Day 77 - Hanoi
Friday, October 29, 2010
Sunday 24th October
When the train pulled into Hanoi (after our 5am wake-up call!), Abi came to 'collect' me in my cabin and we walked out of the train station to find a taxi. All of the taxi drivers were circling like vultures, and as we coiuldn't find a Mai Linh taxi, we bargained with another taxi driver to take us first to Abi's hotel, and then to mine. Passing through the empty streets of Hanoi, Abi's hotel was all shut up, so we had him drop us at my hostel, which was open and contained another backpacker, fresh off the earlier train from Sapa (he'd arrived at 4:10am!)
We played on the internet whilst we waited for the reception to officially open at 6am. As I collected my keys, Abi wandered back to her hotel, feeling confident it would be open by now (and feeling safer given it was light out and movement on the streets). The receptionist told me there were two other people in my room, and I was worried about waking them up, given how early it was. Not to worry though, as they were already awake and showered! One of them was an Aussie and the other was Japanese and sooo sweet! She couldn't speak much English and was delighted when I conversed with her in Japanese, trying to tell me about the room (the air conditioning was only turned on at night by the staff, and was freezing, so she set up her towels and clothes on the railing above to try to block out the cold).
Given it was so early, and knowing I needed a wake-up call, I pulled on my runners and headed for the lake. It was here that I finally found something good about Vietnam! The lake was absolutely packed: men had brought out weights and were doing bench-presses; badminton courts had been assembled and competitions were being held; exercise classes were being performed by literally hundreds of old women; and hundreds, if not thousands, of people were pounding the pavement. I joined them, running several laps before returning to the hostel for a shower.
I'd decided I needed to do something 'touristy' today, so I headed out to the Museum of Ethnology, about 6km out of the city. I must admit I had an alterior motive for coming here - the Chocolat and Baguette cafe I'd loved in Sapa had an outpost here. Unfortunately though, they didn't have a bakery like the one in Sapa - nor a breakfast menu - so my stomach rumbled as I walked through the museum. The museum was a fairly standard (read: boring) museum, although the gardens were interesting, as they'd assembled replica tribal houses.
I had the taxi driver drop me at the French boulangerie and ordered scrambled eggs for breakfast. Whilst I was waiting, they brought out 6 slices of freshly baked baguette which was absolutely to die for!! I showed immense restraint in not eating it all, leaving 4 pieces untouched. I then spent several hours walking through the city, calling in at the Nine West, Clinique and Mac stores and mentally writing a shopping list for when I hit Canada.
Starting to fall asleep, I headed back to the hostel to work out an itinerary for the next week, keeping an eye on the Formula 1 whilst I was at it. The hostel had a special - for every crash, they would give out a free beer. The road was extremely wet and slippery, so there was a crash seemingly every two minutes - needless to say, the atmosphere quickly livened up! The place was opened by two Aussie guys, and had moved to the current location only two weeks ago, so was fresh and modern. It was free internet and wi-fi, a bar and travel agency downstairs, and a fifth floor with couches, more computers, and pool tables. The dorms themselves were good too - a lockable drawer located under the beds, and power supply and light for each bunk.
By 4pm I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so I had a quick cat-nap before I had to meet Abi at 6:30pm. Starving when I awoke, I was at her hotel shortly after 6pm, and we taxied it out to 'KOTO' (Know One, Teach One), which was a restaurant which trained disadvantaged kids (notice a pattern to my eating lately?) It had great reviews in both the Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor, and we weren't disappointed. We shared a Middle Eastern salad (chick peas, beetroot, pumpkin, mint leaves, Spanish onion, feta cheese) and then had pistachio and ricotta pasta for a main - seriously, this was the best pasta I have tasted in my life!
Unable to find a Mai Linh taxi outside (we dared to ask a few other companies for a quote, and their prices were so laughable that we would slam their doors and walk off, refusing on principle to barter them down), we walked down to road and happened to find the KOTO bakery - which had the duo chocolate tarts that both Abi and I had fallen in love with in Sapa! "Everything happens for a reason", I said to Abi, as we happily bought one each.
We had the taxi drop us on the lake as Abi headed into Mac and then the Nine West store, before farewelling each other. Abi was onto Ho Chi Minh City to meet up with her partner the next day, whilst I was off to Hoi An.
