Plane to hanoi pretty straight forward and still a much better option than the bus. On arrival at Hanoi we opted to pay the few extra dollars for an airport transfer taxi in order to make sure we had someone we could trust and not have to fight our way through the buzzards outside who all want to take you to a differenthotel than the one you want. The Luxury hotel isnt quite as glamerous as the pictures on the internet lead you to believe as the dining room and bar are probaly no bigger than my office at Learning Services, however, the rooms are spacious and the beds cleean and comfortable so for $20 a night it will certainly do us. The plan is to have a couple of days here then head out to Sapa for a couple of nights, back to Hanoi and then off to Halong bay for a three day luxury cruise before returning to comlete some last minute shopping and then head back home.
We headed out with the intention of catching up with brother Scott and Kim for a bit of lunch and to look into the options for the Halong bay cruise. Met Scott and headed to a resaurant cafe for a few beers and a bite to eat before the travel shop. the guy in the travel agency was easy to understand and we opted to spoil ourselves for the cruise by picking one of the more expensive boats with only three cabins and the lure of going to places where the stadard boats dont go to and hence a little more quiet. Turns out this is the same boat that Scott and Kim are on a few days before us.
We arrangd to meet scott and Kim at Bia Hoi corner, a popular drinking spot where you literally sit on the street on little stools or chairs and drink fresh beer whilst watching the madness they call traffic. Scott had tried to describe this to us on previous occassions but it's one of those places that you really do have to experience for yourself in order to appreciate the madness. The beer flows freely and at 25 cents a glass can be a bit of a trap as the glass is rarely empty and the humidity combined with great atmosphere can allo you to lose a bit of time. The toilet here is one worth noting as you are directed down a small alleyway past several open houses, at the last house near the end you pay 2000 Dong to a little man and then continue around the corner to a couple of pretty dodgy looking "squat" toilets where there is no light and the door doesnt close so an interesting experience for the girls.
Wadered around to a nicce restaurant for dinnner ( some very good duck) and then back to the hotel Luxury for an early night.
Breakfastcomes free with the hotel room and a maximum of 6 guests at a time can be seated in the dining area but this is just as well considering breakfast is in the bar and the frying pan is only capable of two eggs at a time and the toaster has capacity to warm bread but not discolour it. i think tomorrow we might eat out!
Headed down to the train station this morninig to see what our options are for getting to Sapa but looks like it is going to be just as easy to book via our hotel. Wandered around to the fine arts museum and spent a lazy 90 minutes enjoying the air conditioning. it was an interesting mix of old and new are but not in the same league as MONA.
Another late lunch but this time we had crickets, buffalo and piegion. Crickets were udoubtably the highlight but i am sure we wont forget the pigeon even though i might probably never have it again. Rach picked up what she thought was the drumstick but after a few minutes stripping the bone realised that it was actually the head. (not sure how she kept it down but i would have had to visit the toilet and poke a couple of fingers down the throat.) Back to the hotel for a rest before heading back to bier Hoi to catch up with Scott and Kim. Found a great street restaurant by chance and had one of the best meals for the trip. they had a killer beef fried rice and some excellet BBQ ribs. might have to go back in a coule of days for the "rotating the Bird" which was not on offer tonight but did exist on the menu.
Decided to skip the hotel breakfast and headed out for a decent coffee and some fresh fruit and yoghurt. Food was ok but very slow and we were hoping to visit Uncle Ho before the 11am closing time. We only just made it as the taxi had to detour and fight its way through the traffic. We also had our first car accident, nothing more than a scrape on our car and a buggered door on the other car which tried to cut the corner and hit us whils we were stationary but the other driver still tried to say it was not his fault.
Uncle Ho was an experience in itself as there were some amazing cues and it was difficult to see how we could possibly get in and back out to collect our bags. We also contiue to be amazed at how pushy some of the locals can be as they manoveur around you and even go between the legs at times. Inside the mausaliam you need to keep your hands outside of your pockets, no hats, no sunglasses, nor frivolity and definitely no stopping! They keep in a cool rrom and send him back to Russia every year for a couple of months for refurbishment. (not bad really when you consider that the guy only wanted a simple cremation. A conservative estimate would suggest that there were at least 3000 people lined up while we were there and for some reason he was still receiving visitors well after 11.30.
Once outside it was about a km back to the luggage storage where we had to leave our phones and bags etc and with only 8 minutes before closing time the girls decided they were going to leg it in true "amazing race" style. it was quite impressive to see them both running and weaving in and out of the locals.
Caught up with scott and Kim today as well as Alison and two of her firiednds at Bia Hoi corner. this time i was well and truly 2 metres from the curb in the middle of the road. At one stage a huge wind gust appeared from nowhere and then about 30 seconds later there was a huge downpour sending us all ducking for cover under the awning on the footpath. This added to the excitement and was ok until the road started to flood and the pulled the covr of the drain. The smell from this was overbearing and you quickly learnt o breath through your ears. Purcased a couple of punchoes that your arms go straight through if your not careful and then wandered across the street for more food and wine.
Tried breakfast out again at "Barista Franks" next door to our hotel, coffee was ok but eggs and bacon were pretty bloody revolting and made the ones back at the hotel look very good asctually. Mre wandering aimlessly around town including an icecream at Fannys which cost as much as most meals that we have been having. Also visited the Hanoi Hilton which was a prison used to lock up any revolutionaries during the french times and then reused to house American POW's during the American War , as they call it here in Vietnam. The propogander videos on display were certainly one sided but overall a good place to visit. One of the two guillotines used by the french was still here and on display which was enough to ensure that you would behave yourself if at all possible but the conditions must have been pretty tough or those incarcerated. Heading to the train station shortly for the night train to Sapa, stocked up on some nibbles and wine which we will now drink from our new coconut cups purchased especially for the journey.
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