Bia Hoi Hanoi

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One of us did manage some sleep on the bus but unfortunately Emma once again did not. This meant that when you arrived in a smoggy city at 5am there was one priority - a bed, at any cost. Whilst rushing around getting our bags and fighting off touts trying to take us to their hotel I managed to step into a drain full to the brim with last nights stagnant rain water.

This left one of us tired and grumpy and the other smelly and grumpy - not the ideal way to go looking for a hotel. We checked a few out and eventually decided that our usual $15 maximum would have to be pushed for now to stop a small explosion of two English people wiping out the center of Hanoi. We found a place that was $18 but even this turned out to be damp and have a pet cockroach.

So we slept and started to feel more human and less monstrous. We had settled in the middle of old town Hanoi which was a series of crammed streets where levels of cramming commerce and traffic in reached a new level of crazy. The pavements were used for either parking motos or selling stuff and the people reduced to walking in the streets. Bars of a night time took this even further putting stools on the road to maximize the earning potential. We discovered towards the end of our time here that this was illegal but the police simply made sure they didn't go past these places or gave plenty of warning when they did to avoid any trouble.

We had set our mind on sorting out our Myanmar visas here rather than in Bangkok as this was by far the safest option but as we arrived on a Friday we would have to spend 7 days in total in Hanoi so we could get it all done. The first day we wandered out of the old town and down to Hoan Kiem Lake. This lake would play a part in the stories/legends we would hear about Hanoi. We stopped off for a bite to eat and sat by the lake to relax and take in the sights. We saw a couple of newlyweds having photos by the lake and tried to sneak a sly photograph. We then set off again only to realise that we had left Emma's sunglasses that she had had for over 5 years on the bench. We ran back but they were gone. A few yards down the road we were stopped by a street peddler who had tried to sell us something earlier who had picked them up and gave us them back. This of course meant that we had to buy some of her bananas - yum.

That night we decided to sample the local drink - Bia Hoi. This was brewed for no more than one day and usually consumed that night. It seemed to be a little bit stronger than the Fresh beer we had been drinking but the supply turned out to be more limited as after a few drinks we soon found that we were told to move onto the more expensive bottles of Tiger beer. During the day we had met a bloke called Mat from California and arranged to meet him later that day for beer. Unbelievably this flimsy planning worked and we ended up drinking till very late as we found out it was Mats birthday.

Bia Hoi corner turned out to be a good place to hang out as we soon met another person there after Mat left to meet his sister and go through India to the Himalayas. Rory was an Australian who had been travelling a very similar route around Asia and was going to be in the next 3 major cities we were planning on the same dates. This and his unbelievable knowledge of politics made him and instant hit and let Emma get some of her pre-election rants off her chests and get a better than response than my "whats the different between local elections and these big ones". We spent a couple of nights with Rory and when he headed south we arranged to meet in a few days in Luang Prabang.

The next day was spent hunting for a cheaper and drier room. We picked up the names of a few places from the web and went hunting. Due to the number of drinks the previous evening this was later than we expected but we did find a place for almost half the price. It was situated on a street on the outskirts where everyday locals were out selling all sorts of foodstuffs. We say all sorts but it was mainly any type of animal big enough to be butchered. There were the standard pigs cows etc but also with their hearts spleens and everything then they also had fish crabs and shrimps either fighting out onto the street from their bowls or crawling for freedom after escaping the nets. Emma was most fascinated by the frogs but decided Andy was only just more pleasant to kiss and so she would stick with him. So with a good room found we were off to meet Mat before he left Hanoi for Sapa that night.

That night we only had a few beers and so we headed back to our room to watch a film and get an early night.... or so we thought. That night the market outside carried on until 3 am. Now for a peaceful mind such as mine this was no problem and I was snoring before I got into bed. For Emma however it meant she could start to sleep until well after 3 by which point she had lost most of her sanity. The fact that the market started up again at around 4:30 certainly didn't help matters. So we checked out of there about 6 and went to search for our 3rd hotel in as many days.

We did eventually find one and after hushing up the fact that we were paying less than the super rich people staying there we went to get breakfast and wait for the room to be prepared. This took about an hour which gave us enough time for a fry up and breakfast burger. We checked in and grabbed some sleeping pills from a pharmacy so Emma could sink into the plush bed and sleep for the next 13 hours.

