Hanoi/Halong Bay-Of The Overland Trip HK-Shenzhen-Yunnan-Vietnam Feb/Mar 06 (End)

Hanoi

Arrived at the Le Duan Rail Station at 5a.m in the cold drizzling morning of the 8th Mar and waited outside the station for the Van Xuan 2 Hotel staff who had promised to pick me up from the station when i called from Sapa to reserve a room at the hotel. Actually the main reason i decided to stay there was their advertisement which promoted FREE pick up from the railway station. As i was to arrive early morning before sunrise, i had thought it wiser to get someone from the hotel to pick me up rather than me having to hail a motor taxi (xe om) in the dark to any hotels in the old quarters. Regretfully, there was NO sign of anyone coming to pick me up after half an hr wait at the railway station and most people had already left the station. The 'xe om' drivers had been bugging me to take their motor taxis all this while and i was all tired n irritated after a disturbing night in the supposedly 1st class 4-men cabin with a very inconsiderate pair of men who had chatted and snacked through the night.

Made a call from one of the drinks stall outside the station to Van Xuan 2 hotel, (the stall owner had the cheek to ask for 5000VND per minute when a call in Sapa to Hanoi cost only 2000VND per minute in the hotel!! i was only willing to pay her max 2000VND per minute and of course she was agreeable) These people, can makan they makan.

The Van Xuan 2 Hotel staff was not even awake when i called and he apologised for the no show and told me to take a xe om (motorbike taxi) on my own but was reluctant to pay for it !! i gave him a earful and slammed down the phone, decided to go to another hotel recommended by some people on the net and in the guide books -The APPLE Hotel, just opp the Van Xuan 2. The xe om driver agreed on 1 USD for the short ride from Le Duan to Luong Ngoc Quyen but when we arrived , he asked for 20000VND and insisted i gave him in VND, not USD !! i told him to take the 1USD plus 2000VND or leave it. The Apple hotel staff, like everyone else in Vietnam at that hour were fast asleep and not at all pleased to be woken up so early in the morning, but at least they were not unfriendly. The hotel was full as so were all the others in that vicinity, incl. as i later found out ,The Van Xuan 2. Apparently, the 8th March, which is Women's Day in our calendar, is like a sort of Valentines's day over there and it's the wedding peak season, hence, many Vietnamese had come to Hanoi to attend wedding celebrations, and the hotel business was brisk. i had to wait till 7.30a.m before i could get a room for that's the time when most tourists checked out for Halong Bay or Perfume Pagoda trips. Meanwhile, i had this very tech & business savvy, worldly wise travel agency boss, Phong who happened to be bunking at The Apple , to keep me entertained with all his business strategy talks.

Room at The Apple

The hotel staff refused to let me see the room first before i pay up, he promised me i would be pleased with it, a room with satellite tv, 24h hot water for showers, big and spacious. i was beguiled by his friendliness and trusted that the room should be ok since the last 2 hotels i've stayed in Hanoi were alright. i did not check if there was air condition. He asked for 8USD even though the internet and guidebk had quoted 5-6 USD. It was the biggest and stupidest error i made to pay for the room first without checking it out. (he insisted on payment first if i wish to keep my passport instead of letting the hotel hold onto it) The room was at the highest floor, as always in vietnamese houses, after a steep climb, i entered a drab, unappealing room with 2 beds, a TV, a bathroom and windows that looked out into the streets below. The staff was quick to disappear before i could make any complaints or requests. After settling down ( i was really so tired), i discovered the bedsheets were dirty with stains, obviously not cleaned, the floor was full of black ants, there was no aircon , mozzies were flying around and the TV had only one non vietnamese station which was getting remotely tuned at the whims and fancy of the staff downstairs. (satellite TV indeed!). The bathroom was tiny and the soap supplied was dirty! i wanted to check out but since i'd already paid and i was really exhausted (after one whole night on the dirty 1st class cabin of the LaoCai-Hanoi local train with 2 very restless Vietnamese men), i decided to just make do with it and stayed for the night.
The Apple Hotel staff had the cheek to ask if i wanted to sign up for the Halong Bay tour with them and said they guaranteed quality service!!! (once bitten, twice shy 揾我笨吗，睬你都傻!)
After a short nap and a shower, i went out looking for makan and had the wanton noodles at the stall near the motel i stayed the last round, yummy yummy only 13000VND, very tasty cos like all Vietnamese food a lot of MSG :) Had the Vietnamese drip coffee and french loaf sandwich at the stall opposite too. The streets were full of people selling flowers and young ladies carrying bouquets bought by the guys, it's Vietnamese Valentine's day ! And there were a few wedding banquets about to be held too, in the narrow shophouses in the old quarters.

