The following day we started early to make the most of our short stay in Hanoi and headed down for our free breakfast in anticipation. Sadly there was no buffet consisting of a selection of pastries, an egg station or fried noodles; instead our host Mr Jimmy sat us down and his staff presented us with 4 fried eggs (we didn’t ask for these but the gesture was kind enough), a plate piled up high with bread which was equivalent to a whole loaf, as well as some spread and a huge jar of jam which was a suspiciously bright shade of pink and tasted of sugar and not so much of strawberry.
After forcing ourselves to eat as much as possible (it was free after all), we were then subjected to a 20 minute-long lecture by Mr Jimmy outlining what we should do with our 4 weeks in Vietnam! However, he was really just trying to help us out and also sell as many of his own tours as possible, which is the norm in Vietnam, so with polite nods and uhmmings of ‘we’ll go away and have a think about it’, Leon and I made a dash for it and headed down on foot to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
Now by this time we were well into the later part of the morning which meant one thing: it was absolutely boiling outside. Not wanting to spend money unnecessarily, we braved the heat and the deadly traffic and walked for about half an hour until we made it eventually to the Mausoleum and Museum complex. Unfortunately we didn’t read the small print in the Lonely Planet which tells you that the Mausoleum is closed at lunchtime on Mondays. And what day was it? Correct. Monday. Instead we headed into the Museum which was fairly interesting, outlining the events that lead up to Vietnam War and HCM’s role as leader, but again lady luck was not on our side and we were promptly kicked out of the Museum after 40 minutes for them to close it down for the lunchbreak again.
Given that there was nothing in the vicinity for us to see or do, we decided to venture into town (which was another 30 mins in the direction we had just come from) to the Old Quarter to book our boat trip to Halong Bay. I’d highly discourage anyone from walking in the midday sun in Vietnam or anywhere for that fact, as we were both very flustered and just a bit irritable after what felt like a morning of walking for no reason! We made it to a tour agency which seemed legit (we’ll come to that later) and booked our trip for the following day, as well as our train ticket and open bus tickets for the rest of the journey. Feeling rather pleased with ourselves for getting the transport sorted, we did a little more venturing to get some much needed food down us, which consisted of more pho and fried noodles, and some local beer to wash those worries away... Refuelled and energetic, we made it back to the hotel and had a quick rest before heading out a little later for dinner. Wanting to keep the cost down, we found a food court in a shopping mall close to the main lake in the middle of Hanoi where we shared a rather large steamboat whilst listening to crazy Chipmunk music in the background. We also learned how to cross the road the Hanoi way by a lady who felt sorry for us, having stood by the roadside for about 5 minutes as the traffic was just too horrific! In Hanoi and elsewhere in Vietnam it's all about just walking at a steady pace across the road. This way the motorcyclists can just dodge around you as you walk on by! All in all, Hanoi was a city on speed and once you get used to the hustle and bustle, it's actually starts to grow on you a little. Not one for the faint hearted though, that's for sure.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Monday, 5 April 2010
Chaos at the airport and Hotel Civility, Hanoi, Vietnam: 6th Feb 2010
By the time we landed in Vietnam it was already 7pm in the evening and we were about to experience our first taste of the chaos that is Hanoi. When we went to the baggage carousel there seemed to be a dozen flights that had landed around the same time and, as a result, the fairly small arrivals hall somewhat resembled a market place with people shouting across the hall, kids running around and airport staff marching to and fro whenever the baggage carousels broke down (which happened quite often). We waited for almost 2 hours for our bags but apparently this was the norm in Hanoi airport i.e. no system is the way that their system worked!
Finally with backpacks to hand, we jumped into a local taxi and headed downtown to Hotel Civility, which we had booked online and looked quite decent on their website.
