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Published: December 23rd 2010
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Dinner in Vietnam
they sit on baby plastic stools on the sidewalk around makeshift tables and eat and drink whatever the women are cooking...pretty fun When we went out for breakfast (we paid in baht for this) we saw our tuk tuk driver from a week ago who had waited for us while we saw the famous building (can't remember the name...), so we asked him to meet us as Saysolay at 12 so we could go to the airport. We packed and waited outside, played checkers, and when he drove up he parked across the street. We went over to start loading our things and then some French lady came and was saying something to the effect of this was her tuk tuk driver and why are we in her tuk tuk. I assume that's what she said, but I don't speak French, so I can't be sure. Either way, we got the point across that we were going to the airport so she hopped in with us.
When we got there, she refused to pay her 20,000, saying it shouldn't be more than 50,000. We told her that was for one person, but she didn't speak English, so we paid our 40,000 and then a little extra to pick up her slack. We had to wait a bit for them to let us
cheap
wine we saw in the grocery store...Chilean. so bad it's not even sold in Chile check in but when we did, we checked three bags and there was no charge -- just like the old days. Going through security was strange for me because the woman there confiscated my red pepper flakes! I asked if I could put them in a bag instead of the glass jar they were in and she got sort of angry and said no. So I lost those. Annoying.
While waiting in the airport we decided to buy a couple of beers. Ronald was walking over to the counter but was stopped by a woman working at a newsstand to ask him how to spell "die". He was like what are you talking about and she showed him the text message she was writing which was "You're making me die". Anyways, the flight was a nice 1 hour or so with a snack and when we got to the airport we went to the information desk which ended up really being more like a travel agency. In the end we opted for Liberty Hotel -- a woman in Laos had given us lots of information on it, so we went there.
The drive to the hotel, located in
never
ever heard of this wine, also Chilean, also not sold there the Old Quarter, was interesting. On the side of and under the highway there were kids playing soccer and volleyball, there were men and women scrunched together on mopeds you didn't know had the strength to carry more than one, and we even saw two guys on one motorbike hauling a long bamboo ladder that was dragging on the pavement behind them.
The hotel ended up being really nice, and especially nice for the price (150,000 per night, per person). We had a little free dinner fixed up for us (delectable green beans, rice, and eggs), fought with the women below about batteries for the AC controller, and then went out for a real dinner at Gecko's, a restaurant only a block or so away.
After dinner we bought a bottle of Bicardi Gold on the street for 190,000, and a 1.5 liter coke for 15,500. Nice.
Technical Details * Yes, they're communist, just like Thailand and Laos, but also yes, you see plenty of business owners
* Just like Thailand and Laos, outside the city you pretty much just have rice paddies
* there are hotels E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. and they are tall and skinny, so you might be the only room on the 8th floor
* Driving side: right
* $1.00 is about 20,000 VND (Vietnam dong)
* haven't yet seen the hammocks in the tuk tuks like in Laos
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