A Lazy Independence Day in North Vietnam

Trip Start May 24, 2009

Trip End Jul 20, 2009

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Where I stayed

Comfort Hotel

(Hanoi hotels)

Flag of Vietnam Hanoi, Vietnam
Saturday, July 4, 2009

I can't say that Cory and I did too much to celebrate American Independence, but we had a decent enough last day in Hanoi. We slept until around check out time in our really beautiful hotel (which had still only been $10) and packed our things up to return to the first guest house we stayed in during our time in Hanoi. When we finally checked out and made it back across the street, we were told that there were no air conditioned rooms left, and we were offered the same fan-only room from the day before. We declined that, and asked about the hotel we had just come from, but were told that it was booked solid already.

So we decided to leave our packs at the guesthouse and go searching around. We must have gone into around 10 hotels and guest houses looking for an acceptable place, the prices ranged from $9 up to around $55. In the end we opted for a place very close to where we stayed the previous nights in Hanoi for $12, which was a private room with two beds, hot shower, AC, and free internet downstairs.

After check-in we decided to go find the mini-bus pick-up point for our trek to the airport the next day, and have lunch at a Vietnamese fast food restaurant called BBQ, which is known for the chicken dishes. It was recommended to us the night before by an American we met who is working for the government in Korea. Our guest house generously provided us with a city map (like a real map, not a photocopied sheet of paper) and showed us the location on the map of the mini-bus and the BBQ.

Out with the Floridians

We made it to the mini-bus location in short order (about a 10 minute walk from our guest house) and looked at the times. It looked like 6:30am was going to be the best option for us (turns out it wasn't, and we had to catch the 4:30 bus). We also found out that the ticket cost was only 25,000 VND (Cheaper than the $2 USD we paid on the way in from the airport).

After checking out the mini-bus situation (which is across from a large Vietnam Airlines office, for reference of anyone looking for it), we headed down the street to BBQ. It seemed like a typical fast food joint, although I can't quite say that it was. I ordered fried chicken with chili sauce and Cory had a chicken burger (grilled). It took about 10 minutes for our food to come out, and I don't think either of us was too impressed. My chicken was good, but it wasn't boneless, and there wasn't a ton of meat. If you could have put the chili sauce (which was incredibly spicy) on my chicken strips from KFC the night before, you would have a much better fast food concoction. Cory's chicken burger still had the skin on it, and it kind of sketched him out, so he ate about 2/3 of it.

After lunch we walked around a bit, bought a stamp at the post office, and then went to check on our second set of suits (which weren't ready, it was only 4:00 or so, and we were told they would be ready at 7). So we went back to our room and ended up falling asleep while waiting for the tv to be fixed. When we got up it was time to get our suits, so we headed back to the tailor.

My Sunburnt Arm (From Halong Bay)

The suits were ready, and we tried them on. Everything seemed fine on my stuff (although I'm not at all crazy about the white buttons on the jacket, they will have to get replaced at home), but Cory wanted his jacket to be taken in in the mid-section, and his pants brought up a bit. The tailor packed up my things and told Cory his stuff would be delivered to our hotel by 10. So we left to get some dinner.

On the way to dinner we ran into one of the American girls from our Halong Bay cruise, and got their whole story. I think I told you that they were left in Halong Bay City and told that they wouldn't be given a ride back to Hanoi. So they found a bus for $5 each that would take them back. Apparently our tour guide tried (in vain) to get them to return with our group, but they refused. When they arrived back in Hanoi they argued their case with their hotel (who sold them the tour) and it eventually ended up at the police station. There were the two Americans, our tour guide, the owner of the tour company, and the hotel, in addition to the police. The police were very angry with the tour guide and owner of the tour company, and it was agreed that they would be completely refunded their money. The tour guide was also fired for his handling of the situation by the owner. So for those of you that thought Cory and I were tough to deal with, we really aren't so bad!

After telling us the story, she invited us to a place that they had raved about, called Tamarind Cafe, at 10:00. We didn't commit to it, but after we left Cory and I decided that we were somewhat obligated.

Trying on My Suit

So we had some dinner and went back to the guest house to wait for Cory's suit. It arrived a bit before 10:00, and was fixed to Cory's liking. After trying everything on, we left for Tamarind Cafe around 10 past 10. We had some little arguments about directions (as we had intelligently left the map behind), but finally found the place around 10:35. By that time they had given up on us, though one of them was still there writing out postcards. Unfortunately I couldn't sample their awesome desserts because they were closed.

We talked for a few minutes and then decided that we would join them for a beer or two, so we went to their guest house to collect the other American before setting out on our bar finding mission. It took a while to find a place that wasn't obnoxiously loud, closed, or a night club, but we finally prevailed in a newly opened place called Studio. It was really trendy looking, and Cory and I thought that we shouldn't go in because trendy generally equals expensive. However, it wasn't really that bad. We each had a draught Carlsberg (why Danish beer is so popular around the world, I do not know) which cost 35,000 VND. Granted, this was WAY more than our 3,000 VND Bia Hoi from the night before.

I ended up having two beers, Cory only one, and we ended up paying in American dollars since we were pretty low on VND. We all enjoyed talking to each other, and we had a pretty good conversation with the owner (who was from Singapore originaly, but had operated restaurants in Chelsea for about 11 years).

Cory Trying on His Suit

He of course pitched us the menu, which looked phenomenal, I only wish we discovered the place earlier in our Hanoi stay. He was also gracious enough to bring out a sliced up mango for the four of us, which was delicious. So anyone that finds themselves in Hanoi should definitely look the place up!

We called it quits around 12:30, went back to the room and packed up, and went to sleep. By this point we saw out flight was at 8:35, and that we would need to get up in time for the 4:30am mini-bus, so our clock was set for 3:50.

It seemed like in no time at all we were awake and running (not quite, but we were walking quite quickly) to the minibus. We arrived and were told $2, but since we knew it was actually supposed to be 25,000 VND, he gave up the dollar game pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I think he was trying to maximize his profits by filling the minibus, and we didn't actually leave until around 5:30, which still got us to the airport plenty early.

The airport was the usual stuff, and we boarded for our trip to China, with a stop in Guangzhou (we didn't know about this before). We actually had to clear health inspection (they came on the plane totally covered in bio-hazard suits, masks, and goggles) and immigration in Guangzhou before boarding the same plane for the onward journey to Beijing, which went off without a hitch. When we got to Beijing we had to go through customs, which was no problem. The real fun began when we tried to find an ATM and how to get on the airport express train. We must have tried 5 or 6 atms, because they either wouldn't dispense cash to us, or said there was some type of commission, but didn't say how much. Finally (thankfully), we found one that didn't charge us anything. The express train (at least in terminal 2) was on level -2, and costs only 25 Yuan (It's around 6.8 CNY/RMB per USD). We took the train (after they x-rayed our bags, which they also do on the subway lines and before getting into the train station) to the end of the line, and switched the subway line (cost 2 CNY regardless of where you go) that went to our hostel. From the station, Dongsi Shitiao, it was about 800 m, or 15 minutes to walk, not too bad really. Check in was pretty easy, and the room is ok. We are in a 10 bedroom dorm that costs 30 CNY per person per day. It is important to note that we are sleeping on a box spring though, with a thin pad on it, and a sheet and duvet. So it's quite firm!

I guess that's all for now, I'll try to update more on Beijing soon. Kind of interesting to note that due to the (deadly) protests in western China, the government has blocked a lot of websites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and Youtube. I wasn't even able to access this blog for a while!