A Weekend in Hanoi

Ok, so just a quick entry (although with a lot of pictures) for a quick trip to Hanoi. I had to leave Thailand to get another visa, so Margaret and I decided to head to Hanoi for a weekend – this way I could get my visa and we could visit my friend Thomas (and his fiancée Thuy).
More Visa Fun
We needed visas to go to Vietnam, so instead of going through the hassle of going to the embassy, we used a travel agent. Anyway – I dropped off our passports with our travel agent Lolita and I swear she told me I could pick them up on Thursday night. So I went downtown to get them on Thursday (around 45 minutes from where we live), and Lolita isn’t there. Instead, there are three new employees. And they can’t find our passports, even after turning the place upside down. It was complete chaos. Another couple was there (I think they were Russian) and the guy was trying to get a flight and got so fed up with their incompetence that he went behind the counter and tried to use the computer himself. So these three employees basically can’t do anything – and you can tell they are completely flustered. And I am worried. I would be so screwed if they lost my passport, because no matter what I had to leave the country in a few days when my visa expired. It turns out that they just hadn’t gotten them back from the embassy yet – so it wasn’t a disaster, but it did cost me four 45 minute trips. And a near heart attack.

And a little more visa fun – although this really doesn’t have much to do with visas. Every time I am in SE Asia I somehow take a fall (Thomas can attest to this). I actually made it to the Thai embassy in Hanoi before they opened at 9am. And they let me in early and I was out of there before they were even supposed to open. So all I had to do was wait a day and comeback and pick up my passport. But I had a day to kill until Margaret got there, and so I took in a few sights. The first one was the War Museum. As I was walking around looking at all the old military wreckage displayed outside, I decided to take a picture of the wreckage of an American plane that was shot down. And I was too close to fit it all in the frame, so I stepped back. However, I didn’t realize there was a huge raised curb right behind me. So I tripped, and as I stumbled for what seemed like 3 minutes (and in slow motion) I thought I had regained my balance. But then I stepped off the curb and fell flat on my face and everything fell out of my backpack. All of this was in front of a group of school kids who had just gotten off their bus. And it was great fun for them. After they stopped laughing they were very interested in me. Most of them came over and measured themselves against me. Too funny. I also had to walk around for the rest of the day with a mud stain on my pants. But I did get the shot:For those of you who have read my travelogues of years before, this was the third sighting of Carl Lewis Jr. But it wasn’t all laughter, as the next morning when I woke up my ribs killed! I think I must have bruised my ribs in the fall. I mean who trips over a curb and bruises their ribs? I hate getting old - and just when my tailbone had healed. Ye gods.

Thomas and Thuy
We got to see my friends Thomas and Thuy (although this picture was in Bangkok - somehow I didn't get any pix with them this time- dammit Beavis!). Thomas, as always was an amazing host, hanging out with us every night. The first night it was just me and Thomas, and we went out to dinner and then for drinks. It was good times again – re-hashing all of our old adventures and discussing our current ones. And of course the dice came out – and were addicting as usual. Damn that game! The second night Margaret was in town – and Thomas took us out for a dinner at a great Vietnamese restaurant and then to a café overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake for some late night drinks and ice cream (please note that Thomas got an ice cream with a little umbrella in it).

Our last night in Hanoi, Thomas and Thuy had us over for dinner. Thuy cooked up her famous fresh spring rolls and also Danish X-mas Pork. It was so good. Somehow we had talked about the Danish X-mas Pork the night before and Thomas wanted to make sure we tried the traditional dish. The wine was good, the food was great and the company was awesome. Huge thanks again to Thomas and Thuy, and here’s hoping that my 4th trip to Hanoi will be in September for their wedding!

