I spent eleven hours on the train yesterday from Dong Hoi to Hanoi.it was lovely to see the lights of the big city as we rolled into town around 8 pm. My hotel is well-situated, close to both the lake and the backpacker quarter. There’s always lots of life around the younger people…jam sessions in the streets, watching them shoppimg for cheap meals so that there will be money for beer. I remember it well, although I was squeezing pennies on King Avenue in Bathurst and not in this grand old dowager of northern Vietnam.
Once again, I am surprised at how comfortable I feel. The area I’m in is a maze of twisting, turning alleys and one-way streets. My taxi had to drop me off at the start of my alley because it’s too narrow for cars. That was a walk filled with trepidation I’ll tell you, passing whole families who lined both sides of the alley, calmly eating their evening meal on red plastic kid-sized chairs.
How’s this for Small World Dept? There were three young girls in the compartment next to mine on the train. We spoke briefly upon arrival and I was tempted to ask if they wanted to share a taxi but let it slide, given the size of this city and number of hotels. I’d just finished my tea and paperwork at Hanoi Ciao Hotel when they walked through the door. Hard to believe…
I made my way to the Kangaroo Cafe this morning and finalized my Ha Long Bay tour for tomorrow. At long last, there are international ATMs everywhere, meaning I can withdraw more than two million dong at a time. It sounds like a breathtaking amount of money but it’s about $125 and the bank fees really add up… My final chore of the morning was to endure a spa pedicure…
After a sumptuous lunch of banh my at another hole-in-the-wall, I browsed the lake area and the temple that sits at one end. Hanoi is so different from Saigon. I think there are almost as many people, but it is laid back, cooler (low 20s) and friendlier. I stopped by the side of the lake at one point this morning and a man sat down next to me and struck up a friendly conversation. I was half-expecting a sales pitch but no, he just wanted to talk. So refreshing…
