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Published: March 17th 2009
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We step through customs at Hanoi airport into a chaotic wall of humanity, all shouting "you want taxi?!" at us. We don't, the airport taxis have a bad reputation, and Vietnam Airlines run a $2 minibus into the centre of Hanoi, so we say "no thank you" a hundred times as we set off to find the bus stop. There are scores of touts all trying to get us into their unmarked minibuses, but suspicion at their pushy attitude and lack of ID makes us sit for awhile trying to scope out which is the real one. It's well past midnight; we watch a few buses leave filled with heavily luggaged Vietnamese, and eventually decide to get in one and hope for the best...the alternative being a guarateed rip off in a taxi. We needn't have worried, the bus takes us exactly where it's supposed to, for exactly the right price. I'll soon learn that when embarking on any journey here, the beginning is always so disorganised that you're never quite sure if you're on the right bus, if your luggage is too, and if there's going to be a hidden tourist tax.
We find a good cheap double room
with private bath for $10 and collapse into a deep sleep. Which lasts about 4 hours...at dawn the noise starts and gets progressively louder. The shrill shriek of moped horns and the noise of the market right outside soon persuade us that if you can't beat them, join them. Arriving in the early hours of the morning, the streets had been completely deserted, but this time when we step into the narrow lane outside the Tam Thuong Hostel we're totally disorientated. People shop at the fruit and veg stalls from the seat of their mopeds with engines running, horns blaring...it's so noisy! Scores of moto taxi drivers shout "Hello...motorbike?!" not knowing we have no idea where we are or where we're going.
Being lost is fine though, the Old Quarter is beautiful with old French colonial buildings set round the massive Hoan Kiem Lake, and we move through the busy streets in search of coffee and breakfast. We are both instantly addicted to Vietnamese coffee...it's seriously good stuff, thick and strong and a bit chocolatey. They also make really decent baguettes which are sold fresh everywhere, on stands that will make you a pate and salad sandwich.
Once
we find the central Hoan Kiem Lake then we're back in the map. The Old Quarter of Hanoi is quite small and by the end of the first day we have our bearings. Or rather I do...Ritch, as always, remains completely lost...apparently he's too cool for maps!
My mind is still preoccupied with my recent banking drama, so we head to the embassy to see if my replacement card has turned up. It's over 2 weeks since I ordered a new one but I'm not holding my breath, which is just as well as it's not there. I'm reassured that as soon as it turns up they'll email me, but I'm concerned that in 3 days they close for a week for Tet (Chinese New Year). We could be here awhile.
We spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the Old Quarter and eat our first Pho in the market...the rice noodle soup that Vietnamese eat for breakfast/lunch/whenever. Our first bowl, full of herbs, chilli and marinated pork, is so good that we know it'll become our staple too.
Internet is free at our hostel and I'm quickly checking my email on the way out that evening...can't
believe it when I spot one from the embassy. My card turned up a couple of hours after I'd been in, and I can collect it in the morning. Yay. We decide it's worth celebrating, so head to Le Pub, as it's $1 gin and tonics and we're feeling supersonic.
Knowing we no longer have to hang around waiting for my card, but also deciding that we really like Hanoi and want to celebrate Tet here, we decide to spend a few days visiting nearby Tam Coc (Vietnamese words crack me up...you've got to love a language when the currency is a dong) and get back here in time for our second 'New Year's Eve' of the year.
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