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Published: March 5th 2010
Around Hanoi
mosaic to celebrate 1000 years of the founding of Hanoi for 10/10/1015/2/09 - Our shuttle bus did a slow peak hour crawl to the airport along the M5. The watch hands were ticking closer to our desired arrival time and we had a long way to crawl yet, it left us wondering why we did not opt for the train instead.
The airport the check in line was as bad as the Sydney traffic, but at least we had made it and just had to snake our way with the queue until our turn came. The check in line gave us a chance to meet some of our fellow passengers, 99% of whom were Australian-Vietnamese folks travelling to see family for Tet (The Vietnamese New Year). Their check in luggage consisted of a lot of large gift items, like rice cookers, microwave ovens, and other stuff that was easy enough to carry on a luggage trolley.
As our bags were whisked away on the conveyor belt I always say a small prayer that they arrive at our destination intact. In our bags we had some gifts for friends also, 3 bottles of wine, some t-shirts and other items. Hopefully we would see them at the other end with no breakage.
Around Hanoi
produce market Once settled on the plane our fellow passengers got talking and were obviously in very happy moods to be going back for Tet. Interestingly, a few seats from us was a woman who works in the kitchen of our favourite Vietnamese restaurant. We recognised her right away and got chatting. She was on her way back to Hai Phong, once she arrived in Hanoi she had a further 3 hour taxi ride before she made it to her family’s home. We also got talking to a guy who cam from Marrickville, he gave us the name of his brother-in-law’s restaurant back there and promised us it was definitely the best food in the inner west (we will find out one day soon).
On arrival in Ho Chi Minh City we had to clear immigration, and proceed to the baggage collection area where a Vietnam Airlines staff member stuck a “transit” sticker on our shirts. The plan was to quickly collect your luggage then race to a bus to the domestic terminal and board the connecting flight to Hanoi. That was a good theory, the snags being that our flight was late and the staff were trying to rush
Around Hanoi
produce market us so much that I started getting a bit agitated. My mood did not improve when we found Lorenza’s bag but not mine. The airline staff told us to forget my bag and just get to the connecting flight and they would search for my luggage. Not much choice so off we went and made a mad dash for the Hanoi flight.
On the ground in Hanoi we saw the lost/delayed luggage counter staff and they checked the barcode info from our baggage receipts. The guy at the counter informed us that “we are very sorry but your bag is now in Hong Kong”. He promised to get it to Hanoi as fast as possible and deliver it to our hotel. This is not the first time and will not be the last that my bags have had a hiccup along the way. So long as the wine bottles are intact all would be ok. Plus, we would get to see how Vietnam Airlines compares to others when it comes to delayed bags (they could not be any worse than BA).
Outside the terminal you immediately know you are back in Hanoi. The roads are full of motorcycles,
Around Hanoi
produce market the road rule book is hidden deep inside a vault in the main government building and is not made available to the general public, ever!
We checked in at the Bao Khanh Hotel, we went around the corner for a few beers to un-jangle our nerves. It felt good to be back in Hanoi! We hit the pillow and were pushing up zzzzz’s soon after.
16/2/10 - Weather was a bit cool, no change of clothing for me, aside from a fresh t-shirt. Luckily I had kept my rain jacket in my hand luggage so I had something to keep me a little warm. Tet in the south is characterised by warm sunny weather, but in the north it is often grey and cold, as it was now.
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới After breakfast we grabbed a map and took a stroll through the local produce market. There were not many shops open and the streets were relatively deserted. Not many tourists or locals around at all. Tet fell on the 14th, and there were 9 official days of holidays that followed, so the city was deserted while people visited family in the provinces outside Hanoi.
Most of the people we met greeted us with “Chúc Mừng Năm Mới” - Happy New Year.
From the produce market we kept walking until we got to the mosaic wall near the Long Bien Bridge. The mosaic work celebrates the 1000th year since the founding of Hanoi as the capitol. The official date for this anniversary is 10/10/10.
Dung and the Long Bien Bridge As we stepped on the other side of the mosaic wall we found a dusty market area. We were approached by a guy with a motorcycle asking if we needed help. We explained that we wanted to walk across the Long Bien Bridge but could not see where the pedestrian section of the bridge was accessed. He introduced himself as Dung (pronounced Zang) and asked us all the usual questions - “where are you from?” “How long will you stay in Vietnam?”, etc. He then proceeded to push his motorcycle along while talking with us, leading us to the pedestrian part of the bridge. It was kind of him and I offered him US$1 as a thank you gesture. Dung told me “no, no, I do not do this because I need
Around Hanoi
mosaic to celebrate 1000 years of the founding of Hanoi for 10/10/10 any money, I have plenty see. I do this because talking with you makes me feel like I am in Australia for a few minutes”. His wallet did have plenty of VND inside as his wife had a good market stall. Dung then continued walking with us, pushing his motorcycle until we got about halfway across the bridge and he said he had better get back. He wrote down his contact info, shook our hands and told us if we have any trouble in Hanoi call him “I will be there so quick to sort it out no worry for you ok”. Nice!
