7/8 – Hanoi
It's one of those immutable facts of travel – no matter how comfortable the bus, after 14 hours, the only thought a passenger has is... escape. Well, escape, and a hot shower... so, there are some extenuating circumstances for what happened next.
Now, I'm not normally one to fall for the various cons and tricks that can trip up a traveler, but you have to hand it to the taxi drivers of Hanoi – they're sneaky.
Popping into a taxi for the short 2km ride to my hotel, in short order, I was half-dozing in the warm sun coming through the window. However, as we pulled up into the Old Quarter, I noticed that the taxi meter was going fast... very fast. I even mentioned that to the driver, to be met by the look of perfect innocence you see on a 2 year old caught with a hand in the cookie jar. By the time we got to the hotel, it was reading 120,000 dong, instead of the 40,000 or so I was expecting.
This is the tricky part. Because it was a meter, it was hard to know FOR SURE that you'd been ripped off, and I didn't feel 100% confident enough to fight about it. However, to get my revenge, in best passive-aggressive fashion though, instead of merely rounding up as is customary, I made that guy return every last 500 dong ($.03).
Sure, Hanoi might have thrown a curve at me straight off, but to balance out this initial impression, my stay at the Hanoi Guesthouse was fantastic. I was met by the staff, a pair of the warmest, most hospitable sisters you could ever hope to meet and in short order, they had me checked in - yet another nice, clean AC room for $16...
Alas, the room wasn't going to be ready until noon, so I headed out for a walk about town. Hanoi is very different than Saigon- it's a bit like a more reserved older brother in comparison with Saigon's unbridled exuberance. Still busy and bustling with scooters, vendors, and everything in between – it's always with a bit less of an edge.
The Old Quarter is the center of all of the action, and it's a loose grid of 36 narrow streets, each named after an ancient occupation (like the Street of the Silks, etc.). 'course, tourism has come to Hanoi in a big way, and most of the streets are at least somewhat connected to satisfying the hordes of visitors each year.
A quick note... while a bit reserved, Hanoi is even looser in protecting copyright and trademarks than Saigon. Whether it was a coffee shop whose font looked suspiciously like Strabuck's, to blatant copying another travel agency's name, you quickly get used to it. On my first walk around town, I must have seen literally a dozen fake Sinh Cafe bus company offices, plus a few other Kangaroo Cafes and Farspan Travel, with each claiming to be the 'real' one.
To kick things of, I got a quick breakfast at La Place, with spicy Hue noodle soup and (even better) a stellar fruit smoothie. Fortified, although in somewhat desperate need of a shower, I decided to do the Lonely Planet walking tour around town. Being outdoors would at least avoid offending the noses of any locals – I hoped!
First, there was the near-obligatory walk around the central lake – accompanied by dozens of locals (Hanoians? Hanoists?) out for a morning walk, bit of badminton, or even tai chi. With a pagoda in the middle, it was a great place to survey the scene.
Next, it was time to check out the markets... from streets of shoesellers, to more traditional food markets, Hanoi seems to offer it all. It even had a block of funeral stone carvers, complete with a picture of the deceased.
I booked my trip to Halong Bay the next day at Handspan travel – a more upscale option with a great reputation, and tried a fresh pear/dragonfruit juice at their immaculate Tamarind Cafe next door.
Refueled, I headed out to the streets again. One of the great things about traveling – just getting out and walking takes you to so many unforeseen experiences. You never really really know what's going to happen – but something always will!
In this case, on my walk, I saw a funeral procession for an ex-military man, complete with his medals on display:
…got spotted taking pics of a kid zoning out, watching the constant stream of traffic:
-and went through an old school fish and vegetable market:
The central Hanoi market was also checked out – selling everything from knock off Nikes to a dozen varieties of rice, all in tightly packed stalls spread across two floors.
By now, I was really REALLY needing a shower, so I started heading back. The surprises weren't over though; I passed by a counterfeit money street – locals buy fake $1,000 or 1,000,000 dong notes to burn at funerals.
After a super long, super cool shower, I chilled out for a bit, and had a phone call with my best friend Dave and his fiancee Drea, who had pulled the trigger and decided to get married when they're back in the US in October. With only three months to plan, all the way from NZ, it has got to be some sort of record...
The rest of the day was spent checking out a local bia hoy joing – a local-institution of fresh-brewed beer that only lasts one day. The best part? Beers only cost 3,000 dong, or about (wait for it...) $.15!
Then, at long last, I got to see a water puppet show – another Vietnamese invention, originally created to entertain kids in the rice paddies. Dating from the 11th century or so, it's the only puppet show where the stage is a pool of water, and the wooden puppets are controlled by long metal rods from behind a curtain.
I didn't understand all that much, but the amount of expressions and actions they could make the puppets perform was amazing – an old man coughing after smoking a pipe (I'm not sure if he inhaled or not), plus arms moved, people danced, and fanciful unicorns played and tossed a ball.
Dinner brought another splurge at the highly recommended Wild Lotus. Featuring cutting-edge Vietnamese food, in an exquisite building with subdued lighting and tasteful art, they served up Hanoi spring rolls and a huge plate of clams in tart/sweet tamarind sauce that were awesome. My only regret was that I wasn't with somebody else, as for two people, they offer 10 course explorations of Vietnamese spices and tastes for $20.
Another lethargic walk back to the hotel, spiced up with a fruit ice cream at the Hanoi location of Fanny (yes, yes – it's a silly word. I already covered that a few posts back), to get ready for my long-awaited, much anticipated trip the next day to the incomparable Halong Bay. Hey, that rhymed...
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