Greetings from Hanoi!

This is my first full day in Hanoi. So far, it's been a great trip for me. I was apprehensive about coming out here by myself, seeing as to how I really enjoy the company of people. I was really worried that I'd miss talking to people so much that I'd start having auditory/visual hallucinations of imaginary friends, and I'd be that crazy person talking animatedly to myself. However, it's a lot less painless than I have expected.

DAY 1

The immigration process at Hanoi was...interesting. The airport only had immigration cards scripted in Vietnamese, and since 70% of the people there didn't understand the language, we ended up approaching the immigration officers with blank immigration cards. I pretty much filled up my name, gender, passport number and date of birth in random boxes and hoped that they were right.

The airport ride was uneventful, although I know I got ripped off US$2!! So there were Nobai Taxis for US$8, and regular Airport Taxis for US$10. Some lady waylaid me as I was marching towards the Nobai Taxis (who wouldn't want to save a buck or two with Geico?), and said that the $8 did not include highway tax. I didn't recall my Lonely Planet guide telling me about highway tax, but I recalled LP telling me about US$10 taxis. So, I decided to go with the regular airport taxis. As predicted, no such highway tax. I coulda had two meals with that money.

The taxicab I got into stopped me at a random place called Green Hotel. Some guy opened my taxi door, and that's when I got a little frightened. In spite of the fact that I kept reiterating that this wasn't my hotel, he WOULDN'T SHUT THE DOOR! And then he told me, "sorry no more accomodation available. high season. i own most of the hotel down the street." I started to panic, but wait, this isn't my hotel. I quickly fumbled in my back pack and pulled out the name and address of my hotel, and he realized what I had kept repeating... that this wasn't my hotel.

I finally got to my US$6/night hotel, very small place called A*Z Queen Cafe. It was a cafe downstairs, and guesthouses upstairs. I was ushered to my room which I rejected after further inspection, because it was facing the road and the window hinge was broken. I thought I was being smart when I downgraded to my US$3/night room. But upon further inspection, I realized that there was a window that was concealed with calendar paper!! Being the kaypoh that I am, I poked a hole into the calendar paper (like on those chinese period drama serials where the man tries to peep at the woman showering). I was pretty relieved to see that, behind the papered up window, was the family that owned the cafe, and they were sitting around a TV and just chilling.

I went out to the night market at around 8:30pm. To be honest, the night market was just another night market, just with signboards in Vietnamese. And I would have loved to buy things, except that when presented with too much choice, I just buy nothing. I guess that's a good thing, I save a lot. I didn't stay too long, because the fact that people were pushing and shoving was starting to REALLY annoy me. I went back to the hotel, sat at the cafe (coz it was cool and had a nice strong fan going), drank a bottle of sprite (they still come in bottles!!!), and wrote in my journal.

Anyway, I hardly slept last night. It was SO HOT in my room. I need a room with a window and ventilation. I don't mind the lack of a/c, but without ventilation, it's just pure torture. And without a window, I'm just very sad and lonely. I requested a room change, and hopefully I'll get it for the night. I'd like to get some sleep before I head out to Halong Bay tomorrow. 2 days 1 night tour to the beautiful craggy karst landscape. Hopefully I get to do a little cave swimming and kayaking - it's written into my itinerary. But probably I kena TUA by the fine print or something. I'll be in my swim suit and flippers on top of some mountain top. Life would suck. I'll be sleeping on a boat tomorrow night. Should be interesting.

Since the rain still hasn't abated, I shall keep going.

DAY 2

I planned to get an early start to my day, but only finally slept at about 5am. Woke up at 9am, and took a nice cold shower. Well, I couldn't figure how to get the hot water working, and figured the morning shower was good for me. Didn't want to use the towels they provided, because the white towel had yellow crusty spots, and the yellow towel had spore-like black spots. Thank goodness I brought my camping, quick dry towel. The best thing I bought ever. It soaks up water efficiently, and then dries even more quickly. Within the hour, it's pretty much good to go. Gotta love technology.

I walked down my street (Hang Bac), in search of a cafe that LP had recommended. When I reached the place, I realized it wasn't really a food place. Have to take the things that LP says with a pinch of salt, coz this edition is 5 years old. (Sminty, I have to confess that I've ripped the pages out from your SEA guide. Nice dinner treat for you in MN? :D) Anyway, I walked further down the road, and found a small cafe to eat my morning Pho. At the end of the meal, the young Vietnamese male server handed me my change, and asked me where I was from. In the background, I saw the three lady servers giggling amongst themselves and not-so-subtley pointing at him. SCORE!

One thing I have noticed about Hanoi is that the residents love their motorcycles. Nothing wrong with that, but like the floating market in Bangkok, it's jungle law when it comes to traffic rules. Nobody really obeys the arrows on the street, and there can be motorcycles travelling both ways on a one way. The really scary part is, the Hanoi-ans seem to think that the horn is a perfect substitute for brakes. I think there's a really good likelihood that I'll be hit by a moving vehicle before the end of my trip. Prepare the crutches!

So Hanoi is a really quaint place, sort of like Singapore in the 50s (not that I was alive then, but I can only imagine. I walked around the Old Quarter this morning, and will continue my little tour when the rain clears. I saw women washing their clothes old school style, like the Dhobys, with their tubs of clean water, soapy water... Also saw ladies spooling yards of cloth, getting ready to take them to the dress shops so the tai tais can select the materials for their next outfit. Chanced upon some kind of nursery school, and I think the children were having recess in a rather elaborate, high-ceiling hall, decorated with all kinds of paper votive decorations, lanterns etc. There were several lunch ladies scooping out food for the kids.

There were a lot of shophouse-like buildings lining the streets of the old quarters, with colonial style pillars and balconeys similar to those found in Joo Chiat or Koon Seng. However, the shop fronts are rather deceptive looking, as they extend into very long corridors where there are storage places for the goods, and even residential spaces. I ventured into one of those long, dark and dank corridors (very adventurous given my fear of the dark), and noticed that the more veteran shoppers (or at least the older ones) go into these dark corridors to collect their goods. I wonder why, but it's kind of hard to ask these questions because I don't speak the language.

I had another mini-adventure on a random street callde Hang Buom. I was searching for the Dong Xuan market and chanced across this temple that looked open. I walked in, and was greeted by an old lady and (presumably) her grandchild. We smiled at each other, and she urged me to walk and explore the quarters. There were two little gardens within the compound that were really peaceful and quiet. I wish I could chill there, and get away from the sounds of the damn motorcycle horns. There were several different rooms, one that ladies were cooking in, and several with statues of Buddha. I took photos of a really surprisingly gold-gilded ornate room. As I was stepping out of the compound, the old lady urged me to go back in. She kept indicating that I should walk in, and so I followed her again. She took me back to the room with the gold-gilded shrine, and made me walk around to the different statues and altars. Then she took me further back, to a very darkened room with more lavish altars. She stood to a side, and motioned for me to walk around. There were even more statues in this room, with some of animals (a phoenix? chicken? not sure) though I'm not certain what its significance was. I didn't dare to take pictures at this altar, because it was all dark, and quiet, and somehow seemed very sacred. I didn't get to see the inside of Hanoi's most sacred temple, Bach Ma. But somehow, it's the unexpected surprises that get to me the most.

I'm about to leave the cafe, hopefully to catch the opening hours of the communal house at Ma May. I'll leave with some parting comments: They love Tiger beer! Many restaurants have Tiger signs hanging right next to their restaurant signs. And for the hypochondriac in me, I have discovered and am very excited about no rinse antiseptic handwash. So far, loving my trip.