The Long Bien Bridge was built by the french architect Eiffel (who I am sure you all know well). It has evidence of a lot of wartime damage, with holes made by shrapnel. The handrail in places leaves you wondering about its structural integrity. The bridge spans the Red River, this is the river that Le Thai To (the founder of Hanoi) saw the figure of a dragon reflected in when he decided to move the capitol to its current location.
The Long Bien Bridge is now used by motorcycles and bicycles, with a train
Around Hanoi
mosaic to celebrate 1000 years of the founding of Hanoi for 10/10/10 line in the middle, plus a few brave pedestrians like us. Cars and trucks use the more modern bridge further along the river. The views of the river make the walk worth it. People grow some food stuffs on its banks and there are some small houses and shacks way down below the bridge.
We checked back in at our hotel after visiting the bridge and found no luggage had arrived yet. It was a bit cool and a pullover would have come in handy. No shops were open so a cheap purchase was not an option either.
Our friends Mike and Hang turned up later to take us to dinner. Mike thoughtfully brought along some pullovers, warm pants and some beanies for us. Now that felt more comfortable!
Gastronomy Street & Great News We had dinner in an area Mike referred to as “Gastronomy Street”. The speciality of the house was Lau, or steamboat. Essentially it is a cook your own soup that you add ingredients to as you desire. The flavour keeps getting better as you add ingredients and allow it to boil away on your table. Great with a Hanoi beer! It was
Around Hanoi
mosaic to celebrate 1000 years of the founding of Hanoi for 10/10/10 a perfect meal for a chilly evening.
Mike and Hang shared some great news with us, they are expecting their first child. Naturally I told them that in the event of it being a boy they must call him Robert or in the case of a girl Roberta would be perfect - they did not agree for some odd reason.
At the Lau restaurant I got re-introduced to local bathroom amenities. I had to go, so a young man from the eatery showed me the way. Up the street, down a back alley, past a number of kitchens, people preparing meals and children playing to …. I will leave the description to your imagination and simply say I am glad I did not slip and fall in.
After dinner we went to a dried fruit shop and bought lots of delicious snack food, dried kiwi fruit, pears, plums, peaches, you name the fruit they had it. You could try it all before buying any and the price was very reasonable.
Our night ended in a bar, talking about re-incarnation while downing a pint of Guiness … as you do when drinking Guiness!
A change of clothing
Back at the hotel I was so happy to find my luggage had arrived. It seemed like it had a good trip to Hong Kong, all the contents were intact. While collecting my bag we saw the housekeeping lady who recognised us from our visit 3 years ago. She is lovely and via the guy working on the desk (who had good English) told us she was happy to see us again “because you are both so funny” and that “Mister now looks like he will have two babies”. I thanked her so much for noticing I had gained a bit of weight in the last 3 years!
Found you! 17/2/10 - Hang and Mike invited us for lunch today. Hung explained that she wanted to share some traditional foods with us that her family normally enjoy for Tet. Our taxi driver got a bit lost, but we eventually found their apartment which is opposite a military school. They got a bit of a surprise when we rang the door bell as they had thought we would call them as it was common to get lost in the area as it was a relatively new development.
Around Hanoi
Long Bien Bridge We shared a great lunch. Vietnamese food is for sharing, I will write more about that in another entry. We had a great meal and talked about the changes we had noticed in the last few days since our last visit … like there were a lot more cars on the road and almost all the motorcycle riders now wore helmets. Plus there was a huge amount of construction and road works going on all around.
We took a walk around the area to work off some of the food. Not far away is the stadium that was used for the Seagames in 2003 (South East Asian Games). A lot of the buildings and amenities looked half finished and not well maintained. There are many new high rise apartment blocks being built in the area, the artist’s impressions on the signage outside the construction sites shows a happy world full of happy residents, happily shopping and the cars actually stopping for them to cross the road on the pedestrian crossings … a nice fantasy world on a sign.
Packing some essentials - contemplating Wanderlust Back at Bao Khanh we packed some essentials for our trip to
Around Hanoi
Long Bien Bridge Ninh Binh and Cuc Phuong. Pullovers, long sleeved shirts, some thermal wear and basic hiking gear were required. We planned an early night compared to the past few getting to bed at midnight, so to hit the pillow at 9pm was a good idea.
As I lay waiting for sleep to come a thought kept running through my head about how much I love travel … the word “wanderlust” sprung into my mind and I considered its meaning for me … I think it comes from the German meaning a love of hiking, with the word wander being similar to the Dutch word vonderling (or something like that). In English it simply means a love for travel, on my part it represents something I find so addictive …. Adventure, new things, new places, new people …
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Emillie
non-member comment
Baggage
Hello, I understand your baggage was missing on your arrival to Hanoi. Did it come back safely and on time?