Doing Hanoi as Shoppers
We spent a day walking around the Hoan Kiem Lake area and shopping. We started with a late breakfast, and also got some sweet potatoes from a local vendor. And then it was all shopping (Hanoi is a great place for so much stuff)and checking out the city. The only problem I have with Hanoi is the traffic (and hence the noise). It is full of motorbikes, and all of them are honking. Here is an example of a funny sign, a few parked motorbikes, a local traffic cop and a local gas station. I really wanted Margaret to try some Pho soup (ok, I really wanted some too) so we tried to get it for lunch. We stopped at a local place and ordered what I thought was Pho, but ended up with a fried noodle dish. It was good, but no Pho! We stayed at the Hanoi Hilton (using my points again), and it is a nice hotel. And there is one thing I really love about it. It is right next to the Hanoi Opera House, and for once a hotel tried to blend in and I think they did a pretty good job of it. At least it isn’t a huge eye-sore like so many new hotels. On our way back to the hotel we stopped off for ice cream at this little store-front near our hotel. It is always crazy busy and the night before we noticed the streets around were littered with popsicle sticks from the place. And when we arrived there was a huge mass of people (you can’t really call it a line) trying to get cones (notice me with the shopping bags!). So Margaret got in “line” to get some ice cream and she actually succeeded. But not until she was pushed around by business men and old ladies.One really has to be aggressive in Hanoi – more so than even Bangkok. And Margaret got a couple of cones just before they ran out and had to wait for the next bunch. Whew.

Doing Hanoi as Tourists
On our last day our flight wasn’t until the evening, so we had a whole day to explore. And we decided to check out a bunch of the tourist attractions. We made sure to get Pho by going to a place called Pho 24.
It is a chain (note there are no Mickey D’s in Hanoi – it is quite refreshing – but Thomas told me some western fast food has emerged in the outskirts of the city – hopefully they won’t let them ruin downtown) and I had been there before – so I knew we would be ok. And it was good. There is nothing quite like it. We hired a couple of motorcycle drivers to take us around the city. My driver was hilarious – he kept trying to take us off of our path, and succeeded sometimes. He also found out we were interested in India and while we were at an attraction went off and got a Lonely Planet book to sell us. He was enterprising as hell, and of course the final negotiation for the day was a little frustrating – but they were good guides. How can you not love my hair in this one?Although I think I may have been (ahem) a tad big for the motorbike. You be the judge. We checked out a few cool spots starting with the Temple of Literature: Maggie met her favorite Communist in the park:The Flag Tower: And One Pillar Pagoda: Towards the end of the day we decided to get “shampoo” massages – basically an hour long massage of your head and hair. On my previous trips to Hanoi, Thomas and I used to get them everyday – they are so relaxing. But Margaret and I made a mistake. We told our drivers to find one instead of just having them drop us off by the lake and finding one ourselves. Anyway he took us to a place that had never had tourists before. And the massage was horrible – they were so rough I thought my head was gonna bleed and we both got headaches. And I was pissed, b/c I had been talking these up to Margaret for like a month.We killed our last bit of time by walking around Hoan Kiem Lake near sunset, when it is busy with people walking, sitting, playing, contemplating, etc. Cool.
A Few Last (Funny) Items
I can’t finish up without describing a couple of things at the airports. On my flight from Bangkok to Hanoi, three Vietnamese guys cut in front of me (and many others) on the jet-way! I am not kidding. And it wasn’t like I was walking slowly and they passed me. It was a packed line not moving and these guys just sort of kept slowly walking along the sides (I was flying Air Asia which has “free boarding” which means a free for all) and then cut in right before entering the plane. And the funniest thing is that even the Air Asia flight attendants were rolling their eyes at them.

The other item is when we arrived back in Bangkok from our trip to Laos (yes, I am behind on the blog – and Laos is gonna be a crazy long, multi-part blog – so get ready). It was the Sunday night ending the Thai (and Lao) New Year, so the airport was absolutely jam packed. And there were huge lines for taxis. Well, huge lines if you aren’t used to the Thai way. So we saw the lines from inside the airport, and strategically walked out the non-line side and followed the Thais into a sort of wedge that made up a new “line” that moved much faster. When we got in our taxi I looked back at the normal line, and it was full of farang (must have been first-timers) just waiting patiently. I think the line of over 50 had moved maybe five spots. So the moral of the story is that I am learning!

Oh - and here is a picture before I got my hair cut for the first time since I have been out here. Look at those greasy locks! Well, I'm no longer a long-hair. And Walker, please notice that my shirt is on for this picture. You are welcome.Keep your eyes peeled for Laos Part I soon. I am pretty much finished with it so it should be up shortly.