We caught the 9:31am train from Ninh Binh to Hanoi today. While waiting at the station, we picked up some usual snacks for the trip; squid puffs, peanut butter kitkat (in a country that doesn't seem to have peanut butter), and peanut brittle with rice cake base and sesame seeds. None of it was exceptionally tasty or awful. I booked 2nd class as 1st class was a sleeper car and didn't seem to be available for our 2.5 hour trip. I paid $15 for 2 tickets, and that included $7 in service fees for booking online. It wasn't as great a deal as I thought. It was a "soft seat" meaning it didn't have wooden benches. But that's about all it had going for it. The seats were all stuck in whatever reclined position we found them in. And it was quite dirty. At least it was only a 2.5 hour trip.
Back in Hanoi, we caught a taxi at the station. He put the meter on, but it was in some sort of tourist scam mode. Half way through a 7km ride, the meter was showing 14km. We were stuck in traffic a block from the hotel, so we just paid and walked the rest with our minimal luggage.
We went to the Golden Lotus Luxury hotel this time. Our room has the same decor as the other hotel, but it's half the size. Seriously, this room is smaller than our room on the cruise. But at least it has walls. That's a plus seeing as it's still rather cold here. It seems like less than a week ago I was bitching about how hot it was.
We bundled up our laundry and headed out to find somewhere to get it cleaned. We found a place next door that's a fraction of what the hotel wanted. This place was closed every time I went past last week. So we gave her the laundry, but we're crossing our fingers she's there tomorrow to pick it up.
We then went wandering again. This time, with no particular sights to get to, we started finding random alleys to explore and foods to try. We got pineapple from a street vendor, and a sort of Vietnamese empanadas with random meat and noodles which weren't very good, and a whole tiny egg which was.
We also found the sewing notion street. I picked up a couple of zippers to fix a pair of UG's bike pants back home for 30 cents. There was also one shop that carried bulk designer labels for sewing into your knock-off clothes.
We went back to the market. This time, we started on the first floor where I got dizzy from the smell of the dried goods section. Fish, mushrooms, spices, and who knows what else. I looked through the shoe section, but they were all tiny. I picked up a few yards of fabric. Nothing special, but at least I'm not going home empty handed.
Outside the market, we found a couple of shops selling Vietnamese motor bike helmets. UG wanted one as a souvenir, so we stopped to ask. He heard 300k dong, and I heard 30k dong. He walked away. I followed him and asked why he didn't get one. He replied that he wasn't willing to spend $20 on it. But I was pretty sure I heard 30k, which is less than $2. So he went back, and sure enough, he got a motorbike helmet for $2. Surely that's CSA approved?
On the way back to the hotel, we found the bakery district, and I bought some mini cakes. They looked better than they tasted.
We then walked back to the hotel for a few hours' rest. UG stepped out to get some food and came back with a chicken sub from another random street vendor. He found the backpacker street, with the biggest concentration of white faces of the whole trip; beds advertised for $5/night including beer and wifi; and laundry services for a third what we're paying (assuming we get our clothes back).
After our rest, we headed out to find Beer street. Apparently it doesn't get going until 9pm, and we're usually pumpkins by then, hence the rest. We got seats on little stools at one of the first establishments we came to. The beer wasn't as cheap as we'd expected. 35k dong for a beer, and 25k for coke. And 20k each for salad rolls. Cheap by Calgary prices, but not for Vietnam. The hotel minibar is 28k for a coke, and the corner stores charge 10-11k. But in total, $6 for a beer, a coke, and 2 salad rolls isn't too bad. The entire street is filled with bars with tables and mini stools spilling out into the street. About 10 minutes after we sat down, someone from each bar came out and collected up all the tables and stools and shoo'd everyone inside. Apparently the police come by every now and then and make them clear the street. About 20 minutes later, the street was filled again.
There were people selling helium filled balloons, although UG pointed out that not a single person was carrying a balloon. Later, we took a walk to the end of the street and saw a couple of people inhaling the gas from the balloons. So apparently they weren't helium filled?
