Day Thirty-Five

Exploring Hanoi & Hoan Kiem

We had a lovely relaxing sleep in our nice hotel but it was time to get up. I ran a nice hot bath so I could rest my bones whilst Andy put the football channel on again. Life seemed too good here, it was great. With us getting up quite late we had missed the free breakfast at the hotel which was a shame. We had to repack our bags so that we could go to the reception downtairs & move to the hostel which we had orignally booked.

All sorted & checked out of the hotel we sat quietly waiting for our lift back to the hostel. Once again we got helmets shoved on our heads & off we set. We had agreed that I should be the one that should set off first so I could wait for Andy in the hostel. On the bike a whizzing through streets that where so narrow I swear I almost lost a limb a couple of times. I had been on the bike for a while & I began to wonder where the driver was taking me because we only needed to go to the other side of the lake. We had arrived at another hostel & not the one we needed. He took us the the Little Hanoi Hostel 1 when I needed to be taken to the Little Hanoi Hostel 2. More scary times as we had to drive back again through all the madness. I finally arrived at the correct hostel & the relief on Andy's face as I had been that long he was beginning to think something had happened to me.

We sorted out the accommodation problem & we headed to our dorm room. It was on the top floor & the stairs felt like that where never going to end. We opened the door & to our surpirse the room was just as good as the hotel last night. Everywhere looked imaculate & clean, I think we are going to be quite comfortable here. We laid claim to our beds in the dorm & we stuff our valuble things in our lockers before heading back down stairs so we could go out & find something to eat as our breakfast & lunch. Out of the hostels back alley & on to the main road & we could see the lake in daylight, It looked so calm & magnificent & right in the middle of the lake there was small pagoda which just sat alone & with no way of getting across to it without a boat. Next to where we were standing looking across over to the lake there was a lovely looking restaurant & the menu didn't seem so bad so we went in & sat down. We ordered a club sandwich for about £1.50 & we got a triple layer of bread sandwich which came with chips. I can tell you that it was absolutely delicious & no doubt we will return to this cafe again throughout our stay in Hanoi.

Now we were fed we took a lovely walk around the lake looking at all the types of characters that where in Hanoi. We were extremely shocked by the amout of motorcycles that line the roads of Hanoi. We thought last night was bad, well we were wrong. In the daylight I would have to say that there is probably 90% of traffic on the road is motorcycles... you serisouly have to see it for yourself. Around the lake we seen all kinds of people including other tourists. There are lots of Westerners here & the Vietnamese speak really good English. This place was charming & the atmosphere was fantastic.

Whilst walking around the lake we had noticed all the shops selling absoultely everything. We decided to take a look around the shops to see what they had on offer. With everything being so cheap I was suckered in too easy. In a short space of time I had managed to buy a new pair of pumps & a new rucksack so maybe it was a good idea to headback towards the hostel. As we walked back through the streets there was a lady who was selling pastry looking mini cakes so we decided that we would buy some off her to try. We had negotiated 2,000 Dong for a bag full & she agreed that was ok until Andy handed over a 50,000 Dong note to her - she must have thought her luck was in. She gave Andy back 30,000 Dong instead of 48,000 & she was trying to say that we had agreed to pay 2,000 for each cake and she was trying to pull a fast one on us but we weren't having any of it. We started shouting in her face & she was screaming back at us but then she started to slap me & hit my arms, I was getting proper irate at this point. She started stopping Vietnamese people in the street & was shouting at them to help her but everybody ignored her because they knew she was trying to rob us. Well lady, we thought two, infact three can play that game so I turned tricks on her instead. Andy at this point had her big basket of cakes in his arms & was threatening her to walk away with them because there was no reasoning with this woman. She finally opened her purse & gave a small amount of money back to Andy but we weren't satisifed as she was still charging us a fortune. I took the initiative to empty the bag of cakes back in to her basket only to place one cake back in the plastic bag. I thought your not having me on lady, if we agreed a price of 2,000 for one then I only want one. Well, the lok on her face was great. She didnt expect me to be quicker witted than her. In the end she gave up the game & we got our money back. She is very lucky being old because if she was any younger I would have slapped her back.

Further around the lake there was a bridge which led to a pagoda which you could have paid to enter but to be honest we had seen enough temples & pagodas to last us a life time sop we just walked up & across the bridge as far as we where allowed to go without paying. We had kind of went off track from walking around the lake and before we knew it we had started to walk around the small narrow streets & exploring the area which was just set back from the lake. Before we knew it we had spent hours just wondering round a big lake which wasn't actually that big but because there weere different sights all around & because we had spent time looking around properly, the hours passed by. We headed back to the hostel for a well deserved rest.

In the hostel we relaxed & watched tv & caught up with a few things that we needed to do. We soon got hungry again but tonight we decided that we would go hunting the streets for a place to eat. Whilst walking around earlier we had seen that most people eat in the street cafes. The street cafes have tiny stools & mini tables where you sit at & eat. These places are always bustling with people & the atmosphere of people all enjoying their food in close proximety to each other is fab.

We walked down the narrow dark streets which were all littered with the street cafes mess & motorbikes to see if we could spot somewhere half decent. I had spotted a small cafe so we sat down. When the menu was passed to us we soon realised that it was a seafood place. We both ordered the mixed seafood fried rice & a drink each. It was great watching locals in the restuarant as we got a real taste for what it would be like to live in Hanoi.

Fed once again but this time for cheaper we headed back towards the hostel so we could reflect on our first proper outing in Hanoi. I thought that Hanoi was great & the people are so so friendly & helpful. What a real nice city.

In the hostel not long in to bed we finally met our room mates who we would be sharing the dorm with. They were two girls who were travelling together & they were from Switzerland. It was fantastic as they spoke English & it was nice to have female company to talk to. Not that Andy isn't my best friend who I can talk to about anything but when its girls all chatting then is completly different. We chatted about all the different places that we have been & the people we have met - I think we are all going to get along just fine.

Off to sleep as we needed all our energy for when Ana our Argentina friend arrives to meet with us in Hanoi which is anyday soon......