is
steeped in over a century’s
worth of history, its near
neighbour – Tadioto – is an icon
of the city’s recent creative
renaissance. For a final insight
into Hanoi life, I saunter across
the tree-lined boulevard to the
venue (which serves variously as
a bar/cafe, event space, and as
a meeting spot for arty types of
all stripes) to meet owner
Nguyen Qui Duc.
Duc, a memoirist, poet,
scriptwriter, translator, former
on-air personality for US
National Public Radio, and the
son of the highest South
Vietnamese official ever
imprisoned by the North, is
regarded as a figurehead of the
Hanoi scene – largely due to his
own conviviality and uncanny
ability to create spaces
conducive to creative ferment.
Tadioto has been around in
various incarnations since 2006
but has now been a fixture in its
current location since 2014.
Despite its air of relative
permanence, though, it retains a
freewheeling ethos that, once
again, encapsulates the spirit of
new Hanoi.
“Everyone supports each
other here,” says Duc, while
doling out generous pours from
yet another bottle of red
Bordeaux. “It’s like a village. A
village with six million people.”
SCREEN BREAK
While Hanoi has plenty in
the way of art galleries,
Doclab offers a rare and
valuable showcase for
experimental filmmakers in
the city. This creative space
was established in 2009
and has since been
dedicated to showing
documentaries,
experimental films, and
video art. While the
emphasis is on
Vietnamese auteurs,
Doclab also makes room in
its program for
international artists.
hanoidoclab.org
Scoot
flies five times
weekly to Hanoi.
Book your
flights at
flyscoot.com
58 SCOOT