August 10, 2007

Hanoi (VIETNAM)

Crossing into Vietnam and Exploring Hanoi

Jin and I reached the China-Vietnam border at 8am, and in typical Chinese style there was a mad 100m rush the second the gates opened - the Chinese are strangely quirky in ways like this. Less funny is the way many Chinese blatantly cut people in line. A man did it to me at the immigration counter, and when I looked him in the eyes asking what he was doing he just stared back at me with a blank stare. Like ignorant children, many simply do not know any better. Events like these make me curious to see what unfolds in the coming Beijing Olympics!

After passing through the impressive gate shown to the right - and having a good laugh when the border guards thought Jin was North Korean ("the bad one") - we had to sort out transport for the four hour ride to Saigon, the capital of Communist Vietnam. We hooked up with a few Japanese backpackers and traded our Chinese yuan for a taxi driver's Vietnamese dong so we could pay for a mini-bus ride.

The mini-bus made a lunch stop just before noon, and although I was mutually famished and exhausted from a sleepless night aboard buses, we had a tough time buying lunch. The small hole-in-the-wall kitchen we stopped at was intent on cheating us, and persisted on trying to charge us twice what other locals were paying in front of our eyes. I was fairly angry over this treatment, but there wasn't a whole hell of a lot I could do about. I ended up buying a pack of ramen noodles and prayed this wasn't a sign of more bad things to come in Vietnam.

When we reached Hanoi, Jin and I decided to split costs and share a twin room. For nearly the same price as a dormitory ($4USD) we had air-con, our own bathroom, and a place to lock our valuables.

After showering and sorting out our stuff we hit the streets of Saigon for a day of exploration. The first thing that struck me about the city was all the motorbikes - they infest the streets like a swarm of locusts. It took us the better part of the day to grow accustomed to them, and at one point Jin very nearly died when a motorcyclist swerved and slammed his brakes to avoid Jin. The streets are really among the most ridiculous of any I have ever seen.

We tried giving lunch another try at a small street-side vendor, but once more we were being charged more than the locals who were eating alongside us. It really was quite frustrating, but the look of the "chef" said "If you don't like it, don't eat here." Granted, we were paying 16,000dong ($1USD) rather than 12,000dong, but being openly cheated was a new concept to me. The food itself was not half bad and will likely be my staple diet for the next week or so - a mixture of rice-noodles, green vegetables, beef, and herbs.

Later we continued to Hoan Kiem Lake where we sat in the shade of surrounding trees in a futile attempt to escape the sweltering heat. This is the central part of the city, and we were surrounded by local Vietnamese who were also relaxing. Unfortunately, there were vendors and touts aplenty who were intent on selling us things, and one got quite angry when we wouldn't buy any of his books. Unlike in China where people rarely show their temper, it was quite disconcerting when the man began spouting profanities, and it was a definite sign to get moving - desperate people are always trouble.

We met a couple Japanese girls on the bridge shown to the left, and since we were all touring the city for the first time we decided to do so together. The girls, Asuka and Ayaka,  led us to a shop that sold che, an iced fruit drink similar to Hong Kong's bubble tea. The sweet taste and chilling aspect of the drink made it at an absolute godsend for coping with the heat. Both girls study in Tokyo, and Asuka (who luck would have it is also quite pretty) works part-time for Nikon in a part of the city that is very near to where I will be living. It is reassuring to know adapting to life in the world's most closed society will be slightly easier now that I have so many friends who live there.

We continued touring Saigon until the late afternoon when we broke off to shower and change before meeting for dinner. We ate at a small cafe situated along the lake, but afterward Jin and I were on our own as the girls wanted to get an early nights rest (they are leaving early tomorrow morning to volunteer in Northern Vietnam).

After walking the girls back to their hotel, Jin and I set off with one aim for the night: finding bia hoi, which is a daily brewed beer that goes for 3000dong/glass ($0.15USD). After twenty minutes of searching the grimier parts of the city we found what we were looking for, and we grabbed a couple of the child-sized chairs that lined the street as we ordered our share of beer.

While we were drinking I spotted our server smoking out of the pipe shown to the left, and after chatting with him he offered us his tobacco for a smoke. I do not like smoking, but this was an opportunity too good to pass up so, and the meter-long water pipe gave some strong hits. More importantly, when the other locals saw us smoking with it they were all much more welcoming and interested in chatting. Although their English was patchy, it was the first time the locals have shown any willingness to chat. So, it took all day but at last there was a breakthrough and a reason to enjoy Hanoi!