When the train pulled into Hanoi (after our 5am wake-up call!), Abi came to 'collect' me in my cabin and we walked out of the train station to find a taxi. All of the taxi drivers were circling like vultures, and as we coiuldn't find a Mai Linh taxi, we bargained with another taxi driver to take us first to Abi's hotel, and then to mine. Passing through the empty streets of Hanoi, Abi's hotel was all shut up, so we had him drop us at my hostel, which was open and contained another backpacker, fresh off the earlier train from Sapa (he'd arrived at 4:10am!)
We played on the internet whilst we waited for the reception to officially open at 6am. As I collected my keys, Abi wandered back to her hotel, feeling confident it would be open by now (and feeling safer given it was light out and movement on the streets). The receptionist told me there were two other people in my room, and I was worried about waking them up, given how early it was. Not to worry though, as they were already awake and showered! One of them was an Aussie and the other was Japanese and sooo sweet! She couldn't speak much English and was delighted when I conversed with her in Japanese, trying to tell me about the room (the air conditioning was only turned on at night by the staff, and was freezing, so she set up her towels and clothes on the railing above to try to block out the cold).
Given it was so early, and knowing I needed a wake-up call, I pulled on my runners and headed for the lake. It was here that I finally found something good about Vietnam! The lake was absolutely packed: men had brought out weights and were doing bench-presses; badminton courts had been assembled and competitions were being held; exercise classes were being performed by literally hundreds of old women; and hundreds, if not thousands, of people were pounding the pavement. I joined them, running several laps before returning to the hostel for a shower.
I'd decided I needed to do something 'touristy' today, so I headed out to the Museum of Ethnology, about 6km out of the city. I must admit I had an alterior motive for coming here - the Chocolat and Baguette cafe I'd loved in Sapa had an outpost here. Unfortunately though, they didn't have a bakery like the one in Sapa - nor a breakfast menu - so my stomach rumbled as I walked through the museum. The museum was a fairly standard (read: boring) museum, although the gardens were interesting, as they'd assembled replica tribal houses.
I had the taxi driver drop me at the French boulangerie and ordered scrambled eggs for breakfast. Whilst I was waiting, they brought out 6 slices of freshly baked baguette which was absolutely to die for!! I showed immense restraint in not eating it all, leaving 4 pieces untouched. I then spent several hours walking through the city, calling in at the Nine West, Clinique and Mac stores and mentally writing a shopping list for when I hit Canada.
Starting to fall asleep, I headed back to the hostel to work out an itinerary for the next week, keeping an eye on the Formula 1 whilst I was at it. The hostel had a special - for every crash, they would give out a free beer. The road was extremely wet and slippery, so there was a crash seemingly every two minutes - needless to say, the atmosphere quickly livened up! The place was opened by two Aussie guys, and had moved to the current location only two weeks ago, so was fresh and modern. It was free internet and wi-fi, a bar and travel agency downstairs, and a fifth floor with couches, more computers, and pool tables. The dorms themselves were good too - a lockable drawer located under the beds, and power supply and light for each bunk.
By 4pm I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so I had a quick cat-nap before I had to meet Abi at 6:30pm. Starving when I awoke, I was at her hotel shortly after 6pm, and we taxied it out to 'KOTO' (Know One, Teach One), which was a restaurant which trained disadvantaged kids (notice a pattern to my eating lately?) It had great reviews in both the Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor, and we weren't disappointed. We shared a Middle Eastern salad (chick peas, beetroot, pumpkin, mint leaves, Spanish onion, feta cheese) and then had pistachio and ricotta pasta for a main - seriously, this was the best pasta I have tasted in my life!
Unable to find a Mai Linh taxi outside (we dared to ask a few other companies for a quote, and their prices were so laughable that we would slam their doors and walk off, refusing on principle to barter them down), we walked down to road and happened to find the KOTO bakery - which had the duo chocolate tarts that both Abi and I had fallen in love with in Sapa! "Everything happens for a reason", I said to Abi, as we happily bought one each.
We had the taxi drop us on the lake as Abi headed into Mac and then the Nine West store, before farewelling each other. Abi was onto Ho Chi Minh City to meet up with her partner the next day, whilst I was off to Hoi An.
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