D32: Hà Nội

March 6, 2018 to March 7, 2018

It looked like Qingbuliang. It did not taste like Qingbuliang.

Here I am in Hanoi again. This makes the fourth time I've been here and, even though I had Mike with me the first two times, I can't say I've ever found it a captivatingly interesting city. It's not a bad city. It's just not a fabulous amazing wonderful awesome city full of things to do.

After I wake up from a surprisingly short nap, I go out and wander the streets nearest my hotel. I get food. I get money from the ATM. I get a massage. I get more food. Then I go back to the hotel and go back to sleep.

In the morning, I leave my hotel and wander in a different direction. The street food in Vietnam certainly is yummy. I download the GrabBike app and try to get a moto-taxi to take me to the Hanoi Bicycle Collective where, even though I'll not be bringing my bike in for repair anymore, I figure the umpety bajillion bike tourists who have said nice things about them must mean that they can give me some input on route planning now that I'm unexpectedly leaving from Hanoi a second time this trip.

GrabBike is sort of like Uber, Lyft or Didi only it's motorcycles. (In Vietnam, Uber also operates motorcycles.)

I say "try" because the first moto-taxi and I never crossed paths. I've had this happen with Didi Taxi in China but it's really quite astonishing watching the map on my phone as the icon for my taxi circles around and around and around the area where the GPS dot clearly marks my location without ever actually turning down the street I'm on. Of course the driver sends me a few messages which, translated, read "what's your address?" but, of course, I don't know what my address is. Not knowing my address is part of why I'm using a GPS enabled app that sends someone to come pick me up at a specific location. After a while, he gives up and I decide to go walking a bit more.

Of course, given how many times I got lost looking for the homestay I was staying at the last time I was in Hanoi, I promptly find myself on the same street as said homestay. I go over the cafe on the corner that had looked interesting two weeks ago and spend the next hour or two drinking coffee and people watching and chatting with other people who also came to drink coffee.

The techno playing bamboo ladder shop from my last time in Hanoi

This time when I use Grab, the motorcycle driver successfully finds my location. He then takes the fastest but also the longest and most inconvenient route around the lake to the Hanoi Bicycle Collective. I spend most of the rest of the afternoon there talking bike and drinking beer with various customers and the Indian manager. Even though most of the conversations I get into on the road in China are repetitive and uninteresting, they are still communication and I'm starved for the ability to communicate.
Also, can I reiterate yet again just how much being illiterate annoys me?

I have manage to learn a scant handful of Vietnamese words so far:
Bánh Mì - Bread
Bé - Little
Bia - Beer
Bò - Beef
Bún - Noodles
Cảm ơn bạn - Thank You
Cà Phê - Coffee
Cà Phê Sữa - Coffee with Milk
Cà Phê Sữa Dá - Iced Coffee with Milk
Chó - Dog
Chú Ý - Attention
Cơm - Rice
Đại Lý - Agency
Điện - Electricity
Gà - Chicken
Gara Ôtô - Garage
Keg - Keg
Kem - Ice Cream
Kem Sôcôla - Chocolate Ice Cream
Lít - Liter
Mèo - Cat
Nam - Male
Nhà Nghỉ - Accomodation
Nữ - Female
Phở - Noodle Soup
Răng Hàm Mặt - Dentist
Sôcôla - Chocolate
Sửa Chữa - Repair
Sữa Chua - Yogurt
Trứng - Eggs
Vịt - Duck
WC - Toilet
Xe Đạp - Bicycle
Xe Đạp Điện - Electric Bicycle
Xe Máy - Motorcycle
Xe Ôtô - Automobile

Somehow, writing it all out, it looks even more pathetic.

Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 1,518 km (943 miles)

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