Overhead wires are a seething nest of vipers and live wire electrocutions seem inevitable at any moment as we brush past junction boxes and duck underneath knotted and stripped strands. Dust storms whiz around our feet as we trek the streets, literally, as we dodge traffic and boldly engage rider's eyes as we navigate street crossings at speed. Scooters and motorbikes and tiny blue stools, cooking pots and open fires and steaming woks, people and goods for sale and dirty urchins all block the footpaths forcing the pedestrians into the chaotic traffic. But the worst of all, by far the worst, is the incessant din!
Hanoi's riders and drivers just cannot stay off their horns for the briefest of moments. The honking and clanging are interspersed by personalized, electronically enhanced, hooters and "musical" horns. Upon observation, they seem to randomly test their horns at regular intervals to announce their presence to the unsuspecting rider or driver in front. If it served any practical purpose you could understand it, but they're so jaded by tooting that it becomes gratuitous and just simply extremely annoying!
We'd jetted to Hanoi on Wednesday afternoon after work and arrived at our hotel at midnight after an "interesting" airport experience! Everything went smoothly on the Taipei end and budget airline Vietjet was efficient if not slightly overzealous in their bag weighing. On the Hanoi end, however, and despite quite extensive preparations, we were stymied by a distinct "Soup Nazi" attitude by the customs' officers! Our paid-for visas and four colour photos were not enough, and a basically incomprehensible form was thrust at us with a grunt and a dismissive wave, along with our passports being whisked away with no explanation. We waited a good 50 minutes before we were very relieved to be called out for form delivery and the payment of $50 U.S dollars (also pre-prepared). Luckily, our little champion local driver must have experienced this fascist carry-on in the past and remained in the arrival hall for us. Some ill prepared foreigners were treated with even more scant respect than us....these guys need to work on their people skills big time!
Our hotel was magnificent and on a grand scale. The surfaces were sheathed in thick marble and the accommodations vast and plush. The lobby reflected the area's French influence and dazzling chandeliers bathed a reception area and lobby buzzing with liveried porters and smiling desk staff. We were quickly processed and escorted to a beautiful, generously sized and immaculately equipped room for our 3 night stay.
After a decadent and luxurious sleep-in each day, reluctant to leave our king sized bed, we wandered down to the Jasmine Restaurant for our breakfast. There was an extensive and wonderfully stocked buffet, but we could also order anything a la carte to be prepared by the chef and brought to the table. On various days we tried various different options, all magnificent, but Cassy's flambe banana maple syrup infused pancakes were the overall winner! We tended to end the day of travel back at the hotel with a drink or two overlooking the chaotic street scenes, before we prepared to go out for our dinner later on.
Our days were spent navigating the labyrinthine street grid checking various spots of interest. We wandered down less trod alleyways and lanes partly searching for spots and partly trying to escape the bustling traffic! We were armed with a map both days and we wandered independently most of the time although Cassy's suggestion to do a full city bus tour was an excellent one as we could get our bearings a little better and decide whether to venture back to certain spots under our own auspices. We managed to traverse all the "walking streets" recommended on the city guides and were overwhelmed by the amount of foreigners around. We're used to being the only, or the rare breed, of non-Asian in our travels here in Taiwan: it's a melting pot in Vietnam and most of them seemed like clueless tourists as well!
The grand official buildings and memorials were impressive, like Lenin's statue and Ho Chi Minh's tomb, but the really interesting sites were the, crumbling at times, examples of old French architecture and French influenced Vietnamese buildings. In the back streets we saw many examples of ramshackle, lemon-coloured 3 and 4 story houses. They were shielded from the roasting sun by bamboo blinds or wooden shutters and cute little Juliet balconies jutted at seeming unplanned intervals from their facades. A few were in good condition and maintained faithfully, yet most showed signs of decay, tropical weather encouraging mold or even small plants to grow from roof tiles, gutters and cracks in the stucco.
We ate some delicious food at little street stalls in back alleys, in pubs in laneways and at the hotel's restaurant. We had our fill of pho and other noodles, fried rice and hot pots. Of course, the trip wouldn't be complete without a little product to take home. Cass negotiated a rock bottom price by doubling up her leather jacket purchase and the tactile soft garments are teal blue and matte black respectively. We also stumbled across a shop selling just the right coloured navy silk scarves and were intrigued to spot a photo of John Kerry with the owner above the cash register. He told us conspiratorially that, on his next visit, Kerry brought Obama himself to the shop to make a few quiet purchases!
After widening our carbon footprint again getting back to Taiwan, everything went smoothly and we've had Sunday to relax, do some grocery shopping and other chores (including blog writing!) and generally get prepared for another hectic week at school. 60 essays down, 130 to go before Friday hand-back deadline.....wish us luck! Here is the full photo album.