Hanoi

Busy Hanoi streets (Old Quarter)
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Mon 08/10/07

We were picked up at our guesthouse at 5.15am by the tuk tuk we arranged the previous night, to take us to the airport for our 7am flight to Hanoi. Nothing eventful at Vientiane airport except noticing a massive West Coast logo on the upper level! On closer inspection it was the "West Coast restaurant" and it was basically a complete copy of the West Coast Eagles (AFL) logo and name. Vientiane isn't even on the west coast so not sure of the similiarity they saw - maybe just liked the banner!

but it was culture shock all over again

Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake
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Despite rain and lightning the night before it was a fairly clear morning so were feeling positive about our second Laos Airlines flight. There was a fair bit of turbulance but is such a short flight you are no sooner preparing for landing after take off. Again we were provided with a little pack - breakfast comprised a tuna and corn bun and an orange. After another smooth landing, immigration was quick and easy but can't say the same for exchanging money. For being at an international airport in a capital city we could not believe no one would change our remaining Thai Baht for US dollars! In Vietnam the local currency is the dong and they also accept US dollars which is a lot easier. So we ended up changing the baht for dong - instant millionaires (US$1 = 16,000 dong)!!

Entrance to the Temple of Literature
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It was chaos outside the airport with every man out to poach a falang into their taxi. We tried to find the Vietnam Airlines bus to the city which we read in Lonely Planet but could only find the Pacific Airlines bus and without being able to understand exactly where the bus would drop us we decided to go for a taxi. We negotiated $8 to the old quarter (area where most budget acccommodation and tourists stay) but we later found this was not stuck to.... They tried the old scam on us, drop us off at a hotel with the same name as the one we requested, only to be told by the man who runs out to the taxi and tries to push his way into the car that "this one is full but I have room down the road at other hotel, I take you there". We adamently told him no and asked to be taken to the correct intersection we had requested. Our taxi driver eventually pulled away from the scammer on the street and took us to the correct intersection, where his English all of a sudden returned (!!) and he demanded $10 - we had had enough by then and just gave him the extra dong equivalent and a few expletives under our breath.

Replica of tribe house at Museum of Ethnology
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Recomposed at nearby western Tamarind Cafe and as we were still unable to find the actual Hanoi Star Hotel we had seen on the internet we decided to walk a couple of blocks to another recommended hotel. This place was fine with air con and tv and was away from the street so quiet, and also cost a lot less. We can recommend the Camellia 5 on Thuoc Bac for a convenient place to stay.

We had only been in Hanoi for less than 2 hours but it was culture shock all over again. We thought Bangkok was crazy but the roads in Hanoi (and lack of rules!) is just to a new level. During the taxi ride he was on the horn a fair bit but nothing like in the small streets around the city area. It is no exaggeration to say the cars, motorbikes and buses are practically on the horn beeping and tooting constantly. We understand it is to warn they are coming through but with so many horns going how does one know that they are being tooted at?!?! You can understand now why I noted the value in our guesthouse room being at the back of the hotel and AWAY from the main street.

A tomb on display at the Museum of Ethnology outdoor display
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On top of the tooting the footpaths were not really used in a "conventional way". We were basically forced to walk on the road and add to the chaos and lack of room on the road because the footpaths are full of parked motorbikes, merchandise being sold and families sitting out on the street. It was very frustrating at first! (maybe still?). Basically everything in the city is oriented towards motorbikes, there are even little ramps from the street up to the shops so it is convenient for people to ride their bikes into the shop and park it there.

Cool mirror shot on our motorbike ride
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So after a quick rest at the room, we went for more of a walk around, got some food at a vietnamese cafe and made some enquiries and subsequently booked our overnight trip on Halong Bay. We also went to Hoan Kiem Lake and the temple on the island in the middle. We decided to go out for a nice dinner and by the time I navigated us there we needed a beer and some quiet after all the tooting and traffic we manouvred through (there are crosswalks marked but motorists don't pay attention - you just have to walk and they go around you!). A Carlsberg at the Polite Pub and then on to a nice dinner at Hanoi Garden and then headed back for an early night.

Family car, i mean bike, stopping in the middle of the road to look at the dancers (and add to the chaos!)
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Tues 9/10/08

We tried the breakfast at Camellia 5 (included in $10/night cost) which was actually quite a good omellete. Mike had a coffee which was quite black/strong so we asked for some milk - a few minutes later one of the staff brought out an entire tin of condensed milk with holes punctured in it! Mike didn't end up finishing that coffee...

We started the day by walking to the Temple of Literature which was the first university in Vietnam, and we learnt about Confucious and his disciples. After that we walked to the Museum of Ethnology - yes we knew it was a fair few kilometres but were sick of pesky motorbike (xe om taxis here) riders and wanted to view the locals in an area outside the well touristed spots. It was very hot and quite the walk but the museum was great, very modern with numerous cultural displays (each with explanations in Vietnamese, French and English), and a full outdoor museum also. There were replicas of the houses the different tribes live in which we were able to climb ladders to go in and view.

We went to take the public bus to return to the old quarter but were approached by a happy medium - a motorbike with a seat for two on the back (kind of a tuk tuk but no roof and half the size). So we were right amongst the 100s of motorbikes on the road and also received quite a few stares as this kind of vehicles was not seen around much it seemed! After a petrol stop the bike suddenly stopped (Mike said problem with the gear lever) and we had to walk the remaining 2km back - so much for the convenience of getting dropped at the hotel door!

That night we headed out for dinner and found a nice Vietnamese restaurant (however very western service influenced) called "Bun is Everything". We later found out bun (pronounced buun) means rice vermicelli. Right outside the restaurant at a main intersection and just north of Hoan Kiem Lake a big stage was set up with music playing and later dancers on stage. As this was set up on the road heaps of bikes were coming in to stop and view it so basically there was CHAOS on the road - sometimes it was more entertaining to watch the fighting traffic than the show! We found out the next day the big party was in aid of the anniversary of Vietnam's liberation. It was a great vibe around the place with even more people about than the previous night.

We had planned to see the water puppetry but it was sold out until the next day so remembering we need to organise bus or train out of Hanoi for when we returned from Halong Bay we organised this - another overnight train coming up on the itinerary.