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Published: August 8th 2007
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Thap Rua (Tortoise Tower)
Hoan Kiem Lake, Old Quarter of Hanoi Arriving from the last of our 3 overnight train journeys from the south to the north from Hue (Blog:
Hue: Seven cyclos, two Catfish and a case of the missing Forbidden Purple City), Hanoi would be little more than a brief encounter. This was because our two nights here sandwiched a night in Cat Ba island, with much of the day before spent cruising in the shadows of the hanging limestone cliff's of Halong Bay. We knew we needed to make the most of our short stay in Hanoi but, after waking up at 4:15am in readiness to hop off the train, we waited patiently for our hotel rooms in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, hoping to get that extra couple of hours sleep that would get us sanely through the day. There weren't any available until people checked out, but eventually we got one room between us. The 6 of us crashed out in a cramp but well presented room.
Tailors When the 6 of us did finally arise from our incestuous temporary sleeping arrangement, it was time to go in search of brunch, which we swiftly found within a stroll of our hotel. We then went our separate ways for the afternoon. Spotting a laundry service opposite, I decided to chance
The Hoc Bridge
Over to 'turtle island' on Hoan Kiem Lake it. Little did I know (although I might have guessed), we would not get it all back...they obviously took a liking to Sally's underwear and my zip off trouser legs, which were never seen again. That said, I was quite thankful of them keeping Sally's cheap and cheerful passion killers, bought especially for travelling - they were welcome to them!
This was our first chance to really start to take in our surroundings. One of the first things I noticed was how quite a few of the Vietnamese women seemed to wear pyjamas as everyday wear! Speaking of clothes, Sally was still feeling aggrieved at not getting anything tailor made in Hoi An (Blog:
Hoi An. Suits you, sir...), particularly after seeing everyone elses designer looking dresses, so had been sketching some of her own designs. This was her last chance! We quickly found a tailor in the Old Quarter. We were greeted by two young ladies who seemed to be a Vietnamese equivalent of Trinny and Susannah: they were very direct, but cheeky with it! They were real characters. They gave some good advice on the skirt, top and linen trousers Sally had ideas for and, above all, kept me thoroughly entertained
Hints of a legend
The entrance to 'turtle island' on Hoan Kiem Lake throughout! Just 48 hours later, we returned. On our initial visit, I had gone in my 'day after the night before' look - unshaven, hair unspiked and covered by a cap. 'Trinny' wasted no time in telling me how handsome I looked today, compared to how terrible I had looked the day before with a cap on! In fact, we had quite a conversation about it all whilst Sally tried her items on and had alterations made. No doubt, this was more expensive than Hoi An at the equivalent of £45 for the 3 items, but after the alterations, they fitted Sally perfectly.
The water puppets I guess there's two main 'must do' things whilst in Hanoi, which are to go to the Theatre for a performance of the water puppets and to visit 'Uncle Ho' himself at his last resting place, in the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The best way to sum up the water puppets, in the words of a well known guide book, is that it is like a slightly more cultured version of Punch and Judy, but in a pool! It certainly was unlike anything else I've seen in a theatre and well worth the
visit.
The next day we headed for a trip to Halong Bay and an overnight stay on Cat Ba island.
Know One, Teach One (KOTO) Arriving back from Cat Ba via the unapologetically unfriendly public ferry late afternoon, being that it was our last night in Hanoi the 6 of us plus Quan went to KOTO restaurant for our last supper. This place supports street kids, giving them opportunity for a career in catering. The menu is superb, as was the vantage point from our table several stories up. I'd highly recommend treating yourself to a meal here.
Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum On our final morning, we had very little time to fit in a visit to the Mausoleum, but despite the fact it was a Saturday (take note: the weekend is when many Vietnamese descend on the Mausoleum) we tried our best to get around it before our lunchtime flight to Bangkok. We failed miserably...
To be sure of not geting ripped off, we arranged a taxi for a fixed price of 30,000 Dong from our hotel. The taxi seemed to go a long way around getting to the Mausoleum to me, but we eventually
One of many Tailors
Except this is the one Sally got her clothes made at. arrived to find it was very very busy. The Taxi driver insisted on 50,000 Dong. I refused, knowing full well we'd agreed 30,000 Dong. He was quite adamant. I was in no mood for locals tying to rip us off again, so we had a bit of an arguement over it for a while. However, only having a 50,000 Dong note, I was in a weak bargaining position and dependant on him giving me my change. Okay, it's not a lot of money, but I was sick of them trying to con us. He eventually gave me 10 Dong back, so I walked away in a huff! As we rounded the corner and saw the full extent of the queue, we resigned ourselves to the fact that there was no way we'd even be inside the complex before we needed to be back at the hotel in time for our transfer to the airport. Still reeling from the taxi drivers trying to con us all the time, there was no way I was going to hail one...no way; we were walking back! At least we got to see some more of Hanoi this way. The roads are pretty crazy to
cross, but Saigon had got us used to that! We must have walked a couple of miles, walking past obscure shops that repeated themselves e.g. 5 DIY shops in a row which appeared to specialise in wires, aerials and satelite dishes. Street names tend to indicate the type of shops along it, so I swear this must have been Rupert Murdoch street or something, but given our random wanderings we didn't really know what street we were on, just that we were heading in the right direction.
Hoan Kiem Lake On our walk of protest back to the hotel, we managed to squeeze in a quick visit to across to the little island on this lake. As you reach the otherside of the Hoc Bridge, the entrance hints at the historical significance of the lake with it's tortoises. It's all to do with a Golden Tortoise who returned a sword gifted by Heaven to an Emperor - once he'd finished driving out the Chinese with it, that is! Apparently there really are tortoises in the lake somewhere, but I was not lucky enough to see one. The temple which sits on the island wasn't overly exciting. However, I was
intriged at the burning of US dollar bills...the only explanation for this appears to be some kind of offering (if you know any better, let me know. I am still curious).
It was soon time to head back to the hotel, check out and head for the airport. But not before complaining about the dodgy taxi driver to the receptionist. She was mortified and was straight on the phone to complain to the taxi firm. We soon got our 20,000 Dong back...not that it was much use to us now, or even much money, but the principal and gesture was appreciated.
At the airport we were faced with some power dressed woman who orderd us into line and told us all to keep quiet...perhaps this used to be a military base?! Overall, given the rip-off taxi drivers, cyclos and the locals on the ferry from Cat Ba, we'd found Vietnam a far less friendly place than Cambodia or Thailand, so were really looking forward to going back to an old friend; Bangkok, we're coming back for a last farewell...!
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