The One Where I Fall Into A Bucket Of Fish

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There are countless markets in Hanoi that are so much fun to explore, except one particular moment that caused much embarrassment and annoyance! The streets in the markets are quite narrow, and as I was passing through the fresh food section, a lady on her scooter had parked herself in the middle of the street with no thought to any pedestrian that might need to pass her! So I attempted to go around her by twisting my body to miss both her and the stall next to me, and as I was halfway around the bike I slipped on something and fell into a massive bucket of fish. I heard multiple gasps and “oi zhoi oi” (oh my god) yet no one helped me get up, so I jumped out and dripping with fish stenched water I stormed back to my hotel. I was so afraid they were mad at me and wanted me to pay for contaminating their fish that I didn’t look back!


Of all the people I met while in Hanoi, I would say about 80% of them couldn’t wait to leave. I never understood why, because I absolutely LOVED Hanoi. And what’s not to love? Crazy traffic, a massive beautiful lake smack bang in the centre of the Old Quarter, great shopping, little local markets, bookstores, awesome - and cheap! - food, countless dodgy dvd stores and KFC. It was great having a break from constant travelling by picking up a few movies and watching them in my hotel room while eating 7/11 purchased goods. I think I’ve seen Terminator 4 about 8 times now! There is just so much to buy in Hanoi, heaps of beautiful items for your home, lots of great cooking sets, tacky touristy t-shirts (I bought 2) and amazing art work. Not to mention my two favourite shopping experiences: Communist Propaganda and dodgy photocopied books! They would get books from the library, photo copy every page, whack a pretty convincing cover on it and sell the book for $1. I only bought two thinking I could get some elsewhere but nowhere in Laos or Thailand could I get any. I’m going to try to head back to Vietnam on my way home and stock up my library! I bought two awesome Communist propaganda posters, to match my Chinese commie posters, and I just need to get some from Russia, Cuba and North Korea and I’ll have a whole set!

Despite all the things I loved about Hanoi, the Water Puppet Show made me want to slit my own wrists. Approximately 3 minutes into the show I knew I had made a tragic mistake by going. As soon as the music started playing, the chimes and bells and high pitched singing, a small water puppet came out of the makeshift lake at the front of the stage and started ‘dancing’ to the beat, and I knew I was going to hate it. I could hardly move my legs because the seats were so close together and my legs are long, and I kept huffing and puffing with annoyance during the whole show! I think the show was portraying Vietnamese life and history through the performance of the puppets, but I couldn’t tell you what happened. I just saw different puppets pop out, splash around and disappear. It only cost around $6, but that could have bought me a combo meal at KFC, with upsize!

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