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Hanoi... the new Capitol city of Vietnam!
What I had read of Hanoi and what I actually witnessed of Hanoi where 2 very different things! The expectations I had of a city full of style and diginty, sophistication & modern French colonial flair turned out to be a rat race of motorbikes, dirty & dusty streets and absolutely no sign of a tourist ever stepping foot in the place!
After a pretty bumpy flight from Bangkok I arrived in Hanoi late Saturday afternoon. My first concern was that i had not a penny of Dong on me (vietnamese currency). After quickly leaving the baggage hall (and being held at customs for half an hour as i now look NOTHING like my passport) asked at the very "helpful" information desk if the taxis would accept $USD... luckily for me the answer was yes! However, she quickly ushered me to an ATM....now time for problem number 2!... I'd been having such a ball in Ko Phangan that i hadn't read my Lonely Planet for a while and totally forgot the exchange on the currency. All i could remember was Dong had a couple of zeros compared to $1. So i'm presented with everything in vietnamese on the screen..take a lucky guess at which option is "withdraw cash" and then presented with figures in their thousands and millions! If only that was what my balance looked like in the UK!!!! Didn't have a clue....... by this point i've got about 5 men round me trying to get me into a taxi or on a motorbike so decided 200,000 VND would be plenty. Actually was hoping that i hadn't just lifted 300 pounds. Jumped into a taxi and headed for my hotel. Missed most of the scenery at this point as had totally freked myself out that I'd lifted far to much money for the whole time i'd be here. The problem with Dong is, that it's worthless and you can't change it to other currencies. So if I'd just lifted a couple of hundred pounds and actually only used 150 GBP, i'd just have lost the other half and have 2spend it when i didn't need to (and really couldn't afford to). Decided, since couldnt find my currency converter or guide book that i'd text my mum to see if she could get onto the internet and check. As i was waiting for a response, i didn't even notice what the meter was at. Wasn't worried though, had PLENTY dong....or so i thought! Actually turned out that the 200,000 VND coverts to about 6 GBP..... that wasn't going to get me very far...or pay my taxi!! So had to pay in USD anyway...all that panic for nothing!
As i looked out the window, started to freak out at where i was heading...The Bronx came to mind! Dirty streets, bustling with locals, children laying about the streets, dogs fighting dogs fighting dogs. Honestly couldn't see any further than about 5 metres ahead due to the sheer volume of people and traffic. There are thousands, and i mean thousands, of motorbikes just driving everywhere and anywhere. How people cross the street is unthinkable. No wonder there are 38 deaths a day in Hanoi. bangkok roads were a doddle compared to this. What had i let myself in for!
Hotel was fine. Air con, hot shower, TV...all i needed for 2 nights. Dumped my bags and decided to go get a bite to eat! As i stepped outside with my little map, it was instantly obvious who the tourist was. Not because of the map, but the fact there was no other westerner in sight! The roads and streets are so narrow but still masses of bikes seems to flood them It was impossible to move never mind cross. Horns beeping everywhere, reving as bikes took to the pavements, this was a nightmare i hadn't expected to encouter.
It was starting to get dark so the plan was to either grab a take away or find somewhere nearby that had some english language. So far everything was in Vietnamese - menus, signs, and no one spoke one word of english so no one could understand. I was so conscious of how dangerous it can get for western woman at night and expected at every turn that i'd have a drive by mugging or some strange man would follow me back. There are reports all the time of western woman in the outskirts of the Old Quarter being followed either home or taken to a bar of some sort where they end up having to pay $100 just to leave, from where the situation usually deteriorates! It was time to get the mobile out and call someone back home in the UK for a bit of comfort. Ended up speaking to my dad the whole way back to the hotel that i found purely by chance as didn't want to bring out the map again. Was a pretty petrifying half hour experience out in the city and was beginning to think i'd made the biggest mistake coming to Vietnam...
Luckily Sunday was a new day and everything always looks brighter in the morning! Woke to the sounds of bikes beeping by my window and locals shouting across the street to each other as the local vendors walked by selling fruit & water. Decided I was going to do all the things i'd planned to in Hanoi. I had 1 full day here and i was going to make the most of it before heading to Halong Bay in the morning....no matter how scary the outside world would be today! The day turned out to be pretty productive...manged to visit Vietnam Museum of Ethnology -which features outstanding collections of art and everyday objects from Vietam. From the making of conical hats to the ritual of a Tay shamanic ceremony. The Museum basically explores Vietnams cultural diversity, Temple of Literature -5 courtyards are enclosed within the grounds and had been established as a university for the education of mandarins. The front gate is inscribed with a request that visitors dismount from their horses before entering. The whole place was so peaceful and a fntastic place to update journals, writes stories etc, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex -built despite the fact that his will requested cremation, the Mausoleum was constructed between 1973 and 1975 using native materials gathered from all over Vietnam. As an outstanding man he was, crowds flood the place to pay their respects, One Pillar Pagoda - basically designed to represent a lotus blossom, a symbol of purity, rising out of the sea of sorrow. Very pretty if nothing else, Hoa Lo Prison - the remains of the former prison and ironically nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by the US POWS during the war. Pretty awful to seethe Vietnamese struggle for independence from France. The tools of torture are displayed including the ominous French guilotine. And managed to do all of this on foot! Was absolutely exhausted by the time i had seen the prison....now had to find my way back to the hotel...
The heat was unbearable...my skin was even clammy like the atmosphere. I looked like i'd literally just jumped out of a swimming pool...lovely! Didn't expect the skies to be as grey as in Bangkok but the pollution is pretty awful and apparantly there's never a blue sky. As i walked back to the hotel through the tiny streets, not only did i see one rat, or two...but 3... scuttering along the sides of pavements, chewing on whatever rubbish had been littered. Woman sat out on the streets with there children playing what looked like chicken. There are not really shops as such, basically someone opens up the front of their house and sells whatever they feel is worthy of some cash. Not good! It took so long to find anywhere that sold even water!
My back was breaking and my feet killing me from my productive day so decided that i'd stop of for a massage if there was somewhere on route back to the hotel. After the fantastic massages i'd had in Thailand, it was exactly what i needed to sort me out! However... this wasn't Thailand, and much to my surprise Brothels and prostitution is massive in Vietnam! Every massage parlour was either down a back street lane, lit up in flurescent colours, had pictures of nudey woman outside or basically had a big sign advising no woman customers allowed. Apparantly they are nicknamed "Happy Ending" massage....because at the end you're asked if you'd like a "Happy Ending"....i'm sure some of you boys back home wouldn't mind a happy ending here in Vietnam (you seedy bunch) but it certainly wasn't my cup of tea....yuk!!! Oh the old grotty western men that came out these places was disgusting...at least have a bit of pride for goodness sake... So there goes my massage! Settled for a manicure and pedicure instead. Luckily there was a legit Beauty Room round the corner!
That night headed into the Old Quarter with a girl I'd met that day. Had dinner in a pretty little french colonial restuarant but the food was pretty much tasteless. Think i've been pretty spoiled in Thailand with the fantastic variety and spices and flavours. So after an exhausting day, dinner and a few beers, Hanoi didn't seem as horrendous as the night before but i was definately looking forward to leaving the next day! 2 nights were definately more than enough in Hanoi!
Next stop....Halong Bay.........
Cxxx
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