Vietnam 1.2

This one post was getting too long to manage, and probably even worse to read, so I've broken part one into a second part.

Despite all the delays, our driver from Hanoi Transfer Service was waiting for us when we arrived 26 hours late into Hanoi. I had emailed them enroute to let them know we'd be a day late. But I forgot to specify that we'd be on the same flight. And we were in the air when they emailed to confirm that, and I didn't bother to check my email in HK. So luckily the guy was waiting for the delayed flight And it only took a few minutes to find him after we came out the wrong door. UG found him while I got us SIM cards. $14 US for unlimited data, 60 minutes of local calls, and 30 minutes international calling.

I had booked the Golden Lotus Luxury Hotel, but only told the car service that it was the "Golden Lotus". He dropped us off at the Golden Lotus Boutique Hotel. It's a sister to the Luxury and they just gave us a room without comment. The Luxury is a half block away, and I realized the mistake when we walked by later. I went in to clarify, and the only difference is the pool is at the Luxury, and it's closed "for maintenance". Based on online reviews, it's been closed for at least 3 months, so maybe Expedia needs to remove the pool from the list of features of this hotel. Our room at the Boutique was quite nice, so I didn't bother asking to be moved.

We now had a half a day in Hanoi, so we set out to make the most of it. First stop, ATM. The one at the end of the block from the hotel didn't work for us, so we made a point to watch for another one as we walked. We finally found one behind a woman selling lunch on the street. We were successful at this one, despite its sketchiness.

We then continued walking and found the start of the Long Bien bridge. A landmark bridge built over 115 years ago, an engineering feat at the time, and supposedly a point of pride for the Vietnamese people. But it's not technically a pedestrian bridge. There are train tracks in the middle, and scooter lanes on either side. Some tourists walk up the scooter lanes. We walked about 50 meters along what appeared to be a raised sidewalk, but once we left solid ground, the sidewalk was just crumbling cement slabs suspended across rusty metal supports on either side. Nah, not worth the risk, so we turned around and went back. Too scary to even think about getting a photo. 

We came across one of the markets that has a fabric section I want to spend some time and money at. I knew UG wasn't up for serious shopping at this point, so I walked through to get an idea of what they had. I asked for a price on a decent bolt of French terry, and she showed me "100" on her calculator. 100 what? 100 dollars would be ridiculously expensive, even at home. But 100 dong is fractions of a cent. So I pulled out the largest bill I had, 20,000 dong, change from buying a banana on the street. She held up 5 fingers. I can get 5 meters for this?? How does that make 100 of something? Finally another lady came over with a 100,000 dong bill. OH!!! She dropped the zeros on the number she showed me on her calculator! Stupid tourist. I kept walking, as I was overwhelmed by the choice at this market, and again, I didn't want to annoy UG on our first day of vacation. I will be going back when we return to Hanoi after the rest of our Vietnamese adventures. I'll get photos then and be better prepared for bargaining.

Speaking of bananas, I recently learned that there are many varieties of bananas around the world that are much tastier than the ones that survive transport to North America. So from now on, I will be making a point of eating bananas every time I visit a climate that can grow bananas. Vietnam is freaking hot, so there are bananas here. UG doesn't think they're any different from the ones at home, but I think they're a little sweeter.

I also got myself an egg coffee while we walked. It's a coffee with an egg custard whipped into it. It's served with a spoon, and is more of a snack than a drink. It was tasty, but I won't be seeking out a source at home. UG got a swirled ice cream cone. It appeared to be a green tea and chocolate combination. He enjoyed it, but it's so hot, about half melted and dripped out the bottom. 

We then walked to the Hoan Kiem lake, with its pagoda on an island in the middle. 

Our hotel was a block from the lake, so this is the point where we discovered the hotel mix up. We also discovered that there were about 5 not-at-all-sketchy ATMs within a block of the hotel if we'd walked left instead of right. 

The next point of interest on our DIY walking tour was the train street. Basically a couple of blocks of houses facing train tracks rather than a street. And Hanoi streets aren't wide to start with. If you lived here, you'd have to plan leaving the house around the train schedule. 

The next street over was filled with interesting looking restaurants, but it was too early for dinner, so they were all empty. UG made a comment that this would be great place to visi later in th evening.

We passed a jewellery shop and I decided to see about getting a fancy band to go with my $3 Ali-Express "engagement ring" that I wear traveling so I don't worry about losing it. I pointed out a nice one and asked the price. She just answered, "It's too small for you." I knew it looked small, but I assumed she had more. But apparently she had nothing in the store in my size and it wasn't worth even giving me a price. I looked at my fingers which had swollen into sausages in the humidity and tried not to take offence.  

We then walked past the Hanoi flag tower so UG could get a photo for Facebook to make his "towers of Hanoi" nerd joke. From there, it was only a few more blocks to Ho Chi Min's mausoleum. I had no interest in going inside, but I've visited the outside of Lenin's and Mao's tombs, it seemed rude not to show HCM the same respect. The mausoleum is in a nice park, with a pagoda and a grassy area apparently popular for jogging and calisthenics. We sat for a while resting our feet, stretching our legs, an enjoying the relative coolness now that the sun was behind the trees. 

We were getting hungry now, so we discussed going back to the street of restaurants we'd seen earlier.  We also talked about finding "chicken street". Old Hanoi named each street for the types of businesses on it. Silk street, silversmith street, chicken street. Due to miscommunication, I directed us back to the street of restaurants, while UG really wanted to find chicken street. Restaurant street was still empty, so we trekked back to chicken street. 30 minutes back the direction we came from. As we walked, I realized that we hadn't been walking around Hanoi so much as we'd been hiking. It's flat, but not a single square foot of "sidewalk" (I use the term loosely here) is even, and you're constantly having to step down into the street to avoid parked scooters and sidewalk restaurants and scooter repair shops. So I was getting cranky. And UG had drank the last of my water back at the mausoleum (although he doesn't remember that). So I was getting dehydrated. Have I mentioned how stinking hot it is here? I was also getting concerned, as we were no longer in the Old Quarter, so I doubted that this was going to be the chicken street UG was expecting. Fortunately, we eventually made it, and there were a half dozen or so shops barbecuing chicken in the street, with tables out on the "sidewalk". I collapsed in the first chair I found and only had an appetite for water. Especially when I looked at the menu and saw chicken feet and gizzards offered. UG ordered thighs and wings, and bread. A plate piled high with flat bread grilled and basted with honey arrived. I had a headache that made chewing hurt, and no ability to taste anything. So I took only the smallest piece of bread, and about 4 bites of chicken. UG was surprised and embarrassed to learn he ate the entire plate of bread himself.  

To get back to the hotel, we used Grab, an Asian version of Uber. They have the option of using a car, or a guy on a motorbike. We opted for the car rather than trying to get both of us onto a motorbike with driver. 

While we were at the mausoleum, I had gotten an email from the boat tour we were booked into for the next day. I replied that I had booked a private driver and we'd arrive in time for the scheduled 12:30 departure. My reason for the private car is to avoid getting up early to get on a bus that goes to 8 more hotels and drops you off in time for 30 people to all check in. I prefer to just get picked up and get to the destination after the lineup dies down. By the time we got back to the hotel at 7pm, they'd sent another email informing us that our boat itinerary was extended and we needed to arrive at 11:45am. So while UG slept (he passed out as soon as we got back), I had to call the Hanoi Transfer Service and have our pickup rescheduled for the second time in 2 days. I had another night of broken sleep, worried about our early departure time.