Week 83: Hanoi: into a different world

October 25, 2016

"All that wander are not lost" quoting Bilbo Baggins, then Rachel declares "except in Hanoi."

The flight from Mongolia to Korea to Vietnam starts off a little unusual beginning with a one hour delay, then a wait for a missing passenger. Once the guy shows up we taxi out to the runway, only to have to return because this same passenger has to get back off. Including his luggage. They deal with it pretty efficiently, and eventually we are underway with about two hours delay. Good thing we have four hours in Seoul for our transfer to Hanoi.

We have applied for a Visa On Arrival (VOA). This is done online via a third party. They quickly return a letter to you that states that you have been approved and your visa will be stamped in the arrival airport. American citizens have just been "rewarded" to receive now a one year, multiple entry visa. Problem is that they also stopped issuing shorter (and much cheaper) visas. So now we are forced to buy a $135 visas for our planned stay of less than a month. We do have 90 days so that gives us a little leeway if we want to stay longer.

We made reservations at the Hanoi Brother Inn and they have sent a taxi to pick us up... $18 very well spent. We have a nice room with self contained bathroom and a balcony in the old French Quarter of the city. What a different world from Ulaanbaatar. Narrow streets, trees, people everywhere and a humid 30 degrees.

The day we arrive we fall asleep in mid afternoon and don't get up until the next morning.

Day two is spent organizing our tour to Halong Bay and wandering the streets. It's a spider maze of streets, mopeds speeding by or parked on the sidewalks, pedestrians, bicycle rickshaws and small golf cart-like tourist buses advertising "green tourism". All the streets look alike and the names seem similar until looking closely. Streets still have stores clumped together with like products...first we walk down the "button and zipper" section then past the "hardware"section of streets, the Walking street is where there are lots of sidewalk eateries. Crossing the street, we are back to weaving our way across the traffic from each direction.

The absence of honking is surprising and we do find ourselves at crosswalks following the walk signs. We also tour the "Hanoi Hilton" or the part that is still remaining. Most was demolished and the Hanoi Towers built on the site. Most of the displays emphasize the mistreatment of the French to the Vietnamese until the very end where the American war is addressed. The contrast is how well the American pilots captured, including pictures of John McCain, were treated, playing basketball and Christmas parties. A different perspective.

Day three we find a supermarket and bicycle shops to stock up on a few supplies and get new bike-gloves, water bottle cages and two new water bottles. We found a nice "traffic free" (almost) alley with many restaurants and excellent food. We love the Vietnamese food, the flavors and abundant fresh vegetables are a nice change from Central Asia fare.

Our bikes and panniers have all arrived undamaged in Hanoi. We are picked-up with a SUV large enough to take our gear and driven about 20km south to our hotel.

Our balcony with a nice view over Old Hanoi.

One of the lakes in Central Hanoi. There are large trees and a nice walking path around.

Anything can be transported by bicycle. We might also consider this option.

The "Hanoi Hilton", an old French prison used to detain shot down American pilots during the "American War".

More excellent Vietnamese food. This is a "hotpot" on a heater in which you keep adding noodles, fresh vegetables and meat.

Old Hanoi street scene. Very light traffic in this photo though, more normal would be throngs of mopeds.

Ortlieb bags are not the quality they used to be. Rachels rear pannier has torn along the top. This lady fixes it for us.

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