The Y2K Bug N The Simplest of Cities
Trip Start
Dec 01, 1999
1
18
103
Trip End
Aug 31, 2000
Hanoi,
Vietnam
Friday, December 31, 1999
How do I describe Hanoi?
I guess I begin as I would any other city.
It is such a beautiful city. It has usual new city and the old city known as the Old Quarter. But it's more than that. Hanoi was and still is one my most favorite cities I have visited in the world. It is nothing at all like Ho Chi Minh City which moves along at such a fast pace in compression. It's kind of like comparing Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia. Melbourne is a modern city and has the city pace and attitude attached to it. Brisbane is of course a modern city but it is more like a huge country town with the relaxed atmosphere of 'hey, it will be done mate!
Relax and have a beer'.
We arrived in Hanoi on New Years Eve, the last day of the 1999 year. At 12:00 that very night the world was supposed to go into complete chaos as the Y2K Bug bit its techno arse. The money Microsoft and other companies must have made! Hey, all of my electrical appliances have only two digits for the year, best I go buy new ones because they won't work anymore! Unbelievable and the world fell for it, me included. But I wanted the chaos and disorder in our technological lives. Maybe it's the big kick in the butt the world actually needs.
Sadly it passed never to be heard of again.
When we arrived we headed to our Hotel where we happily sat for a huge breakfast. We then spent the day walking around getting lost in the maze of streets that makes up the Old Quarter. The Old Town or The Old Quarter as it is known is built around the Hoab Kiem Lake. I'm unsure if they DID spend years trying to figure out a simple structure of the streets and their street names and what to sell on each street or if it just happened by chance. Hanoi is the most sensible place I've ever walked. Surely such simplicity must take a lot longer that the more chaotic 'difficult' structure that happens in every city.
Want an example?
Ok, let's say you want to buy a new pair of shoes.
Hell, go and find Shoe Street.
There you will have an entire street of shoes to choose from.
You said you wanted to get married.
Hey go buy your gal a new ring on Jewelry Street.
What's that?
Your kids need text books for school.
You'll find em on Paper Street.
Making a time to meet people is also much easier.
Hey, meet you on Shoe Street at two?
Nah mate, the missus wants me to buy some rice for dinner.
Why don't we meet on Rice Street instead?
You can't get lost like in most cities, especially if you can't find the street sign.
An entire street of stalls would have to hide for you to get lost.
It's insane at how simple it is if you name the street after what is sold there.
If only every city was so simple.
Hanoi was a big favorite of many travelers I met prior to arriving there and also a big favorite of many since. It is perfect place. Life is easy, booking onward travel is easy, booking tours is easy, finding somewhere to sleep is easy, and most of all finding a great place to eat is just as easy. Usually they are all in the one Hostel cross Café and there are more than enough of those to go around.
During my stay in Hanoi which was around two weeks all up, I visited most of these Cafes. All were just as wonderful as the last. I chose not to stay in any of them after our tour finished as eating and drinking in them you become part of the noise that keeps so many awake. My favorites from memory were the Little Hanoi I & II and the Saigon Sakura. I remember another one with the name Darling in it. Probably my most visited but I can't remember the rest of the name. Oh, and the favorite place to grab a coldie was Spotted Cow.
Great music too this is always important with beer.
Anyhow, getting to one of the most talked about and feared NEW YEARS EVE's I've known. We all met for a huge dinner where we gorged ourselves on colourful food and beer. We then took to the streets and joined the huge crowd that was gathering around a huge building. I'm actually unsure what the building was. Maybe it was the opera house. To see the new millennium in Hanoi put on a spectacular musical treat. At one stage there were over two hundred drummers on stage at once.
The crowd loved it.
Everyone was having such a beautiful time.
At ten seconds to twelve all stopped for the count down and afterwards everyone went home. Just like that, everyone went home. That was my first real introduction to what I call the Asian 'Pumpkin Fear'. As soon as it nears midnight, 90% of the people around you pack up and leave where they are for home.
Now in 2006 we could be at KTV.
Everyone is singing and having such a great time. It's like there no warning. The night still feels young and everyone is vibed and then WHAMO! People are rushing around grabbing their belongings and heading for the door. I've been in China for a year and it still takes me by surprise. I honestly still say, hey, what's going on. The reply is always the same. Home. It's time to go home.
My reply is always the same...HUH?
Beers N Cheers toya...shane
