Where is all the traffic going??

I wasn't sure what to expect from Vietnam

I have met other travellers who have told me its touristy, others who say they harass you constantly to buy off them, others who say watch the traffic – its mad, mental, dangerous. Of these comments only the last is true; so far! True there are places that cater to the tourist, but there is no way that the old quarter in Hanoi is set up just to please some Americans in elasticated waisted jeans! Hoi-An caters a lot more to the fast growing tourist tailoring business, but again the roads are still dusty, the traffic still is mad, rubbish is still swept into the gutter; scraggy dogs (allbeit with nice leather collars & loose T-shirts) either sunbathe,bark or run littlest hobbo style at the side of the road and rats/cockroaches scarper about unpestered; I think that Scabby View in Dunfy is more touristy! Maybe half the problem is that backpackers are entering Vietnam from Laos & I guess in comparison it will certainly seem like they have hit Benidorm – but get some perspective! So far no-one has harassed me. I've had plenty of Vietnamese try to sell me something from books, fruit, motorbike rides etc etc, once you smile & say no thanks most have left me alone, only a couple have followed me more than 3 meters & even then they have given up. It is the run up to Tet here so I don't know if we have hit the country at a chilled out be kind to tourists time, but so far I've found the people here to be really friendly and oddly super efficient.

We arrived late on Sunday the 18^th & true to word the taxi man organised by the hotel was waiting for us. Very polite he introduced himself with a shake of the hand. On the way into the city he explained a few sites & told us a little bit about Vietnam. As soon as you hit the outskirts of Hanoi you can see the influence the French have had on this place. There are loads of old French buildings complete with balconies and if straight from a film set the balconies are stuffed full of all sorts of rubbish. Even though is is nearing midnight the streets are still alive with mopeds & life. We pass a massive flower market, Orange trees are very popular it seems. Loads of people of all ages are sitting on the pavements either on really tiny plastic seats or perched like crows. Foods being cooked/eaten, drinks are being handed out – this place is very much alive! Having come from Japan quite possibly the most orderly, polite civilised country in the world to only a hint so far of madness is quite a switch! We get to the Little Hanoi Hostel which is right in the middle of the Old Quarter. The first thing the staff do is offer us Tea or Coffee, something to eat. As its late we just check in & got to bed. Our room is 404 right at the top of the stairs. We've got 3 beds, a plasma TV & en suite. Not bad for just over £10 a night total!

We are woken up the next day by anyone of a million noises; it could be the beeping mopeds, it could be the banging of building works or it could be the cockerel – although its 8.45am , does it not realise the time keeping responsibility it might have?!– why is the old bird crawing so late? Imagine the excuses “erm I'm sorry I'm late for work -my cock didn't go off until 8.45 this morning”!

We wander downstairs & find that brekkie is free in the hotel – bonus. Its a very simple affair; you have a choice of baguette with jam, cheese,butter or egg. Tea/coffee. The baguettes are freshly baked & really light; they are lacking in flavour & for this reason the jam & cheese is probably the best option. Get my first taste of Vietnamese coffee; its thick & sweetened with condensed milk – within 2 slurps I'm addicted! Before Brekkie I's asked the lady at reception a few questions regarding trains/Halong Bay trip etc etc. Before my brekkie arrived she had booked the train journey & confirmed the Halong Bay details – she's efficient!

Time had arrived to leave the hotel & brave the world beyond the glass doors. We needed first & foremost to find an ATM as we had zero local currency (Dong). Our hotel had given us a map wit the main areas of interest marked on. We couldn't find the first ATM marked out so aimed for the next closest. Problemo no.1 was we needed to cross a road at a crossroads, were there any lights – no! Aside from the zero lights the whole area was the maddest traffic I'd ever seen; mostly moped/motorbike based the traffic flowed quite smoothly in ALL directions – someone recently described it as shoals of fish who all can move quite hecticly without banging into each other, this was what we were viewing in front of us except it was real live people sitting on dangerous machines! The orange trees we had seen yesterday at the night market now appeared on the back of a fair number of bikes, there of course were millions of other things being carried & I might need to keep a look out for the wackiest item on a bike! What also makes this whole situation worse is that you have to walk on the roads as the pavements are covered in parked mopeds, people sitting on small stools, people squatting like birds, people cooking stuff surrounded by vast piles of ingredients and goods for sale. With this latter point it depends where in the old town you are as to what items are blocking the pavement; they seem to keep their shopping all separated, so there is bag corner, shoe corner, silk street, paint street, duvet & bedding street, clothes street, beer street etc etc I was quite glad of my long trousers as I became more aware of mopeds driving within millimetres of my legs – those exhaust pipes are very hot!

So back to the crossing of the cross-roads road! Having stood on the corner for a good few minutes just amazed at the chaos in front of us we decided to make a go of it. Linking arms we felt was a good idea & then simply shuffling out into the road; it really isn't a natural feeling walking out in front of traffic! We tried not to stop during this first road crossing venture & it quite clearly worked otherwise I may be writing this from a hospital bed using a pen in my mouth! I wasn't scared at all during any of this – the traffic i find quite exciting & you do get a bit of an adrenaline buzz from the whole experience. We do manage to find an ATM; obviously my bank card doesn't work (working now btw as after email smile to ask what the feck is going on they let me know my card can be used & thanks for letting them know I'm in a foreign country – so what exactly was the conversation I had regarding my rtw trip 5 months ago then – idiots!) Jackie gets us some Dong & I'm quite surprised to see its the exact same style as the Aussie & Kiwi$ - the really sensible plastic money. No idea why the Euro didn't go down that route; Pete would be most pleased that the notes would fit in his Aussie wallet as well!!

We take a walk through the streets taking all the mayhem in & eventually get the calmness of the Lake. Jack spots a nice looking restaurant quite clearly geared up to wealthy tourists. The place has a nice spec right on the lake & after our very short first time exposure to SE Asian traffic its a nice place for some respite! As suspected this is tourist central & everyone sitting around us is middle aged plus European. We order some drinks & then decide on some food. Menu has a wide range including some stir fried snakes heads – nice! I opt for some Nem which are Vietnamese spring rolls. They are really nice – there are loads of them though( I think around 25) so there is no way I can finish them. Really nice but could have done with some Chili sauce.

Soon its time to get back into he madness & off we head. We decide to walk round the lake & pop into what is on our map as “large market” but actually turns out to be a huge department store complex; it was quite bizarre walking in from the craziness outside into a western posh store. Having gotten a bit used to the traffic I start get a bit annoyed when the traffic doesn't do what its supposed to do; ie I find myself glaring at a motorbike & putting my hand out towards it as it drives straight towards me! At this junction there are actually traffic lights complete with red/green pedestrian me; green man = walk??!! The traffic is still coming towards you at this point so I'm not sure how that sign works!

Back to the hotel & its amazing how quickly we have got used to the traffic, we are both quite happy to wander out into the road & slowly weave our way across the silly streets. What you cant get used to is the fumes; the old town especially seems to be really bad & I think the narrow streets, highish building & millions of bikes seems to make the situation worse. I would love to know what my CO reading was in Hanoi!

Have got mixed up with the timings as we got in late on the first night; keep thinking that we have another full day in Hanoi & then we are off on our Halong bay trip the day after; wrong! Jackie settles in for a night of HBO – I think she managed something like 5 films on the trot! I go downstairs to upload Jacks video of the Hanoi madness & do some emailing. I give her a wee call from reception to see if she wants some dinner, but the Western comfort of HBO is too much of a pull in scary SE Asia! My dinner is really nice & costs all of £1.10 for a chicken curry – no wonder the backpackers like it here!