Took a look at The Anh Dao hotel and found the rooms a lot more decent at USD12 with free access to internet. Decided to sign up with ODC at Anh Dao and also booked a room there for the last night after i returned from Halong Bay. The cost is much higher with ODC (37USD) after bargaining from 42USD) as compared to other agencies which only asked for 26-29 USD for the 2D 1N boat trip. But i had a good impression of ODC from the last visit and they insisted their trips offered a difference in quality. Well, since i've beeen on a 26USD trip before and didn't exactly like the service or quality, i decided to give ODC and an extra 12USD a try.

Halong Bay

Fog seemed to follow me all the way from China to Vietnam to Halong Bay. Weather this time round was much worse than the first time in Dec 04 when i made my first trip here and i think this makes all the diff, 'cos we couldn't see any of the beautiful karsts until late afternoon and even then it was only on and off and before long, the sun got hidden again. i snapped as much as possible with the digi and hoped for clearer visibility the next day.
The itinerary this round, as compared to the other trip in Dec 04 was almost similar: We visited only one cave this time (2 the other time) but we had a stop at TipTop island and there was kayaking for Mark n Marlene, and the Danish family. Halong bay IS very beautiful, i would say more so than Guilin. The bay is really massive with numerous karsts and the guide said many foreign enemies had lost their lives there when they attacked Vietnam as they couldn't find their way out through the maze of karts, especially in the fog. There were a lot of boat hawkers peddling mostly food stuff and drinks to the tourist boats but i observed there were few takers as most tourists would be on full board packages already. Felt sad for the little kids, some of them looked less than 10years old, rowing their boats real hard, trying to sell something to the tourists. Life, on the bay, for the 'water people' can really be quite a challenge.

i thank God company on board was good , with 2 Danish couples, one of them living in America, with a most adorable 3n half yr old son, Jamie; an Australian(Mark) who lived in Switzerland and his Swiss girlfriend (Marlene) and 2 very pretty Korean girls. Small group, a good guide, Bao (young chap, non smoker, who listened and attended to our comments n requests attentively). For USD12 more, the boat type n food onboard this round was the same as the last trip except i had a better room this time where the hot water shower works ! :) But the door didn't close properly n the boat staff was not willing to change the room for me, giving the excuse that the other available rooms had not been cleaned. i've become quite disgusted with all these boat people who only wanted to make money out of the boat passengers and not at all concerned about our welfare. Like this female staff who came pestering the'angmos' and the Koreans to buy her pearls; she didn't come to me 'cos i looked really bo-chap :) and the other boat staff who insisted they had no small change when we paid for the drinks with bigger denominations of VND. But when we made payment in USD , they'll give a terrible exchange rate and suddenly produced coins for change!
That evening, after sunset, we anchored near TipTop Island for the night. i was getting very very sick , flu that started in Sapa when i went trekking with Ya, so that night i retired real early.
Weather the next day was worse than the first, almost zero vis all the way back to Halong Harbour. Sigh! Lunch was at a 3star hotel at Thanh Long, posh place, (much better as c'f to last trip where we were put up at some cramped restaurant in some crowded streets), food however was only so so.

