Day 37: Hustle & Flow

Listening: Yeh-ee, yeh-ee, yeh-ee-yeh... yeh-ee, yeh-ee, yeh-ee-yeh (It's a Thai pop song I keep hearing)

What's my problem? Culture shock!

Well, I made it. I'm in Hanoi. The flight was... well... short. I almost felt like it was as short as the flight from Nantucket to Hyannis. When I got here, though, I was shocked.

Luang Prabang is a pretty small city. I mean, realistically, it has only a few major thoroughfares covering only a few square kilometers. Hanoi, on the other hand, is a very busy, bustling city. There are motorbikes everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. Apparently, there are streets so narrow, no cars can pass, only motor bikes.

When I got to Hanoi Backpackers, it was kind of loud and rowdy. It was a true Aussie backpacker's hostel. It was clear that the beer was flowing and the backpackers are young. Unfortunately, they were booked for the night, so I had to wander around Hanoi, pack on front and back, looking for accomodations.

I looked at a number of places, but they were all for upwards of twenty five US dollars a night. Finally, I went back to the street that Hanoi Backpackers was on and found a place for fifteen a night. I think that tomorrow I'll check out of my hotel and try to find a bed at Hanoi Backpackers again. I'll probably end up booking my HaLong Bay trip with them too.

For now, I think I'll end up going to HaLong on the ninth, being there for the ninth, tenth and eleventh, and then coming back to Hanoi for at least one night before going to Sapa.

So, there's a guy looking over my shoulder at the sketchy little internet cafe. He's looking at my screen and I can tell he can't read a single word I'm typing. I think he just asked me if I was writing a love letter. HA.

Anyhow, after I checked into my hotel, I instantly bought a sim and called Caroline. Caroline is pretty much a friend of CTodd's, but I met her one time before at one of his parties. Even though she was having a night in with the boy, she came out to the Old Town (where I'm staying) and took me to a restaurant with a good view of the street below.

It was there that I had these amazing Hanoi style spring rolls. Instead of being wrapped in rice paper, they were wrapped in uncut pho noodles. They were divine. I asked her if there was an indicative or a distinctive Hanoi dish, and that was it. Oh, yes. I will be having them again.

From there, we went to the night market. I have to say that I was vastly disappointed in the schwag. Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang all had better schwag. The people watching there is okay though. For a while, we tailed a group of pick pockets, after one of them bumped me and figured out I was sporting a chain. It's people like that that make me want to fight. But I am very good at the self restraint.

Anyhow, I'm so used to country life that this whole urban thing is wigging me out a little. It seems a bit different than in Bangkok. Maybe, like Bangok, I just have to get used to it. It's a little tough though, being on the run, being pressed for time.

Finally, in other news, I tried to move back my flights while at the airport here in Hanoi, but the agent there said that it wasn't a ticketing office. She said I should try the ticketing office in town. So, I have the card and I'm going to try to get there the day I get back from HaLong Bay. I think it'll only cost me a hundred US dollars, which is better than paying a hundred and twenty to go to San Fran round trip when I get to California, plus the upcharge of eating in America. Now, I can pay a hundred US dollars, spend more time in southeast Asia, and spend less money while having a good time. So maybe I won't have to hustle through Vietnam. Hopefully I'll just be able to take it easy.