Honk if you're in Hanoi!

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Hey folks!

Well, have spent a couple of days in Vietnam now so thought I’d fill you in with what I’ve been up to!

Sat 20th August
Plane from Hong Kong was delayed by about an hour... grrr, so had to sit and watch the rain for a little bit longer. Eventually boarded the smelliest plane I have ever had the pleasure of traveling on... but it got me to Vietnam in one piece!

When I was coming into land in Vietnam I took a couple of photos (which I will have to post on here later cos the computer I’m sat at is ancient and doesn’t have a USB port!) But I was soooooooo relieved to see that the houses were made of bricks and not mud huts (call me stupid but I only have East Africa to compare this to... and having done my reading I was a little worried about how (un)developed the country was) Also... It WASN'T raining! Woo hoo! Got off the plane; glorious sunshine and very hot!

Jumped in a taxi outside the airport cos it's about a 45 min car journey into Hanoi. Told the taxi man which street in the Old Quarter I wanted to be on (I'd seen a nice guesthouse on the internet that I wanted to check out)... On the way to the City we passed MILLIONS of mopeds and bikes with anywhere between 1 person and a family of 5 people on the back! And I think the taxi man must have known them all, he was honking his horn at everyone as he went past!? Then I suddenly realised that the name of the game is to honk your horn if you want to get past, or you know them, or want to make them fall off their bike (which, amazingly, never happens!) Oh no... I also saw a couple of bikes with piggys going to market on the back! (sob!) There must have been about half a dozen pigs stuffed in a wire basket about 3ft by 2 ft... all on top of each other.... and still ALIVE! Thought I may have to turn vegetarian, but then, you're right, I had pork later that night, and the thought hasn’t haunted me since!!! 50 mins or so later, we turn up "at my fweind hotel"... oh grrr... knew this was going to happen... told him that I wasn't budging from the back of the taxi till he took me to the street I wanted to go to... he said "I no understand"... grrrr. Anyway, got out the taxi, put my portable house on my back and made off down the road... but he insisted that I pay... grrrr... so gave him his money and a few cross words for good measure!

So, there I was, in the middle of Hanoi (not a place I’m particularly familiar with, it has to be said) but good old lonely planet to the rescue (it is my Bible! it's already looking very worn and dirty and I've still got 2 and a half months of usage left!), managed to navigate myself round the city to the Lake which is in the centre of the old quarter and the hub of everything! I'm also grateful to Becky and Jo who I stumbled across and in my moment of need ("Do you speak English!?) rescued me and pointed me in the direction of a couple of hotels!

Soooooooooooo many hotels, just not enough money!
Every hotel/hostel/guesthouse, was asking for anywhere between U.S. $12-15... which, when on a budget, is quite a lot! Kept on searching… till another hotel tout approached me and said that he had a room with bathroom and air con for $7... sold! By this point I just didn’t care, it was getting late and I was 'perspiring' (like a lady!)

Ummm.... note to self, never be too desperate!
Room wasn’t bad, did have bathroom and a/c and a fan and fridge too! But just wasn’t all that comfortable... i.e. I didn’t feel particularly safe. Just got a feeling that I was going to be ransacked at any moment... and this feeling didn’t leave me all night!

When I went out to 'explore' that evening, I took all my worldly possessions with me, but had to leave my clothes (they wouldn’t have fit the guys running the joint anyway, even if they had taken them!) The surrounding area was buzzing! It was really great to see possibly the entire population of Hanoi (somewhere in the millions) sat out on the street until about 10-11pm!

USEFUL TIP... if you're ever in Hanoi this may prove useful knowledge...
When crossing the road, forget the green cross code... don't look left, or right, just keep on looking forward, in fact, better still, just close your eyes and pray for the best!!! I could have sworn that they drive on the right here, but I'm not so sure now! One thing is for certain; they don’t have such things as pedestrian crossings or traffic lights! It's a matter of just walking veeeeeeery slowly so that they can see you and avoid you. I am, of course the master at this skill, as I have absolutely no road awareness when I'm at home,.. I find crossing the road here rather fun! However, a true professional will also be able to avoid losing their toes at the same time as saying 'no thank you' repeatedly to the cyclo and motorbike drivers offering to take you somewhere... I don't like to brag, but I am possibly a true professional now!

Anyway,... where was I?

Oh yeah, needed to eat something so chose to eat 'something' from a street vendor. These are effectively families sitting by the side preparing food for anyone passing by. I had a bowl of traditional meat (some variation of meat, I don't know what it was, chicken, beef, pork, dog, rat, cat, don't even ask, I'd rather not think about it!) in a soup type stock, with bits of grass... think they were spring onions...but your guess is as good as mine and noodles! Was half decent, cant beat a steaming bowl of soup in 30+ Celsius and 80+ % humidity!

