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Heidi takes a ride
Lee, one of the daughters at the guesthouse, gave us both rides to our new place...she got a bit worried when Dan was much heavier than me! We've been here for a few days now, spent 3 nights in the city and did a couple days in Halong Bay (write about there in another blog).
We've added photos to the last Bangkok blog as well for you to check out.
We arrived the night of the 28th (Saturday) on a late flight. Eight of us non-Asians ended up congregating together after the baggage claim, all kind of looking around to figure out where we go, where we get money, and turning away the touts trying to offer us rides.
We ended up getting a taxi with an English couple. They had actually booked a room at a hotel so we figured we'd just try to stay at the same one since it was nearly 10pm. Kind of dodgy getting a taxi, and we had a near scam, the non-english speaking driver had been told to take us to a different place where one of the touts had called ahead...we pulled up and the hotel guys said "welcome to blah blah"...luckily, Dan and Matt both had there guidebooks in hand and were checking the streets and realized someone was trying to do a run-around on us!
A typical street in the Old Quarter
There is usually no break in the traffic so you just have to walk slowly and hope that everyone drives around you...kind of crazy! No prob, we just pointed the driver in the right direction, but when we showed up, not only was there no room for Dan and I, but the other couple's room had been booked out. I think that if either of us couples had been on our own we would have been a bit grumpy by now, but with each other, we all managed to laugh about it. Turned down a couple times, we finally found a place. Had to pay a bit more than our budget calls for, but we now know that its worth the money to take the earlier flights!
However, we had hot water and A/C for the first time in 3 weeks, plus flushing toilets (verses the many 'poor your own water from the bucket' ones in Thailand) and the little bath tub provided a perfect soak after a long day. Plus, cable T.V. so we cranked the air and curled up under duvets to watch an old James Bond film--it was WONDERFUL!!
Hanoi is beautiful. Well, still a bit dirty, but the French influence with all the tall skinny buildings gives it such a quaint feel. We stayed on the 4th floor
Little kids playing on their balcony
The children here are beautiful, and I try to sneak photos of them whenever I can! last night and climbed several flights of stairs this morning while we hunted around for a new place...I may have buns of steel yet 😊 In turn, we are sweating--a lot. The humidity doesn't help. We've been carrying this little towel around in Dan's pocket to wipe our faces...I know it sounds gross, but honestly, I never knew my face could sweat so much!
Back to the city...we've walked around and around the Old Quarter with is 36 streets that, back in the day, were each known to sell a different thing from rubber to silk to hats and paper. Many of the streets still have these same shops, but now there are others scattered in between. Some of it is crap, some is beautiful. I've found a shop with gorgeous plates, bowls, etc...I'm trying to convince Dan that buying them and shipping them home would be worth it in the long run!
The food is delicious, too, with fresh baguettes everywhere, fresh fruit being sold on the street and everyone eating noodle soup or some other food on tiny plastic chairs (Malines, think Mom's pre-school chairs but smaller and no sides) outside on the sidewalks. It seems
Our Alley Way
This little street was home to a couple of guesthouses but many families as well. In the evenings everyone would sit outside and talk, eat, and children would play. that everyone brings their pot out front of their home, sits out on the sidewalk, and watches the world fly buy on the motorbikes and cyclos (bicycle with seat in front). Some actually sell the food as well, but your never quite sure who is selling it and who is just eating their own meal.
Some of the locals are a bit cheeky...we were walking and a woman selling fruit came up. She was carrying a big wooden pole-like thing with the baskets of fruit hanging down on either side (you'll see photos soon) She said "you try, take photo" and before I knew it I had the thing on my shoulder and her conical hat on my head. Kind of funny, and Dan took a photo. She wanted us to buy, of course, and she tried to charge us heaps for a few small pieces of fruit. We relunctantly gave up a few dollars, and kind of laughed that she'd "got" us, but there are quite of few of these people so if you're not careful you could end up giving away several dollars!
In general, people are more friendly than the Thais, at least to us,
A basket lady
Tiny women from 15 to 80 years old carry these around from dawn until dusk selling their goods. and we feel like we're around more culture here than we were in Thailand, even outside our doorstep.
One night we ate a little local place--noodle soups with meat and a plate of green beans for about NZ35 cents/US20 cents...not bad, huh? Then we had a couple of Hanoi beers for NZ30 cents each....
Not everything is this cheap, especially since they price things in US dollars as much as the local currency, the dong, but if you hunt around you can find the cheap buys.
The streets are crazy--motorbikes, cyclos, and a few cars going in all directions. There are lanes, but no one really refers to them, though the rule of thumb is to drive on the right. And there are a few stoplights at main intersections, but the other roads are kind of just a "watch where you're going and don't hit anyone" situation. We each took a turn riding on the back of a motorbike with our packs to get to our new guesthouse...kind of scary but we made it! We are still learning how to cross the road properly 😊
The place we stayed in the second couple nights was cute--Thu Giang
Dinner with friends
Dan, Heidi,Nikki, and Matt Guesthouse (mentioned in the LP, but travellers, beware of the ones who have tried to steal the name). The family running it was so lovely, and we had a little balcony looking into the alley. It was on the second floor so if we open our doors we look into other families home and see all their underwear on the line and watch them making dinner 😊
We have yet to see any big attractions since they were all closed on Monday...so we have just walked around, ate meals at the little stands with the locals, and enjoyed the beer 😊 We had one at 11am the other day in some local place that served them with fresh peanuts. All the local men just stared at us and some laughed when we copied them by dipping our peanuts in lime and salt.
Monday evening we went to the Water Puppet show--a local tradition that has been going on for years and tours all over the world. We ran into Matt and Nikki, the couple we shared the taxi with the first night so we all had dinner and a few drinks. Fun to catch up with them...the "backpacker"
Hoan Kiem Lake
A huge lake in the middle of Hanoi (but pretty dirty so just to look at!) world is very small here, its crazy how often we see the same people because there are no white people besides us! We both feel like giants 😊 Dan's thinking about trying out for the Vietnamese basketball team!?!
There are communist signs and flags everywhere. One lady tried to sell us a hat today and we said no, she laughed and smiled. Over here they refer to the Vietnam War as the American War, even in the guidebooks. Interesting...
Tonight we stood on our balcony of our new room and watched the crazy street below. After a while we realized that besides the fast motorbikes everywhere, life moves at a slow pace and the city is very peaceful.
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Lucy Buntain Comine
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Nebraska Greetings
Dear Heidi, I so enjoy reading about your wonderful adventures...surely it's not like driving through Nebraska! Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I thought of you when I was in NY for the 10th anniversary of RENT with the original cast, including Anthony Rapp, whom you met at UNL. Think how much you've done since those days! Have a fabulous trip. Lucy Buntain Comine