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Published: February 9th 2007
Hanoi
..they do this to every 'glazed-looking' touristChao!!
Today I have arrived in Hanoi via Lau Airlines (I almost rubbed the finish off of my St.Christopher medallion after reading that Lau airlines has never met safety standards and hoped for the best) - safe and sound; oh wait, "sound" would be the bipolar opposite of how it is here. I don't think anything could have prepared me for what I was about to experience in this city. I'll back up a bit. I managed to catch a taxi with a Canadian couple from the airport after landing in Hanoi (oh, and saw a cat-sized rat scurry into the ladies washroom, !!) and we were driven into the old quarter (city centre). Supposedly Hanoi never sees the sun due to the heavy pollution and smog looming in the air; everyone wears masks. There is a whole lot of honking. I repeat, a WHOLE lot of honking. It is constant. It is loud. It is in your face. This is just how it is. The traffic is crazy but somehow it flows. Most ppl are riding motorcycles. Tourists are transported via motorcycle taxi, bus or cyclo (a driver pedalling a seat which sits in the front; kinda' scary when
Hanoi
Watter puppet show you consider the traffic). I don't think anything I tell you here would truly capture the organized chaos that exists in the streets. It is overwhelming. When we arrived at the guesthouse where I am staying, I had to shack up for a few hours just to muster up the courage to venture out into the streets. My first attempt - FAILED. I only walked around the block and was lost!!! How is that possible?? The streets are on crazy angles rather than a grid and the names of the streets change every 4 or 5 blocks (!!). Makes map reading quite challenging. Well, after trying to find a path to walk with my wide Canadian ass and there being no sidewalk to walk on (locals are either sitting eating or talking or have their motorbikes all parked there taking up space) and trying not to get 'clipped' by the drivers on the narrow road as that seems to be where the pedestrians have to walk, in amongst all the drivers, I had a TOTAL MELTDOWN. Ran back to my guesthouse and balled my eyes out. It was the second most stressful moment I've experienced this trip (I'll tell you
Hanoi
Rush hour; NOT! actually, this is what the traffic is like all the time about the first in a bit). After hyperventilating for about 10 minutes, I was able to calm down, re-organize my game-plan and try again. I did it!! I faced the pandemonium with a stiff upper lip and slowly negotiated the crowded streets. When you want to cross the streets there are literally 'hoards' of motorbikes coming towards you from various directions. You just walk into it. They weave around you. I am getting the hang of it. I know I described a similar set-up in Bangkok but this is X 100. Also, locals are trying to sell you something or get you on their bike or in their cyclo every 5 steps and let me tell you, they are PERSISTANT. They will even come and grab your arm. Its quite un-nerving until you get the hang of saying "no" quite assertively. And 'no' said once doesn't seem to matter to them. Several locals with babies in their arms even come up to you and try to sell you something for money for their baby. I know this happens in the world but this is the first time I have experienced it. I made my way to an interesting market that
Hanoi
At the Temple of Literature sold everything imaginable. I bought some pistachios from a lady who after the transaction was complete, still tried to sell me one of everything at her table; hillarious!!! Pretty much everyone in this market grabbed my arm and pulled me to their stall saying "Madame, madame come see come see, you buy". I took out some 'dong' (the local currency) at an ATM and like the Lau kip, it comes in very large denominations. The money is very pretty. I am still struggling to do the conversion in my head to figure the value of things. I managed to navigate the streets a fair ways and enjoyed some yummy food completed with Vitnamese coffee. I found this tourism office that is a/c and really swanky (appears government-run) and it offers FREE INTERNET!!!! Yahoo!! So I am taking advantage while I am waiting for the 9:15 Water-Puppet show at the theatre across the street from Hoam Kiem Lake - a very pretty spot.
