Leaving Hanoi

My oh my!  Six am its raining and for the first time the street is quiet. To our relief our cab is waiting but when we go to leave we realise that we are locked in!  There is a gate  at the end of the passageway, previously unseen by us, that is closed and locked.  Luckily we. had left the keys in a keybox and so we sprinted up the stairs to get them...hoping that the second key would work.  A few tricky moments and finally we were free and on our way.

The rain poured down and the roads were starting to flood but we ploughed through.

The airport was bliss... Breakfast in the business lounge and then a shower before our flight took off.   

Champagne as soon as we boarded and great meals.  Full length beds BUT sleeping was impossible as we had a four year old in front of us who raced screaming at the top of his voice up and down the aisles throughout the twelve hour flight.

The mother just ignored him even when when the flight attendants asked her to control him!

Finally grogilly we arrived in London and booked into our airport hotel... hoping for a good nights sleep before picking up our car and making the 5hr drive to Derbyshire .

Ha Long Bay

A two hour trip from Hanoi complete with the stop for morning tea at the compulsory tourist trap!  Couldn't believe what people were buying!!  So hot we were grateful for a spot of air con though!

We drifted through the islands while the staff served us with seafood, salads, sweet potatoes, calamari and much much more.  Indian woman opposite us quite strange... I think she took at least 100 selfies while we were on the boat.... not the scenery just her face.  Mmmm maybe that's normal and I'm being judgy!!

Spectacular scenery

Amazing boat trip and the walk through the caves incredible.  Roger and I tried to do some sketching ha ha... a total disaster as the boats kept swinging on their anchors ruining any chance we had of having a view for more than a few seconds at a time!

Tourists, Torrents and Typhoons

 

A relaxing walk around the lake is what we need.  Ah it's Hanoi 2024! We last visited 24 years ago!  The war was still fresh in everyone's mind and while most people were welcoming there was often more than a flash of suspicion from others. I remember the walk around the lake being a peaceful experience.  Not today!

It was a tourist trap of swarming fan sellers! It was still beautiful if a little ravaged from the very recent typhoon,  Fallen trees everywhere and muddy lake waters, teeming with fish.

We cooled down with a gin and tonic and half an hour of people watching.  The best entertainment ever!

We were so lucky to make this trip... the airport only opened the day before we arrived and the evidence of  the typhoon everywhere.  We weren't sure if the road would be opened to travel to Ha Long Bay but hey, it was, and the sun shone.

It was sad on the journey up to the Bay to see how hard some communities had been hit.  Mainly poor farmers had lost their shacks, although houses had lost their roofs, huge advertising billboards had been toppled and some bridges damaged. 

The army and teams of young people were starting to saw the fallen trees and collect the debris. Trucks trawled the streets hauling the huge trees and branches away from the crowded streets. 

And so finally to Ha Long Bay!

Ready, set, cook!

On my early morning walk while dodging scooters, bikes, cars, buses, traders and dazed tourists I see a sign for cooking lessons.  Mmm sounds relaxing and fun.  So, the next morning we meet Song a vibrant Vietnamese woman with a great welcoming smile and a quirky sense of humour.

We expect to don aprons and to get cooking but no.... first stop is to buy the ingredients at the local market!

What an amazing experience, not only did we find out about the food, the people selling them but also all the questions about living in Hanoi that we had always wanted to ask.

So slice in the excitement of the market where the occasional fish escaped to be chased down the road and flopped back into the bucket with the bonus of having someone explain the what was going on around us and we were in travel heaven!

Pigs trotters, moon cakes, fresh noodles, tofu, fish, prawns, octopus, pork, beef, chicken, jack fruit ... and much, more!  YaY! Life is good!

Back at the restaurant the ingredients have been set out and it really is time to don the aprons.  What fun, chopping ingredients, swapping stories about our families and of course learning much more about life in Hanoi!

Chill!

First day! We expected torrential rain but YaY it was warm and cloudy. At 6.00 am, the busy street of the night before has a different buzz. Motorcycles are unloaded and fresh vegetables and fruit arranged in between parked motorbikes. Women cluster and chat while farmers peel fresh corn or tumble fresh herbs and greens into plastic bags. YES everything has to go in a plastic bag! 

