Border Banter, Hanoi and Goodbyes

---

I was rudely awoken by my alarm at 630am the following morning- but as is often in the case was pretty painless to get up following just a few hours sleep. Will on the other hand, struggled to move, never mind get up so that we could go! We loaded up the minibus and were on our way on the short drive to the border just before 7. American Adam was indeed with us, determined to somehow get across the border with his incorrect visa. This was to be the worst border crossing I have encountered so far and would have been a logistical nightmare were I on my own without the help of Pauline and Tuey. Firstly, the border for whatever reason was closed when we arrived and wasn’t going to open until 8am. Pauline said this was most unusual- and had never encountered this before. Cometh 8am, Tuey took our passports and got them stamped at the Laos side such that we had officially left Laos. However, the complication of American Adam quite possibly not getting across the Vietnam side was overcome by them not stamping his passport- such that he couldn’t get stuck in no-mans land! Everyone agreed that the situation was probably made 10 times worse by the fact that he was American! We carried our luggage across no-mans land to the Vietnam side of the border, where we were greeted by scenes of absolute chaos.

Tuey again handed in all the passports (inc American Adam’s) to have their visas checked and officially stamped to enter Vietnam. The major problem was that unlike all other border crossing points, getting your passport back proves to be something of a logistical nightmare. One would think that since our passports were handed in together as a group, they would all be returned together. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The people processing the passports behind bank/ post office like screens were chronically slow and inefficient. Life on our side of the counter wasn’t much better. When a passport had been processed, the name of its owner would be called out, and that person would have to retrieve it by handing over a $1 ‘bribe’. However, there were a melee of people and there was literally a rugby scrum of people pushing and shoving to be near the front for when their name was called out. There was absolutely no order at all- no one was there to stop all the pushing and shoving that ensued. What made it all the worse was that if you didn’t get to the front when your name was called out, you could easily wait for at least another hour before you got another chance to redeem it.

Somehow I made it to the front of the 8 person deep scrum and in doing so resulted in being the groups ‘mascot’. I duly stood there for the next 45mins receiving (and in the end dishing out) many an elbow and kick leaving multiple bruises. This enabled the rest of the group to stand at the back of the crowd and only have to fight their way forward as and when I relayed the information on that their passport was being held up. (Obviously a few members of the group stood with the luggage at all times.) The order was sporadic to say the least- despite the passports all being handed in together, they came back all over the place. Mine was second to last so at least I wasn’t up the front merely serving to help everyone else! When the time came, I handed over my $1 and was thankfully on my way.

As for American Adam- Tuey went to the counter with him as his name was called out. I don’t know what exactly was said but Adam somehow was able to have his passport stamped no doubt helped by the $30 bribe he handed over! However, as he later said, this was a much better outcome than he could of imagined, and this way he got to stay with the group and not have to make alternate travel arrangements. We said goodbye to Tuey who was heading back into Laos having done his job of getting us across the border. So we all made it safely across- and after putting our bags through the x-ray machine were into Vietnam territory. Yet if we thought that was a strenuous morning, nothing could prepare us for what was to come…
We loaded our bags onto the minibus for our fun filled 10hr drive to Hanoi. Yes, 10hrs is a pretty long drive after such an early start regardless- but the driving in Vietnam really has to be seen to be believed. The first hour saw us snaking down a mountain- never have you seen a mini-bus drove so fast around corners. The driving style is very aggressive- with drivers almost constantly on their horns. However, in a funny way it is a placid aggressiveness- there is no road rage or finger gestures between drivers- merely constantly on the horn to let others know you are there. The law of King of the Road really does apply- we were literally overtaking after a quick toot of the horn round blind corners and unsighted dips/hills in the road. Should another vehicle happen to be coming the other way it is accepted that they slow down and let the passing vehicle complete their overtaking manoeuvre- very different to back home! With no seat belts on board, most of us were holding on tight and shutting our eyes so as not to see the madness.

Once we reached the bottom of the mountain and joined Vietnam’s famed Highway No. 1, one could have been forgiven to think the driver would have calmed down. Alas this was not the case. With much wider roads and long straights the journey got worse! At times there were 3 lanes each way- but this did not stop many an incident in which there were 5 vehicles abreast going in the one direction! The constant sound of beeping horns was almost deafening. There were so many near misses it was unbelievable. For the most part I couldn’t even bring myself to look at the road ahead- it was that bad. We distracted ourselves by playing cards near the front of the minibus where there was a flat section which acted as a card table. Thankfully the cards lasted for as long as journey and helped a great deal in keeping our eyes off the road and the time pass! We had one stop en route in the town of Vinh for lunch- needless to say no one felt like eating much- and thankfully arrived in one piece at our hotel in Hanoi at 8 that night. Hurrah! One further complication was that Pauline was told there was no room in the hotel for her and that she would have to stay across the road in the sister hotel- very strange seeing as Intrepid books all the accommodation well in advance of the tours. Pauline let slip later that night that in her 6 times of coming to Hanoi on the trip, on 4 occasions she has ended up across the road. Unfortunately it looks like racism- the Vietnamese are apparently not great fans of the Thais.

That night we went for dinner at Koto’s- a restaurant supported by the Intrepid Foundation. Although a bit pricy, the food was really good and much needed after the long day of travelling. A relatively early night was had by all in our comfortable hotel- somehow Will and I landed a large room with 3 beds- no complaints there!

