Back to Hanoi

In the heat of the day you sometimes just need a nap.
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Well, you may have read my review of the hotel that we stayed in Hanoi and that gives you an idea what the couple of days were like. To arrive off the overnight train, tired and in desperate need of a shower and have that happen is not what you need.

We also had trouble with the taxi drivers again in Hanoi. The driver from the station to the old quarter to pick up our bags from the Elegance Hotel where we had left them wanted to charge us 80,000 dong with his dodgy meter, and when I went to get someone from the hotel to tell him that we weren't going to pay that much, he wouldn't open the boot and get the luggage out for us. With the hotel receptionist negotiating we managed to get it down to 50,000 dong but this was still double the actual price that it should have been on the meter. The taxi driver who then took us to the other hotel where we were meant to be staying wanted 40,000 dong because there were two of us and we had bags, despite the fact that we had agreed on the meter when we got in and it only said 25,000. It makes me wonder how many tourists just pay the amount they ask without thinking or caring about it. The taxi drivers for me really sum up the attitude towards tourists in Hanoi.

This is Lyn wearing her new prescription sunglasses at the optometrist in Hanoi
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Mum and I did do a little bit of stuff in Hanoi in our two days though. We went to the Russian embassy to get my passport and visa back. I now am the proud possessor of all three of the visas that I need to continue my trip. Hopefully the Russian one says the right things because it's all written in Russian so I have no idea what is on it. We went to the temple of literature which is really lovely and it was a much less crowded day than when I went the week before.

Mum went and got some prescription sunglasses made which was quite an experience but worth it to get them for US$40. We wandered down a street looking for the optometrists because the website that she had got the address off had got the street number wrong (very easy to do in Vietnam). We finally found the shop though, across the road from the ENT hospital (prime position). There were hundreds of people in the shop getting their eyes tested, choosing frames, trying on pairs that they had ordered. There are no cubicles or rooms, just one large area where people do everything. The frames are really cheap, the most expensive pair that I saw were US$100 for a pair that would have cost at least $500 at home. The lenses are also cheap and they make the whole thing up for you in about 7 hours. Definitely worth getting a second pair of glasses if you want a spare pair for travelling or prescription sunnies. The address if anyone is interested is 134 and 140 Ba Trieu street in Hanoi. It is about 4 or 5 blocks down the street from the lake, opposite the ENT hospital.

This is the gothic catholic cathedral in Hanoi. It is really lovely on the inside. Though, surprising warm.
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We did buy some silk while we were in Hanoi. They seem to have different colours in the north than the south and I found both the pink and the orange that I have been looking for. I'll get them made into something in Hoi An while I'm down there.

We also visited the gothic Cathedral which was built by the French. It's really lovely and looks totally out of place in Hanoi. If it weren't for the Vietnamese names on the walls inside it could be anywhere. Strangely enough it wasn't actually all that cold inside despite the fact that you usually freeze to death in cathedrals regardless of external temperature.

After two days, we were very glad to be leaving Hanoi again. It really does leave a bad taste in your mouth.