The journey into central Hanoi was an experience in itself. Evidently the way the traffic system worked was to use your horn as much as possible on the roads in order to warn other vehicles that you were coming through, and there was no stopping you. I have also never seen so many motorcycles on the roads before, and what was more incredible were the goods that people strapped onto the back of their bikes. Given that Chinese New Year was looming, there were 2 metre high mandarin trees and even a refrigerator strapped to the back of one bike! Malaysian traffic was starting to seem rather tame in comparison....
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally came up to a series of very tall, narrow buildings all built up right next to each other and lots more traffic. This could only signal that we were in the centre of town. Roads were windy, busy and motorbikes were swarming. We both held on for our lives even though we were sat in the safety of a car - it was that manic! Luckily we made it to our hotel in one piece and were greeted by the hotel staff, who took our bags and ushered us into the hotel. Really it wasn't anything like the website (some clever lighting going on there) and the staff all looked about 18 years old. When we were taken up to our room, up 7 flights of stairs (no joke), we thought that perhaps booking in advance was a mistake. Luckily the room turned out to be quite decent - it had hot water, a flat screen TV and aircon, so we happily agreed to stay for the next couple of nights. Bellies rumbling, we ventured down the road after quick showers and found an excellent French-Indochine restaurant where we devoured some pho (beef noodle soup) and fried rice. We also sampled our first local Vietnamese beer whose name I can't remember, but after a long day, it definitely washed the food down extremely well! With very little energy left, we decided to leave the exploring of Hanoi until the following day, and retired to bed in our room on the 8th floor (no elevators included).
Finally with backpacks to hand, we jumped into a local taxi and headed downtown to Hotel Civility, which we had booked online and looked quite decent on their website.
The journey into central Hanoi was an experience in itself. Evidently the way the traffic system worked was to use your horn as much as possible on the roads in order to warn other vehicles that you were coming through, and there was no stopping you. I have also never seen so many motorcycles on the roads before, and what was more incredible were the goods that people strapped onto the back of their bikes. Given that Chinese New Year was looming, there were 2 metre high mandarin trees and even a refrigerator strapped to the back of one bike! Malaysian traffic was starting to seem rather tame in comparison....
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally came up to a series of very tall, narrow buildings all built up right next to each other and lots more traffic. This could only signal that we were in the centre of town. Roads were windy, busy and motorbikes were swarming. We both held on for our lives even though we were sat in the safety of a car - it was that manic! Luckily we made it to our hotel in one piece and were greeted by the hotel staff, who took our bags and ushered us into the hotel. Really it wasn't anything like the website (some clever lighting going on there) and the staff all looked about 18 years old. When we were taken up to our room, up 7 flights of stairs (no joke), we thought that perhaps booking in advance was a mistake. Luckily the room turned out to be quite decent - it had hot water, a flat screen TV and aircon, so we happily agreed to stay for the next couple of nights. Bellies rumbling, we ventured down the road after quick showers and found an excellent French-Indochine restaurant where we devoured some pho (beef noodle soup) and fried rice. We also sampled our first local Vietnamese beer whose name I can't remember, but after a long day, it definitely washed the food down extremely well! With very little energy left, we decided to leave the exploring of Hanoi until the following day, and retired to bed in our room on the 8th floor (no elevators included).
7th Feb 2010:New Country number six.. Vietnam!
The next morning marked we were both feeling the excitement, both packing haphazardly and doing silly dances to mark our last day in Laos and what was about to be our sixth new country on Our Big Adventure. As far as killing time goes (our flight wasn't until mid afternoon), we did quite well and the highlight to note was the massive grilled fish that we ate in a roadside stall for the equivalent of about 4 pounds! Another 3 hours in a coffee shop sipping the cheapest filtered coffee that money can buy and then we were finally ready to head down to the airport. Me being my father's daughter, we made it to the airport in very good time, so good in fact that we had to wait another hour until we were actually allowed to check in! Nonetheless, we made it on that plane and off we went into the sunset. Good bye Laos and Good Evening Vietnam!
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