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Published: January 14th 2008
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On first viewing that morning to get breakfast Hanoi seemed busy but friendly. We were staying in the 'Old Quarter' area of the city and it seemed very authentic, had alot of original buildings, small markets and bars. There is a real french impression here which is not surprising as it was a french colony for a time. The streets are bustling with motorbikes, street sellers including ladies carrying baskets over their shoulders on a pole full of fruit and veg. Each asks you to buy and if you decline then asks if you want to pop the baskets over your shoulder for a picture. We declined but saw many who did this over the next couple of days who seemed to get a little stung by how much money they expected for the privledge!!
On our first day we decided we should see as much as we could as we only really had two days here. Tim had heard about the local water puppet shows so we took our street map and headed off to find the theatre. We paid 40 dong each (just over a quid) for the best tier seats and chose the 3.45 showing so we
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONNAIRE
One million Vietnamese Dong is worth 31 GBPS had a few hours to ourselves beforehand. We wondered around the local markets which are surpisingly clean. The people we came across were not always the most welcoming on the face of it but the younger generation are keen to practice their english on you and in general were quite friendly. I was impressed by how widely spoken english is here and it made life easier than it had been in China. We retuned to the theatre for the show...the water puppet shows originated years ago when the local farmers suffered flooding and could not tend to their land. To pass the time and entertain each other they held these shows in the flood water which told local stories. Quite quaint really. Now to be honest on first evaluation the shows are amateur even through they are well put together. Things like being able to see the sticks the puppets are sat on, that when it came to light up a breathing dragon you could see the lighter behind the curtain etc.....But they are a very traditional way of life and really are quite fun if you forget your too old to be in there!!!!! We had a laugh and
it was only an hour which was long enough.
After this we went in search of a food and beer, were not constantly drinking honest!!!. We were both feeling tired as we had not had a huge amount of sleep due to the border control.
Vietnamese food is delicious, very much like chinese in the repect of the sauces and ingredients. The only real difference we noticed was the massive amount of garlic the dishes have in them, whether you order chicken in black sauce or deep fried noodles you can guarantee there will be whole garlic cloves in there. Tim fell in love he relished it every single night and stank for days believe me!!!!!!!
The morning of our second day we decided to try and find some cheap tops and T-shirts so we could get rid of our scabby looking clothes and warmer t-shirts. The shops are not really aimed at tourists which was surprising, the ladies dont jump out of their seats to greet you (which in some repects is nice) but then when you want help they dont really seem interested. After an hour or so of looking round and being given a
few silly prices I stopped back at a shop we had noticed earlier which had some nice summer tops. Now after my experience in China my biggest concern was the sizes. I took the tops down off the rack and inspected them, Tim was not sure they would fit and after a while I figured he was probably right. I couldnt see anywhere to try them on so I had a bit of a pull test at the width which made me think they would fit. Anyway after around 5 minutes of debating this the lady walked over snatched them off me and said something like 'no try on' and then gestured very rudely with her hand for us to leave. I was gob smacked!! we spent the next 10 minutes debating whether to go back and then decided to give shopping up as a bad job! I'm still feeling bitter about this encounter 1 week on as I recall it!!!!
We then took a bike taxi for the next hour around the city - poor guy he must have been shattered were not exactly the lightest two people in the world. He managed though and it was nice
an relaxing. We noticed later that all other western tourists had one each rather than together!!!
Hanoi has a lovely lake in the centre so we headed for a nice walk round that as the sun had broken. As we had not had really warm sun for weeks it was a real pleasure and very relaxing.
Walking back to our hotel much later in the day we spotted a street cafe. Tim had read in the travel book we have about the local beer served straight out of the barrel and apparently a must have if you visit. Lets face it we dont take any major encouraging anyway!!!! We sat down and the lady was very welcoming pulling up the tiniest stools you could imagine. So there we were with our two beers sat in the middle of the street. After a couple of minutes a lady gestured and shouted from behind me, Tim looked a little concerned and suggested we move. Apparently from what we could gather I had been sat in front of her display cabinet and she was non too impressed with me. At this point I am starting to think that there is a
vendetta against me from the older ladies!!!!! So we moved away to the other side of the pavement where we sat with two local old men who obviously enjoyed this beer everyday as a general pass time. A couple of minutes later Tim gestured towards a tree behind me, at the foot of said tree were two white ducks. One was in a blue plastic bag with it's head popping out and the other was sat in the mud with it's little legs tied together. This sort of thing does not shock me anymore but it was sad. Tim spent the next 10 minutes winding me up about buying them and setting them free on the lake and how cruel I would be not too!! In the end though what disturbed me most was the fact that the lady came out to set a small table at the front of the pavement. She grabbed the ducks into another carrier bag and proceeded to hang the bag off a hook on the tree. This was deeply disturbing to see as the duck which was already in a bag was now squashed underneath the other who could just about poke his head
out. I couldnt sit there watching this so we left. The beer was very nice though and cost the whole sum of 10p each. Tim couldnt stop going on about the price all night but we both knew we'd rather pay a bit more and not have to contend with anymore ducks!!!!! They've probably been eaten now!!!!
For a city Hanoi is quite nice to walk around. The pollution is bad and there were a couple of times I felt a bit sick from it but in general it was a nice place. Far more traditional and genuine than I felt China had been in places.
We had booked to take the night train to Hue which was south of Hanoi. Mainly we chose here because it was too far on the train to get to Nah Trang in one hit. So we left Hanoi on the 7th Jan for our first sleeper bus experience........
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Suz & Sime
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Poor little quack quacks!
Can't believe you didn't rescue the poor little ducks - you cow!! They'll come back to haunt you, you know.....