11th Feb 2010

Greetings from Sunshine 3 Hotel, Hanoi. I touched down this evening at about 9.00pm and Hanoi turned out to be unexpectedly challenging.

First challenge was trying not to get ripped off by the airport taxis. The guy in charge quoted a fare for my destination, but once I’ve boarded and tried to reconfirm with the driver, I was quoted another fare, much higher. I got out. Tried to get another operator. This time, I was quoted a very low fare. The driver showed me to his car. And that’s what it was - a car. I refused to board and gave up getting a taxi at the airport terminal. I wandered around the airport carpark and found a non-airport taxi parked there. The driver waved to me. I confirmed the fare with him and my instincts told me that this guy was OK.

I arrived safely at my booked hotel without paying more. In fact I paid less than what the meter showed. All the giant billboards on the highways reminded me of Thailand. Some parts of Hanoi looks like Chiangmai. Some parts look like Bangkok and some parts look like Kathmandu.

Like in Thailand, English is not very well-spoken in Hanoi. And this problem seems to exist where it shouldn’t. Hotel staff, taxi drivers, waiters, shopkeepers need a lot of repetition before they understand what you’re trying to say. Strangely, many guys you pull out from the streets (those who don’t deal with tourists), seem to understand me and express themselves better.

Hanoi is unusually warm this winter. The traffic is totally chaotic, but not as dangerous as what some writers described it. Perhaps the motorbike riders have grown so used to the chaos that they instinctively know how to avoid hitting people.

The eating places were scattered on the sides of the narrow streets. Low chairs, low tables and heaps of rubbish under the tables and chairs. Passing motorbikes spray exhaust fumes on the diners. My guts may not have the time to adapt to these conditions.

I had supper at a more enclosed bia hoi joint in the Old Quarter near Hoan Kiem Lake. The place was packed with locals imbibing the “house pour” - home-brewed bia hoi. They also served food which included hotpot and many other local dishes. I had a fried beef noodle, sharing the table with a couple of Vietnamese gem dealers who could speak some Thai and pretty good English. They told me they are frequent visitors to Thailand. The moment they said they were gem dealers, I grew suspicious and told them a lot of lies about myself.

But they turned out to be genuinely friendly folks. One of the guy’s wife joined us a while later. They bought me a Saigon Beer and made no mention about buying gems. I felt a bit guilty for being over-cautious.

Just one night in Hanoi and I’ll head for the border tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.