Back to Hanoi

i went to the drugstore to get strepsils, had dinner at LadyBird's on Hang Buom St(not bad), cheaper n more variety than Little Hanoi's. Bought DVDs at store next to Anh Daos, v cheap: only 16000VND~1USD per piece and from tested playbacks, quality looked good. Hopefully , will be able to work back home.
The next day, my last day in Vietnam, i took a stroll around the cathedral square which looked a world of difference from the last time i was there with Hiong in Dec04, so quiet and deserted this time round.
Hiong was the sister of King-the manager of the motel i stayed in Dec 04, a very simple girl whose only wish was to find a good man to marry. She was working for her brother at the motel when i was there. She spoke a smattering bit of English and we communicated mostly in part English,(with the help of her dictionary), part Vietnamese (with the help of my phrase book) and part sign language. On Christmas eve that year, she offered to take me to the midnight mass when i asked her about the cathedral. It was really kind of her and i really wouldn't have made it to the mass without her that night. It was like the whole of Hanoi was awake and all going to attend the mass, Catholics or not. The streets near the cathedral were partially cordoned off and only pedestrians were allowed. Still the motorbikes were snaking their way through the thick mass of party -going people and the traffic( human plus motor bikes) was madly chaotic. i had to hold on tight to Hiong's hand or i would have gotten lost in the crowd or gotten knocked over by one of the bikes. The whole town was in a revelling mood. Hmmm, afterall it was Christmas , a time to celebrate....though i wondered how many really appreciated the real reason ?
We had to stand throughout the mass but we managed to get a strategic position amongst the packed congregation, in full view of the stage though they had also screens put up like those in Novena Church on major occasions. There was some simple play reenacting the birth of Jesus and the choir sang a few hymns before the mass began.
The mass was in Vietnamese but except for the sermon, i could gather the gist of it since all Roman Catholic masses are conducted in a standard way universally with a prescibed priest-congregation response . i even did some explanation to Hiong about what was going on :)
After taking my holy communion, Hiong said she was sleepy already so we left, it was already closed to 2am when we got back. The next day i bought her a flowery scented cologne as a Christmas gift and was really glad and touched to see she was genuinely delighted. She subsequently showed her appreciation by treating me to some Vietnamese snacks on the streets :)
That was a beautiful experience and a memory i had no wish to spoil so this round i deliberately avoided going too near the motel that King worked becos i didn't want to bump into him again-didn't like his $-mindedness and slyness. Afterall, Hiong wouldn't be in Hanoi anymore, she had told me before we parted that she would be getting married to her fiance and would be moving to the village with him. May the Lord bless her with happy days thereafter.
Recalled that M and SW joined me that Christmas night in Hanoi and we set off for Sapa that very night. The tsunami strike Asia the next day-on boxing day, thank God we were safe in the hills of Sapa then. But i wondered if Yann, the Tae Kwon-do black belted french guy i had met on the Halong Bay cruise that year , who had headed to Phuket then survived ....?

The church square this time round was empty but for a grandpa and grandson playing ball at the steps. Returning from memories of the 04 trip, i went to sit by Hoan Kiem Lake after the cathedral. Have always liked the lake. Miraculously, amidst the mad horning and hooting of traffic around the lake, one can actually feel peace and calm and even experience a kind of quiet and silence just sitting there, looking at the reflections of willows in the waters...

Did my shopping in the old quarters before i ended my HK-China-Vietnam trip. So much i wanted to buy, the handmade bamboo crafts, paper crafts, silk crafts, paintings...ceramic and the special weasel coffee (where the seeds supposedly were collected from the droppings of the weasels and an aromatic fragrance is produced from the enzyme in the weasel as the coffee seed passed through its body)..... but i can only carry so much...sigh!

Overall, i didn't like Hanoi or Vietnam as much on this trip as compared to the the first trip in Dec04. Maybe 'cos i'm not feeling too well, maybe it's the lousy weather, maybe it's the awful experience with Van Xuan 2 and Apple Hotel, maybe i didn't get to meet very nice people like during the first round, maybe i've lost that first time enthusiasm but i think most of all it's because i've travelled over from Yunnan and things were of better quality, greater efficiency and more convenience over there, people i've encountered there were less dishonest too.
Guess i wouldn't be back to Vietnam, at least not Hanoi for a long while.