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Published: March 12th 2011
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I have arrived in Hanoi!
I managed to get up on time on Tuesday morning, despite not having gotten much sleep the night before again. After arriving at Charles de Gaulle and finding out about a not so fun extra baggage payment, we were on our way to Hanoi.
Well, first, we were on our way to Hong Kong – the flight was about 11 ½ hours, and with an extra seat in our row, it ended up being more comfortable than the flight to Paris. Then, after a quick layover and our bags *just* making it to the plane (we saw them out the window), we were on our way to Hanoi.
We had to arrange for our visas once we arrived, but it was a relatively painless process and before we knew it, we’d gotten our bags and were headed to the hotel with our guide, Mango.
Yes, really, that’s his name.
Though we later learned that he does have a Vietnamese name, which means "mango." He said everyone in Vietnam is name for something, with most women's names being those of flowers.
As we rode to the hotel, he regaled us with
stories about his family and the history of Hanoi, along with the plans for the future, which include expanding the city to the other side of the Red River.
I asked him why it’s called that and apparently, it’s because in the rainy season, so much silt is washed into the river that it appears red.
We also got the chance to see the world’s longest mosaic – since Hanoi is actually lower than sea level, there is a concrete dike built along the city to keep the water out. A reporter who was living here felt that it was very depressing, so she started a campaign to have it decorated. For the 1000 year anniversary of the city celebrated last year, artists from all over the world came to design and put together the mural. It IS really long, and also beautiful. Not to mention it’s incredible that the city is 1000 years old!
After battling our way through the traffic (more on that in another post) and being amazed at the electrical wiring here, we finally arrived at the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi. Despite the strong French influence here, the hotel is definitely decorated in a
British colonial style, with large dark green shutters on all of the windows and dark wood everywhere. There are two wings to the hotel, and we’re in the old wing – honestly, I prefer it. It’s got much more character than the newer wing and doesn’t seem as busy (though there are always people in and out in the lobby).
Unfortunately, our rooms weren’t ready when we arrived, so we had a spot of lunch in one of the restaurants, and ran into one of the other delegates who joined us. Finally, we were able to get into our rooms and sleep. The rooms are very comfortable as well, with a chaise lounge at the end of each bed, very high ceilings, and a fabulous bathroom – the bedrooms, while still having a colonial feel (and incredibly beautiful dark wood floors), have a decidedly French decorative influence.
The only real downside is that you can’t get wifi in the rooms (unless you prop your computer in an open window, and even then, it’s limited) and my computer doesn’t have a port for an internet wire. So I’ve been spending a lot of time in the lobby checking email and uploading photos, blog posts, etc. in between meetings and other work-related activities.
I puttered around for a bit, but then fell asleep around 3 and slept until 9:30 – it was glorious. I got up for a bit to have some dinner and iron my clothes, and then it was time for some more sleep. Unfortunately, I was up bright and early the next morning for some reason, so I pushed myself to go for a run first thing before we had our meetings with the hotel and events planner.
After our meetings and some lunch at the buffet in the hotel’s French restaurant, I was fortunate enough to have a spa treatment – the jet lag recovery (unfortunately, it just made me relaxed enough to want to sleep ALL the time!). The prices here are incredible – it was a 90 minute massage for $95. Seriously.
The treatment started with a small cup of tea. Then I was led into the treatment room and put my feet into a bowl of water with rose petals. After that, it was on to the massage, which was so relaxing I had trouble blinking the sleep out of my eyes at the end of it! After another cup of tea, I was incredibly relaxed – it was just lovely.
The rest of the afternoon was a bit hectic with some deposit difficulties, a lost (and found) cell phone, and rushing up and down the stairs and to my room (which feels like it's half a mile away). But after a bit of time relaxing, I headed down to the first event of the conference – our welcome reception & dinner!
It was a small group, but we had a lovely time. The buffet was quite extensive (it’s for 30 people, but we only had about half that). One of the items was roast suckling pig – I’d never actually seen one up close before, and it was very sad. I couldn’t manage to eat it
That led to a conversation at my table with one of the hosts (an American who moved here ten months ago) about other strange foods that are eaten here. He said he’s tried snake – and it’s a whole ceremony to eat it. The bring a live snake to the table and chop it’s head off before draining the blood into a glass. Which you drink.
M.
Then, they cook the snake up with some other vegetables and spices and such (because apparently it doesn’t have much taste), and you eat that. Don’t think I’ll be trying that while I’m here. Or ever really.
The other thing that they eat here (apparently, they eat pretty much anything except tourists - some of us are too spicy, according to Mango) is dog meat. That’s something our host hadn't tried, but wants to (but our Vietnamese host said he's never tried it and has no interest in ever trying it). That’s also supposed to be quite a ceremony, with all the men gathering together to sit on the floor and eat it. Again, won’t be trying that.
I was horrified by the whole idea of it, along with a few other people at my table who said they’d never be able to try it either. Good thing I left my pup at home!
It's interesting too, because many people here do seem to keep dogs as pets, so it's a bit strange to think that while some people have them as pets, other people are eating them.
It was lovely to see everyone again, catch up, and have some laughs. Soon, I was ready for bed though so I headed back to my room to rest up for the morning’s business session. When I laid down to sleep, it felt as though my back was still being massaged, so I fell to sleep almost immediately. Maybe there’s something to that jet lag recovery!
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