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Published: July 24th 2013
Tonight I'm writing to you from the Artisan Boutique Hotel in Hanoi.
We woke up at around 3:15am to catch the plane from Bangkok to Hanoi. We had pre-booked the taxi to airport the night before and expected the usual bright pink, pretty new, air conditioned affair. What showed up was a banger, with a driver who may have been around when the model T was the standard issue automobile. It was HOT and still raining slightly, but we got a good deal so we just went with it... things only got a little worrying when it sounded like bits were falling off the back of the car on the motorway and when we stopped at a petrol station so the driver could have a look under the bonnet with a torch. He never mentioned why or what he found but we were SO glad when we got to the airport.
We were flying with a budget airline and the airport was in keeping with the budget feel. Its totally different to Bangkok's main airport but did the job just fine. We did a lot of standing in line waiting for things to be stamped. We were actually plucked from the visa queue about 10 minutes before our gate closed and were rushed through a little side channel and directed to our gate. After a hefty power walk we found the gate strewn with hungover back packers and a few Chinese people with their usual mystery boxes. The staff at the gate were sort of loitering looking a bit bored and a bit lost. 15 minutes or so after the gate officially closed it was opened and we were allowed to board the plane. We discovered to our horror that we weren't next to each other but were in the middle of three and one behind the other. I was told i could move after take off if there was room. At the time we were supposed to take off the plane was still almost empty so i wasn't worried.... ten minutes later a man came and sat next to me... ten minutes after that another man came and sat on the other side of me. Both were asleep within minutes - leaving me trapped! Eireann had loads of lovely space and i was wedged between two snoring men.
Over the next 30 minutes or so the plane started to fill up with stragglers and once everyone was on board they closed the door and we were off a mere 45 minutes after we were supposed to be. The man next to me woke up when he smelled breakfast... a sort of rice/bean/rancid fish combination which was pungent enough to wake him from even the deepest of slumbers. I took my chance and bolted for the seat next to Eireann. In hind sight i might have been better off staying next to sleeping beauty! Eireann started tapping me on the shoulder and when i looked a big, fat, brown cockroach was wandering across the wall and all over the sleeping woman next to her. I have never been as glad as that to get off an aeroplane!
Hanoi was equally as disorganised as Bangkok. There was a very soviet feel about the old airport (the new one is years away from being finished) and to get visas issued its a massive faf you have to go to go around the back of the visa office and through the payment line to give your passport and your letter of invitation, then you need to go back through the line you've just been in to the back of the line you had to get through just to pay! Everyone was doing it wrong! (us included at first) Eventually the lady pressed my passport up against the glass and everyone clambered around to see whose picture is was then stepped back disappointed when it wasn't theirs. We payed our $90 (2 x $45) and headed for baggage claim. Then we waited. And waited. And continued to wait for around 40 minutes until eventually our plane's bags were unloaded, one by one, with a brew break for the luggage guys between each bag!
We had pre-booked a car to take us into Hanoi because it was about the same price as a taxi and it was so much easier. We picked up a million dongs (yes we are still laughing every time we say dong!) and were taken by our driver (who looked about 12 years old) to our hotel for the night.
The first thing we noticed was the noise. Bangkok isn't a beepy place. Im not 100% sure how the traffic works there but somehow it works and everyone is calm and it sort of makes some sense. I think people must get points for how often they can beep their horns in the space of each journey here in hanoi. Bikes, mopeds and cars just weave around the roads like drunk drivers missing each other and anything else on the roads (or pavements for that matter) by millimeters!
We made it to our hotel in one piece and got settled and helped out by very lovely staff who helped us book our train to Hue in a couple of days time. Then we were off to explore! The sun was shining and the bikes were beeping and it was just nice to wander around the city taking it all in. We found some amazing silk shops and i had to talk myself out of buying 400 more scarves (i figure they will be cheaper in Hoi An where i can buy 500 for the same price!!) By late afternoon we needed a drink and settled on a balcony of a bar near our hotel and just watched the world go by, took some photos and sipped cold drinks feeling very laid back indeed!
This evening has been spent at a leisurely pace as tomorrow we are up early to get a minivan to Halong Bay; where we will be on a cruise for the next couple of days. I may get chance to do a very short blog (this one is only such a monster because we have a laptop which comes with our room) the day after tomorrow, before we get the sleeper train to Hue. I'm just not sure we will have access to the internet much in the next few days. The bay is supposed to be beautiful and if the weather is like it has been today it will be amazing to be by the water and out of the city.
Our next stop is Halong Bay and i am VERY excited about it!!
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Patricia
non-member comment
Are we there yet!!
Sounds exciting glad you are both embracing it all. X