Women pop out of alleyways to start the day with their tai chi. Motorcycles glide to a halt the women pointing to their choice of vegetables for the day before roaring up the street - skilfully avoiding traders wearing the traditional no la, conical hats carrying huge baskets full of melons or jackfruit strung from a shoulder pole . Below us a young woman butchers and weighs pork and beef. Shops begin to roll up their shutters to reveal rolls of materials, zips, cottons and yawning owners. 

Figures hunch over small cooking fires brought alive by the gentle flapping of a handful of small leaves. People arrive on foot and motorbike to sit on small plastic stools to eat steaming bowls of chicken noodle soup served from large bubbling cauldrons. 

For us though a quiet relaxing day was on the cards, starting with breakfast at the air conditioned, Little Charm Hotel, two doors down from us. Cheese omelettes, French baguette and coffee. Coffee was a little tricky – brown or black? Mmmm?. We later found out that brown was coffee with condensed milk. I finally succeeded in ordering black coffee with cold milk… not ice… not egg…just coffee with cold milk!

While we were at the hotel, we booked in a tour of Halong Bay. Something we wanted to do years ago when we visited but ran out of time. This time also looks unlikely as the roads are still flooded but we’ll see what happens. 

A quick relax on the verandah where we are entertained by the ever-changing street life. Gradually tourists mingle with the locals, leaping in alarm as a bike, bus or car beeps its way down the narrow street. 

Then it’s time for a massage and facial. Glancing from our front door we see six spas, all with young girls calling out an eager ‘welcome’ but whose eyes drift back to their mobile phones the moment we say, ‘no thank you!’ We choose the one directly across the road and it is FANTASTIC! An hour later we feel refreshed and ready to explore!

By this time it is 4.00am Australian time (1.00 am Vietnamese) and the the street is buzzing. The daily life of the street is something I will grow to love but right now feels more than overwhelming. Our driver strides off and points to the sign - 34. No no we say. We want number 38! He nods and beckons us. 

We push past the motorcycles, people squatting on small stools eating street food, friendly girls waving us in to have a massage. He points to a small, dark passageway with no number... What have we got ourselves into now? 

 Finally we find a small alley and we are in! 

 I love stepping over a new threshold and even though we are tired this is no different. We lean over the balcony taking in all the sights and sounds before we tumble into bed for a great nights sleep... well four hours anyway! The next morning things look bright and the street has a completely different feel. Time for a breakfast, walk and massage!

Welcome to Hanoi

We left home not knowing if we would fly to Hanoi or to Saigon or not at all! A couple of days before we left we watched footage of the typboon and started to plan... but in the end our flight left on time and we settled in to relax and enjoy.

We had booked an air BnB apartment in the centre of Hanoi.  Our hosts had warned about taking cabs from the airport and so the owner had organised a pick up.  But where were they?  Nothing on our phones worked -  not even WhatsApp!  Arghh!  After a 9 hour flight and an hour of waiting we had had enough! So I approached a taxi... how much....the haggle began. He saw we knew how much we should pay.  Okay, okay I take you.  Price good!

In the cab we chilled.  That is until we saw the water!  As we drove through a wall of water rose up either side of the car.  Mmmm at least there wasn't much traffic around!

The driver set off confidently ignoring the flood, texting and talking continuously as he drove. After about 40 minutes I started to feel more than a little worried. I thought it was only 20 minutes away, I whispered to Roger. Why I whispered I don't know as his only English was Okay, Okay! He stopped, looked round, did a U turn and then pulled into a dark street and we waited. My nervousness increasing by the second.    What was happening? Out of the darkness a woman with a plastic slice of watermelon on her head appeared.  She thrust some money into his hand and he handed her a plastic bag.

'How far to Hoan Kiem? I asked hopelessly as we headed back down the road and past the airport once more.  .  Big smiles and nod of the head. We had been travelling for an hour and a half now. Plan B was coming to mind.  'Look tell him to stop at the next well lit place and we'll leap out and go to a European looking hotel'

'What about our luggage'. 

'I don't care! Let's do it.' 

We swing around the corner somehow avoiding fallen trees, people, motor bikes and street vendors and I see the sign.  'Hoan Kiem' it says.  YaY! We are here.  Our lovely driver no longer an evil hijackerleaps out of the car to get our luggage.

He beams and   Where is no 38 he asks.  As we peer around the motor cycles, street vendors and Spa Massage joints we can see 36 but no 38.  He whips out his phone and gives it to us we talk to the owner and then down an alleyway we reach our lovely apartment