Hanoi

Lotte tower

The flight into Hanoi was pretty uneventful, but in keeping with the theme of sagas we had a small drama getting to our room. We got the airport bus as we have done before so as not to pay the rip-off taxi prices which are about 20 times more expensive than the bus. With limited English the bus driver asked where we wanted to go and we said “Linh Lang” which is the name of our street. The driver asked if that was near Hoan Kiem lake, which is in the city and I said “sort of”, meaning maybe 5 kms away. Kim showed him the address on her phone and he said “Bah Dinh” which was our suburb. After about 1/2 an hour I began to recognise where we were, and then when I saw the Australian Embassy, I knew exactly where I was. I went up to the front of the bus and tried to ask the driver to stop. A couple of Vietnamese in the front seat that could speak English tried to help me by speaking to the driver. But the driver wouldn’t stop. Another Vietnamese man then told me that the driver knew what was happening and that we would be another 10 minutes. About 10 minutes later we arrived in the city, about 5 kms away from where we wanted to be and the driver told us we had arrived. I had bought a SIM card at the airport, which meant that I had maps and GPS on my phone. I showed the driver “Linh Lang” on the phone and in a fairly exasperated tone asked him to take us back. 

Then another bus drove past us and our driver asked it to stop. He told us to get on that bus, so we did. Initially the new bus started going the wrong way and it was starting to get pretty annoying, but we couldn’t do or say much about it. We were the only two passengers on a full-sized bus. After a while I could see our next bus heading the right way and feelings of calm started to return. When we got off I tipped the driver 100000 dong (about $5) and the driver was very happy. We walked down our old street where we lived for a few months in 2012 and it was surprising to see the changes. Some new shops, our old faithful restaurant had had a bit of a makeover with glass windows. Our supermarket was missing but a new one had been built in a different location. After we got to our room I walked back up and bought a couple of premium beers for about $1 and we settled in to our new room.

Feeling nervous, 65 floors up

The next day we went out to see who and what we could recognise. One of the first and probably our favourite, was our old tea lady friend. She is 73 years old and sits on the corner under a tarp and sells iced teas, tobacco and cigarettes to locals. It is a hangout place for men that take people around on motorbikes for a fee. They all seem to love and respect her. It is like she is the matriarch and anything she needs they hop up and help her instantly. She recognised us immediately and jumped up and came over us held our hands and gave us a cuddle. A couple of the motorbike blokes also recognised us, and smiled and shook hands. I was quite an emotional moment for us. It felt great to be back. This place almost feels like home to us.

After having an iced tea we went across the road to one of our favourite restaurants and had spring rolls, boiled peanuts and a couple of beers. The beer here is called “bia hoi” which means fresh beer I believe. The beer is brewed fresh, sold in barrels and drunk quickly, unlike the bottled and more aged variety at home. It is quite low alcohol and you can have 3 or 4 with little effect. Just up from where we were a new high-rise shopping centre and hotel had been completed. This building was well under construction in 2012 when we here before, and still not finished when we came back in 2013. It is a huge 60-something storey tower. We paid $10 AU each for a trip to the top. Inside the lift was jet black with some led lighting strips. There were television screens on the roof depicting space scenes. The 65 storey lift journey took about 30 seconds. From the roof you could see for kilometres in each direction. It put our position in the city into a good perspective. There was an observation deck on the top floor with a glass bottom. People are asked to remove their shoes before walking out onto it. Although it is probably triple layer, hardened glass, there is something very unnerving about stepping out onto it. When I stepped out I could only take small very tentative steps at first, and strangely it felt slight better being above the beams, instead of just on the void. In the department stores, large bright screens depicted mostly European white models. Sadly the perception still exists here that wealth and success are associated with white skin. I guess we all want what we can’t have. The prices were as expensive or mores than home. I asked someone about that and was told that the government increases taxes on imported goods, to make them more expensive than locally made items. This is meant to keep more locals in jobs.

The next day we caught the bus into the city. It only costs 7000 dong ($0.39 AU) and is a very authentic Vietnamese experience. The bus takes off before you sit down and you get thrown around and have to hang on or hit the deck. When we got into the city it started to pour with rain and we had to retreat to a second floor restaurant where you could look at the busyness of the city. Apart from the Vietnamese going out their business you could see many European tourists, some clutching their Lonely Planet guides and looking pretty unnerved about walking around in the chaotic Hanoian traffic. Lots of people wanted us to buy stuff, but we had already spent up pretty big in Hoi An. We have no room left in our suitcases for any more stuff. I have to kneel on my suitcase to have any hope of getting it closed. 

One of the things I had planned to do here was to go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I had that done the last two times I visited and was really impressed. Unfortunately the dentist that I went to in 2012/13 had closed so we had to find a new one. One night, after eating tea, we went for a walk and stumbled across another dentist. I asked how much to have my teeth cleaned and was told 100000 Dong ($5.00 AU). Not only that, but we could come in immediately and have it done. This was the third time I have had this work done here and compared to the dentists I have been to in Tasmania, each time they have been very gentle, they don’t “accidentally” hit your gums with the drill. I find it extraordinary that mine and others experience in Burnie has almost caused me to jump out of the chair as they seem to be trying to focus on getting the job done quickly rather than carefully. 

Our final day was spent with some friends that we made in 2012. These girls have all grown up now. One was married with a baby and the other a university student. It was great to meet the little man and chat about their future. We gave the old tea lady a present before we left. With a little sadness we left our home away from home in Vietnam and with some excitement caught our next flight into Tokyo, where we start a nine day cruise around Japan.