On the way to Beer street, UG stopped to buy a long sleeve shirt, as it's too cold to be walking around in a t-shirt. We got our warmer clothes back now that we're back in Hanoi, but he sent his only long sleeve shirt to the laundry. They have these stores on every block called "Made in Vietnam" which supposedly sell factory outlet Under Armour and NorthFace gear. He had to get a 3XL as the counterfeiters apparently aren't aware of UA's sizing.
Back in Hanoi, we caught a taxi at the station. He put the meter on, but it was in some sort of tourist scam mode. Half way through a 7km ride, the meter was showing 14km. We were stuck in traffic a block from the hotel, so we just paid and walked the rest with our minimal luggage.
We went to the Golden Lotus Luxury hotel this time. Our room has the same decor as the other hotel, but it's half the size. Seriously, this room is smaller than our room on the cruise. But at least it has walls. That's a plus seeing as it's still rather cold here. It seems like less than a week ago I was bitching about how hot it was.
We bundled up our laundry and headed out to find somewhere to get it cleaned. We found a place next door that's a fraction of what the hotel wanted. This place was closed every time I went past last week. So we gave her the laundry, but we're crossing our fingers she's there tomorrow to pick it up.
We then went wandering again. This time, with no particular sights to get to, we started finding random alleys to explore and foods to try. We got pineapple from a street vendor, and a sort of Vietnamese empanadas with random meat and noodles which weren't very good, and a whole tiny egg which was.
We also found the sewing notion street. I picked up a couple of zippers to fix a pair of UG's bike pants back home for 30 cents. There was also one shop that carried bulk designer labels for sewing into your knock-off clothes.
We went back to the market. This time, we started on the first floor where I got dizzy from the smell of the dried goods section. Fish, mushrooms, spices, and who knows what else. I looked through the shoe section, but they were all tiny. I picked up a few yards of fabric. Nothing special, but at least I'm not going home empty handed.
Outside the market, we found a couple of shops selling Vietnamese motor bike helmets. UG wanted one as a souvenir, so we stopped to ask. He heard 300k dong, and I heard 30k dong. He walked away. I followed him and asked why he didn't get one. He replied that he wasn't willing to spend $20 on it. But I was pretty sure I heard 30k, which is less than $2. So he went back, and sure enough, he got a motorbike helmet for $2. Surely that's CSA approved?
On the way back to the hotel, we found the bakery district, and I bought some mini cakes. They looked better than they tasted.
We then walked back to the hotel for a few hours' rest. UG stepped out to get some food and came back with a chicken sub from another random street vendor. He found the backpacker street, with the biggest concentration of white faces of the whole trip; beds advertised for $5/night including beer and wifi; and laundry services for a third what we're paying (assuming we get our clothes back).
After our rest, we headed out to find Beer street. Apparently it doesn't get going until 9pm, and we're usually pumpkins by then, hence the rest. We got seats on little stools at one of the first establishments we came to. The beer wasn't as cheap as we'd expected. 35k dong for a beer, and 25k for coke. And 20k each for salad rolls. Cheap by Calgary prices, but not for Vietnam. The hotel minibar is 28k for a coke, and the corner stores charge 10-11k. But in total, $6 for a beer, a coke, and 2 salad rolls isn't too bad. The entire street is filled with bars with tables and mini stools spilling out into the street. About 10 minutes after we sat down, someone from each bar came out and collected up all the tables and stools and shoo'd everyone inside. Apparently the police come by every now and then and make them clear the street. About 20 minutes later, the street was filled again.
There were people selling helium filled balloons, although UG pointed out that not a single person was carrying a balloon. Later, we took a walk to the end of the street and saw a couple of people inhaling the gas from the balloons. So apparently they weren't helium filled?
On the way to Beer street, UG stopped to buy a long sleeve shirt, as it's too cold to be walking around in a t-shirt. We got our warmer clothes back now that we're back in Hanoi, but he sent his only long sleeve shirt to the laundry. They have these stores on every block called "Made in Vietnam" which supposedly sell factory outlet Under Armour and NorthFace gear. He had to get a 3XL as the counterfeiters apparently aren't aware of UA's sizing.
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