The following day (Sat 3 Feb) was the last full day of the Bangkok to Hanoi tour. Officially the tour ended at midday on the Sunday. I had just 2 days in Hanoi, and knowing the carnage that would ensue on the first tours final night, went about seeing as much of the city as possible on the Saturday. There was a buffet breakfast at Koto’s which was included and was absolutely awesome- easily setting us up for the day. Following this, a group of us- myself, Will, Alex, Monica, Sally, Diana and Felicity set about the seeing the sights of the city. Our first stop was the Temple of Literature a really interesting place that was once used as a ‘university’- with monks teaching the students. It was rather bizarre how such a place of peacefulness and tranquillity was surrounded by the noise of the traffic chaos, and the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. We then went to the fine arts museum and being the non art fan that I am was surprised at how interesting I found all the paintings and sculptures on display. From there we made our way to the Army Museum- which had awesome displays depicting the Vietnam War. The sheer size of some of the vehicles and missiles was simply breathtaking. The most impressive display was that of a US B-52 Bomber which had been shot down in an air raid over Hanoi. Whilst there we also saw the Flag Pillar.

By now time was beginning to catch up with us- it was around 2 yet no-one was particularly hungry following the monster breakfast. The girls decided to catch a taxi to the Dong Xuan Market (after all they didn’t want to be deprived of their shopping time) whilst Alex, Will and I arranged to meet them there at 4. We continued our tour of the city by visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where we were just in time to see the changing of the guard which was pretty cool. The mausoleum itself wasn’t overly impressive but then again I did read that Ho Chi Minh had wanted to be cremated! En route to the Dong Xuan Market, we made quick photo stops outside the Royal Palace and what I presume was an important Government building. We were greeted by scenes of chaos on our arrival at the market. Picture a massive two story building ridiculously overcrowded with stalls which literally ran straight into each other, with little room for the masses of shoppers to walk round. On top of this, it was stifling hot as there was no air conditioning… Outside wasn’t much better of course, with the combination of the heat and the extensive fumes and noise from the vehicles suffocating. Diana and Felicity had already left by the time we arrived. Only Monica had the stomach to shop on- which left Alex delighted as I’m sure you can imagine!

So Sally, Will and I caught a taxi back to the hotel to give ourselves time for a shower and to get ready for the final night’s dinner. The group met in the hotel at 630 to catch taxis to the city’s Old Quarter, in which we went to see a Traditional Water Puppet Show prior to dinner. The show began with the band playing a few tunes- on a mixture of local instruments such as pan pipes, drums and native singing. Only so much of this I can take I told myself… The water puppets themselves were quite a sight- operated behind curtains- they danced, fought and swam about in time with the music. Scenes ranged from dragons to people fishing to children playing to fish swimming. Don’t get me wrong it was enjoyable for the first 5 minutes. It was only the other 55 that became the problem…!

It was then onto dinner in a restaurant not far from the theatre. It was strange knowing that this was the last meal we would eat as a group. I had a gorgeous Thai curry and for once everything in the restaurant went smoothly. I think everyone spoke a few words about how much they had enjoyed the trip and the company they had been in. Pauline commented that we were the best group she had ever had- and she doesn’t lie so that must be true! At 1030 the goodbyes begun with Lawrie, Pat and Jan heading back to the hotel whilst the rest of us kicked on to a couple of bars. It was a great night with many a photo been taken, in and around copious amounts of beer consumption not to mention the tequila, vodka and B52 shots that got going. Yes, in true style it’s the last night when we’re all going to be together so let’s get hammered!

We staggered home around 3am to find that the hotel Pauline was staying at was locked up! Thankfully (as I mentioned earlier) there were three beds in my room- so at least Pauline got a bed for the night! After a few wee hours of sleep, we got up and went down to the lobby about 930am. Alex and Monica had miraculously managed to leave at 630am for their day trip to Halong Bay. Those of us who were there said our goodbyes to Pauline, Aussie Adam and Jan who left at 10am to make their way to the airport- Pauline to Bangkok to do the same tour all over again starting that night, and Adam and Jan home to Australia. Slowly the group was fragmenting which was sad to see. However, American Adam, Diana, Felicity, Pat, Lawrie and I were staying on for the Hanoi to Hong Kong tour so the original group was effectively halved! Sally and Will were beginning separate tours that night- Sally some trekking and a trip to Halong Bay and Will through South Vietnam. I went with them as they transferred hotels, and then we caught up with American Adam (hereto referred to as Adam seeing as Aussie Adam is en route home!), Diana and Felicity for lunch in the Old Quarter close to where we had been the previous night. Will and I had a couple of beers with our lunch- excellent hangover cure- before we explored some of the Old Quarter. We walked around Hoan Kiem Lake which was really nice. Come late afternoon, it was time to say goodbye to Will and Sally for the final time as we made our way to our different hotels. We had all exchanged numbers and email addresses the day before so that we could keep in touch.

Adam became my new roommate for the second leg, and we were to have a meeting that night to meet the new members of our group, and of course our new group leader. I will close here- hope you are all still awake! That took a bit longer to get down on paper than expected- so apologies!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all for tomorrow! And let’s hope the Scots can turn over the French in the rugger on Sun!

---

Photos

Army Museum
Huge Missile

Pauline
Top leader!

Alex
Looks like it went down well!

Comments

[Michty6]

Gday!
Gday Davey, very nice blogs, loved the stories about the Tuk Tuk right at the start and getting across the border... Glad to see you're partying your way around as well, best way to meet people! Im in New Zealand now, Fiji was awesome - dont worry the driving is EXACTLY the same there, especially about overtaking - and I guess Ill see you in a few weeks or so! Mich