We awoke with very little conviction to do anything and as we had spoken to some tour operators and found out that getting a visa for Burma was not going to be easy we had lost the motivation we had for this. To be honest we had been traveling too fast for too long and had decided to have a few lazy days. This consisted of mainly just wandering around Hanoi eating kebabs and finding new and interesting places to eat lots of food and drink strong coffee.

We did the main cultural things and after 2 failed attempts (one day we awoke too late and one it was closed) we went to see the preserved remains of Ho Chi Minh who has been dead . This was quite an event as you had to queue for ages and the military guards outside were very keen on everybody observing the proper etiquette. Arms by your sides but not in your pockets. No sniggering. No photos. Etc etc. The body itself was amazingly well preserved and obviously sparked the debate later on as to whether it was a hologram or a Madame Tussuad.

After we left this we went to see Ho Chi Minhs old house and cars. Here we met a local called Tien who was a member of the army and had been given 8 weeks to mix with foreigners to improve his English before he graduated. He was a lovely person and after the confusion of us saying we couldn't pay for a guide he explained how we would be helping him with his studies. We wandered around with him and his knowledge was great to share and we even went for a coffee. Short of one or two probing questions about what we thought about communism and capitalism the conversation was great and we left after he gave us his number saying if we got in trouble he could help us out.

We also went to see the water puppet theatre which was definitely Cultural (note the capital C). We spent half the show checking the program to see what was meant to be happening. There were buffalo, foxes, fish, dragons, some phoenix and lots of bad singing. It was great to see this traditional artform but a lot of it went over our heads.

We were now stuck in a waiting game for our visas to be sorted. We had been to the Myanmar embassay and they essentially told us that as we didn't have a job or a tour guide we wouldn't be allowed into Myanmar. So we went to a travel agent who charged us double so that they would "sponsor" us to go to another country. This did however work and 4 working days later (one day was a Myanmar holiday) we had our visa and were ready to go.

Before we could go there were 2 foods i still wanted to try out in Vietnam. One i had complete conviction I would do, one I wanted to see before I tried. The first was pigeon which we had seen being eaten the first night we were here. They served one pigeon roasted and split down the middle with its head (brains and all) and feet still attached. This as you might have guessed tasted like a stringy chicken and whilst wasn't a culinary masterpiece the faces Emma pulled made it well worth it. We later found pigeons in cooked in coke cans which again provoked the same look.

The other food I did end up wimping out of as it just looked too gruesome. We had heard that dog meat was only eaten in the later part of the month so were quite shocked when we found some cooked dogs (whole) on a street and the striking resemblance to the resident evil dogs and the holes from the spits made me think twice about ever eating dog meat.

Our normal haunts for food became quite predictable as we stayed there longer. We had our free breakfast (egg toast and fruit) and then usually a kebab from a street stall whilst on the move. We started going to a restaurant that was close to our hotel and littered with locals. This had a selection of dishes but we stuck to the list of small dishes including - pork ribs, roast pork with salt and lime, sauteed potatoes, cabbage and of course rice! This place was consistently good and relatively cheap for the amounts we were eating there.

The other more random sights of the city included the railway tracks going through huge built up residential areas and the market next to it with loads of animals for sale - Emma got quite sucked in by this. We also found a place selling tombstones who decided to advertise with a Britney Spears memorial - quality.

So after spending more time in Hanoi than we had in some countries so far we finally decided to leave and got a bus to the border town of Dien Bien Phu.

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Comments

[Daveyyy Ando]

Gerrabirrablueyonthebarbyyyyyy
Alreet Bud still alive i ope, loving the old dog buttys on rabbit gives me a few ideas on a piss up night to be honest. take it easy out there maynnn n dont for get the crazy love beads x

[Dawn]

Are u having fun ???
Am following your travels - some of me wants to join you then i see the insects and change my mind !! Hope u both having the time of your life - the piccies are fab ! My work colleagues following as i drag them in to see the next installment of your travels..... Want to see your mum next to a cockroach when she goes out there !!!! Love and kisses Dawn xx:)