Hanoi(sy), Scam City, Motorbike Central - Gotta love it

A short hour flight from Vientiane and brrrrr, we arrived in Hanoi. I have to say, it is a heck of a lot colder here than it was in Laos! This will explain why in all of the pictures we're posting, you'll see that we are wearing pretty much the same thing in every picture, scarves and sweater (yes, that is meant to be singular)! 

Prepare to get scammed in Hanoi. It's just the way it goes. Trying to dodge scams is as hard as trying to dodge oncoming motorbikes (maybe even harder), and I have to tell you, there are a ton of motorbikes in this city. They come at you from every direction; you really have to be on your toes in Hanoi and hesitating will only land you flattened in the middle of the road. Back to the scams, though. The aiport taxi scam. We were able to avoid it, but others (Ryan and Kelly, for instance) were not so lucky. Avoid the taxi drivers that approach you inside the airport at all costs! Get in line for the "legitimate" taxis outside - pay them $10 to get into the city and you're golden, but get into those other taxis and you'll find yourself paying $35 a person for an alleged "bridge fee" and at a fake hotel. Although we got past the bridge scam, our driver still made sure to bring us to a fake Sunshine Hotel (when we even said we already reserved a room and paid at the real one). About five people bombarded us from every direction, "Welcome to the Sunshine Hotel!" You tell the driver the name of the hotel you want to go to and then he calls his friend to tell him the name of the hotel and the driver drops you off at his friend's no-name hotel that all of a sudden is the hotel you asked for. PHEW! I can't even keep up with all of the scams!

Hanoi is a bustling city run by motorbikes, strewn with beautiful lakes and buildings similar to the French colonial buildings of Luang Prabang. One thing about it is the noise, noise, noise. If it's not the sound of honking from motorbikes and cars in attempts to not transform people into pancakes or the sweeping of sidewalks, it's blaring televisions from shops and Vietnamese cyclo drivers urging you to get a ride on their bike or people trying to sell you a book off of the street, "You have money. Good for you. Good for me. Ok." You just can't get away from the noise. Maybe that's why every internet cafe is filled with Vietnamese teenagers with headphones on playing dance video games - they just need to get away.

We checked out the Water Puppet Show at the Municipal Water Puppet Theatre on Hoan Kiem Lake, right in the middle of the Old Quarter where we are staying. Its a show similar to Punch and Judy (but in a little pool of water in the middle of the stage). It's colorful and childish (in a fun way) and was a great thing to see to give us a little taste of Vietnamese culture. The show originated in Vietnam, but Hanoi is the place to see it.

The nightlife in Hanoi is pretty fun and we've found ourselves closing down The Polite Bar every night we've been here. Took a shot with some locals (they spoke no English, but the Vietnamese guy got a kick out playing songs for me off of his cell phones - songs such as Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart," which I, of course, sang along to, which excited him even further). We found ourselves more friends, two Canadian fire fighters, Trent (the bobsledder - you should have felt these muscles!) and Vaughn (didn't feel his muscles, sorry). We were on a constant mission that night of finding nightlife and ended up in this tiny place in this tiny dark alley... filled with people! It was run by the sweetest little Vietnamese lady who's first line to me was, "Can I have some?" Some of what I wondered? She was talking about my eyelashes! Haha. Note: Taking a motorbike taxi home at 4 AM is as fun as it seems. The monster mutant rats you have to avoid running over on the drive back... not so fun.

We rented a motorbike taxi for a whole day, which was a great way to see the city. Picture this little Vietnamese man driving and then me sandwiched between him and Kevin. Cozy. Our first stop was the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, which was a place where they kept US POWs during the Vietnam War. Senator John McCain was imprisoned here when he was in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. His mugshot is on the wall, as well as his Air Force uniform. A few highlights or things that haunted me was the guillotine and the cells where they kept the prisoners who were about to be beheaded and pictures of Americans burning themselves alive to protest the Vietnam War. Pretty creepy stuff.

Next stop was the Army Museum (much to Kevin's excitement, being the war buff he is). It was amazing seeing these massives tanks and planes and bombs that destroyed so much of these countries we've been visiting and killed so many people. Kevin explained a lot more to me about the war and it was also very interesting to see a Museum for the Vietnam War from the other country's side. Puts a lot of things in perspective.

Last stop was Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated when he died, but instead he got embalmed and this entire building (nice...). They say that if you're lucky you might catch the changing of the guards and I guess either we're lucky or we're just good at loitering because we got to see it! The Vietnamese guards were not as serious as the ones at Buckingham Palace (we caught them sneaking peeks) but they do look sharp in their crisp white uniforms.            

Back on the motorbike taxi to check out a cafe on True Bach Lake. In order to get out of the cold and get our hot tea, we had to brave (drum roll please) crossing the road again. After about 10 seconds too long of hesitation, our driver grabbed my hand and threw me into the middle of the mayhem. The thing is, you can't hesitate here or you're toast. Just throw yourself out there, close your eyes, hope for the best, and they'll find their way around you. Stop and you're a pancake. Listen to all these breakfast food analogies... what's with being run over and breakfast food? Toast. Pancakes. (Sorry, it's late and this is the second time I've written this - lost the first one!) Survived the ride back to our hotel, not without trying to be scammed by our "nice" motorbike driver. We had agreed on a price and as soon as we got to the hotel, he demanded more. We would have tipped him anyway, a little frustrating.

Hanoi is a fun, fearless (you have to be) city, although I can see how some people might have a hard time here. Althought, it would have been nice to see some blue skies. The only sunshine we saw was the flourescent sign of the "Sunshine Hotel." Tomorrow it's on to Halong Bay to meet back up with Ryan and Kelly, who got the fastest bus out of town after scam central, and hopefully there will be some blue skies there. It's supposed to be unreal.