Now, I will back up a few days to tell you more about my last bit of time in Laos. I was sad to leave Louang Prabang; such a charming relaxing place filled with kind non-obtrusive people
Hanoi
Old Men, playing their games and such an excellent market which I did not make it back to for a shopping spree because it took me so long to figure out how to get photos on my blog; which incidently, is different on every computer, it seems so I appologise, I still have no photos for you (this terminal does not allow the technology). I will keep trying. The more time it takes me though, the more money I spend and the less time I have to enjoy the sights. So thanks for bearing with me. I bought a bus ticket to leave Louang Prabang for Vientianne only because you can't fly straight to Hanoi from there and the bus route is long and gruelling, I have heard. After reading about Vientianne and talking to other travellers and because I am running out of time, I didn't really want to go there, but had no choice. When I arrived early at the bus station, I realized, along with several others that they oversold the bus (!!!). How does this happen???!!??? Anything happens in Lau. So, they threw us onto this crappy rattle-trap of a bus (not the fluffy pink bus that I'd payed for) that
Hanoi
Cyclos! kept stalling for the first 45 mins as we were trying to leave the city. Hmmmm, could it be because they hadn't fueled up??!! Yep. Gas makes the bus run. Then as we got going , we were all hoping we wouldn't stop cuz it felt like if it did, we'd stall out again. We made several stops in the middle of no where to pick up locals. Even a stop where some guy on the side of the road handed the driver a possum-ish looking animal hanging on a rope and he stuffed it under his seat. When we stopped for a break, we all checked it out and it was hissing madlly from under the seat (!!). By the way, there were 2 young men (just locals) at the front of the bus who carried guns out in the open for all to see. What the heck!! This is route 13 in Laos where in 2003, several tourist buses that year were hijacked and many tourists and locals were killed; there hasn't been any problem since then but I guess some ppl feel the need to protect themselves. Scary. The worst thing about this bus trip (and it
Hanoi
Museum of Ethnology wouldn't have mattered what kind of vehicle it was) was that it was through the mountains. Very beautiful, yes, but also scary as hell, for a prairie girl. I have never felt comfortable when travelling through mountains. The roads were very narrow with extremely steep edges and traffic buzzing in both directions. Well, next, we are coming towards a large truck who is being passed by a smaller truck and the small truck decided not to pull back and thought, " hey, I'm going to see if I can fit through these 2 large vehicles on this narrow road on the edge of a mountain cliff". Well, of course, we hit him; smashing the mirrors off our bus as well as a couple windows on the side of the bus I was sitting on. Holy shit. We were all okay but in total disbelief that this was actually happening (when I say 'we', I am talking about the other tourists I had be-friended on the bus). I am not a person who scares easily but I have to admit, I truly feared for my life that day. I clutched my St. Christopher ever so tightly the rest of the harrowing
Hanoi
Tribal women - Museum of Ethnology ride and thanked my lucky stars when we arrived safely in Vientianne.
Not much to do in Vientianne. It seemed the whole city was in repair, all of the sidewalks dug up, so not so pretty and very dirty. I did take a very dusty rustic tuktuk ride for 50 minutes to see the Buddha park - very cool. Kind of like Stonehenge but with stone Buddha images instead. There were several school children on fieldtrips who were very interested inm e and wanted to show me around pulling me by the hand (cute!!) nad when they saw I had a camera, wanted me to take pictures of them, and then show them in the LCD, reapeatedly!! Hillarious. Visited a seedy indoor market that didn't offer much. The weather that day was lovely and sunny. Enjoyed an excellent Lau massage ($3.50) !!. Nice. Got my Vietnam Visa processed in 5 minutes. Fast!! And that was the end of my time in Lau.
I am going to enjoy the sights of Hanoi tomorrow and then get the heck outta' here. Hanoi is simply not my cup of tea. I long for the sun and serenity and plan to get
Hanoi
Anyone for a haircut? some further South. Therefore I will not be visiting Halong Bay (guess its pretty rainy there anyway). I am on a night bus to Hue (arrives at 8 am the next day) and I haven't decided if I will stop there or keep on going to Hoi Ann. My ticket is for a hop-on, hop-off bus deal that ends in HoChiMinh where I will fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia before returning to Bangkok to fly home. It's kind of nice to be able to decide as I go - where I want to stop and such. That's the part I enjoy most about travelling alone.
Well, I must go. I have heard it is a neverending deepfreeze back home. Sorry for that. I'll try to bring some warmth and sunshine back with me.....
Take care,
Love Pamela xoxox
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SallyM
Sally Meyers
Definitely an experience.. I'm plan to take my trip to Vietname this year, meanwhile I'm still cruising aaround in China. Lets know what happens in Laos. You stopping in China?