Day 9: Tuesday 17 Oct 2000
Hanoi

This entry posted on:
18 OCT 2000 at 1900	Vietnam
18 OCT 2000 at 1200	UTC
18 OCT 2000 at 0800	EDT
18 OCT 2000 at 0500	PDT

So, we woke up in the middle of a Ha Noi community theatre production of the Poseidon Adventure. I wouldn't have been surprised to discover that our beds were now resting on the ceiling. You know, just before we fell asleep, a gecko (this country is literally crawlin' with 'em... at night they come out like shadows) ran across the ceiling, and Mike remarked that you know you're in a bad hotel when the lizards running across your ceiling are at the bottom of your list of complaints. As I walked out of the shower this morning, Mike pulled his day pack free as it rushed by in the rapids and said, "so, you want to check out of here this morning?" So, we packed up our crap and left. As we checked out, the guy behind the desk asked us where we were headed next. I sensed that Mike was about to give up the goose about us looking for a new place to stay and, not wanting to get into it with the guy, I lied and said we were headed back to the states. So, once again homeless, we walked out into the driving rain, with all our shit, and started walking towards our original first choice, the Classic Hotel. We made a few wrong turns--recall that this was the first time we were seeing the city in the daylight--but we finally made it. Rooms were only five dollars more per night, but we asked to see it anyway. Very nice, an actual bathtub/shower stall, and the windows are 100% leak-free. Nice. So, finally, safely ensconced in a dry hotel room, we set about exploring the city of Ha Noi. Ha Noi and Saigon couldn't be more different. Ha Noi, at least the old quarter, where we're staying, is very European, with narrow streets bordered by overhanging flats and shops. Right in the center of town is a large lake, with a nice little tiled path meandering around its edges. In Ha Noi, all the men seem to dig wearing olive-drab military-style pith helmets, and the cyclo drivers give up after only one "no." We walked all over town, and barely got hassled to buy useless crap at all. We walked for miles and miles. After a lunch at a famous place run by an Australian ex-pat, called Al Fresco's (huge portions for just a little more cash-ola than the regular Vietnamese places), we set out for the heart of the city and its serious Communist monuments. We were deep in the heart of enemy territory today, my friends. We stopped by the statue of comrade Lenin (and poked fun at him, almost daring Ha Noi's jackbooted thugs to come out and give us a hard time). Then we went by Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, which is actually pretty cool. Also, fairly intimidating... so we kept our comments and silly gestures to ourselves. It was closed when we were there, but we plan to go back on Thursday so we can actually see Ho's corpse, which is kept in a glass case where visitors can stare at him to their hearts' content. We hear they are pretty serious about maintaining decorum in the presence of Uncle Ho's old bones. You can't even put your hands in your pockets. We walked, and walked, and walked. I guess we just misread the scale on our map, because we were out for hours. By the time we got back, we were exhausted. Nevertheless, we dragged our butts out to TF Handspan (a popular traveler's cafe, in the vein of the Sinh Cafe), to sign up for a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda (A Susan and Phillip recommendation), and a two-day trip to Ha Long Bay. We'd eaten so much for lunch that we only had room for a liquid dinner. But we wanted to do something local, so we waited until we spotted a sidewalk cafe jam-packed with a Vietnamese rush hour crowd, pulled up a couple of plastic kindergarten chairs (don't know what it is about these people and liking to be close to the ground all the time), and ordered some drinks. I had a Bia Hoi, which is a very light, local draft beer which comes by the 20-cent pint. Ah, if only I'd known about this place in college, the cost of my diploma could've been cut virtually in half. And then, incredibly, we walked some more. Ha Noi is a great place to walk. It's absolutely packed with shops, and without the harassment, you actually don't mind stopping in some of them to look around. And then there's the food. Every inch of curb in this town has been claimed by someone, who is cooking and selling something, often some of the weirdest somethings you've ever seen in your life. We wound up buying a couple of pastries for dessert. One was a kind of challah with this white creamy stuff in it, and the other was a creme roll of some kind, with a coconut flavored filling. Very good stuff. As we finished up our late dessert, we heard drumming outside our window and went out onto our balcony to see what was what. Turns out a group of kids had gotten themselves one of those Chinese dragon things, a large timpani-type drum, and some cymbals... (just what we need, something to make the kiddies louder!), and were throwing their own little Chinese New Year celebration... or something. Cool. Loud, but cool. And that was basically it. We had a rough start to our day and a tiring bout of street walking... not that kind of street walking you dirty bastard! And given that we had to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to catch our bus to the Perfume Pagoda, we just went back to The Classic and fell asleep in our warm, dry, and non-clammy beds. Tomorrow, The Perfume Pagoda.

On to Day Ten...

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