(Oh yeah, and another thing, I haven’t seen many animals bigger than a pup or kitten whilst here… just makes you think!)
(Oh, and another thing… (had lots of time to think!) when I was talking about the homeless people in Hong Kong the other day, they were all really old (and very small, but that’s not significant) but does this mean that one day Hong Kong will be free from homeless people cos there are no visible young ones to replace the old ones?!)

Then spent a sleepless night setting up 'traps' and loading my pack against the door, just so incase I did fall asleep and someone did break in, I would know about it!

Sunday 21st August

I'm still alive! And I still have all my stuff!!
Had been told that breakfast was included in the price of the room, and had even been asked what I wanted to eat the night before, but when it came to checking out, they had NO idea what I was talking about (how convenient)! Insisted on something to eat, so they sent the little man out to get some bread, which he did and begrudgingly brought to me with a miniature portion of butter and Jam…better than nothing.

Well, setup for the day, I chose to spend the first hour finding alternative accommodation! Found the hotel that Becky and Jo (my saviors who speak English from yesterday) were staying at, and although it was going to cost me $10 and mean that I had to book the trip I wanted to do with them and only them, I figured that it was going to be worth it! Couldn’t move into the room until later on that day, so set out to explore some of the sights.

Started off with a trip to see the Water Puppets. They originated in the rice fields in Vietnam. When the fields flooded, the workers would entertain themselves by making wooden puppets and create a play on the water. The puppets at the theatre in Hanoi were much bigger than I'd imagined and they had moving body parts. There were a couple of stories acted out along with music; themese included 'swimming' 'harvesting', 'dance of the dragon' and 'welcoming the king'. It was really quite good fun... bit of a giggle too!

Also visited the Temple of Literature, which was really interesting. Gave a bit of insight into the history of the place,...The Quoc Tu Giam was the first University in Vietnam to be run under a Feudal system. The king would set an exam for the students each year (!)
There are 5 courtyards;
1 'Entrance to the way'
2 'Success'
3 'Stelae Courtyard'
4 'Sage Courtyard'
5 'Thai Hoc Buildings'

It was nice just to wander around the place and have a look at the buildings etc. I took some time out to sit infront of the 'Well og Heavenly Clarity'.. thought it might be good for me in some way!? Also in this area were the Doctors Stelea which are like big stone slabs engraved with information about the Doctor (teacher) that they are there to remember. These stone slabs are also placed upon a carved tortoise. The tortoise is recognised as one of the holy animals and is supposed to represent a long and healthy life. Other holy animals include the dragon, unicorn and phoenix (there had been a dance for each of these animals in the morning at the water puppet show)
The Thai Hoc Buildings were renovated to celebrate the 990th anniversary of Thanh Long (Hanoi!) In one of the buildings there was some traditional music with some really great instruments... one woman was playing this instrument that you just had to clap your hands infront of and the air created would make a noise thru the bamboo pipes... great fun!

It was really hot, so decided to hop on the back of a bike to get back to the lake,... the guy was all for taking me to another museum, but I stood my ground and told him the lake and only the lake, or he doesn’t get paid! It seemed to work, but I still had to run down a number of side streets to stop him from following me!

Room still not ready at the hotel, so wandered up to the oldest temple in Hanoi... Bach Ma. It was a really cute little place but a lady was praying, so felt like I was a bit of an imposter. Still got some good photos (promise to put them up shortly!)

Finally got into the hotel room... showered (boy did I need a shower - ewwww!)

Thought I would treat myself this evening to a nice meal. Ventured out to find a little place that had been recommended in the Lonely planet guide book... was really nice, had proper sit down tables and chairs (as opposed to plastic ones, quite a novelty here!) and good good food! I had chicken with cashew nuts and loads of vegetables with rice... and 2 (I treated myself) bottles of sprite... and the price... extortionate at just over 2 English pounds! However, didn’t really get the feeling that I was eating in Vietnam…was spoiled by all the westerners.

Sat waiting for the computer and met a couple called Dan and Myca (American and Japanese!) they had been traveling from the south to the north of Vietnam and were able to help me out with a couple of hotels to stay in along the way... big thanks to the two of them!

Good nights sleep, in preparation for my trip out to Halong bay tomorrow and Tuesday.

Will update you again as soon as possible. (Have actually just come back from Halong bay, but don’t want to ramble on for much longer, also going out to get something to eat with new hotel mate, Lauren... will tell you all about it in another installment!)

Hope you're all well, keep your comments and e-mails coming, it’s really lovely to hear from you!

Clare x

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Comments

[Claire]

anti jippage all the way
impressed with your anti jippage mentality - just look after yourself tho!! take care! and never speak about becoming veggie again!!

[Rob]

After all the road crossing drunk in Manchester, you should have at least had SOME mild practice at suicidal road crossing! Keep enjoying yourself, and have fun.