October 1 - China: Beijing to Hanoi, Vietnam

We woke up at 4:45 to catch a 5:30 taxi to the airport.  Our flight to Hong Kong was due to leave at 6:20.  We got through check-in OK, despite the fact that our backpacks are over 20 kilos.  When we packed last night, we had taken our bath kits out and put them in our carry-ons in anticipation of the "overage fee", but Dragon Air decided to overlook our heavy bags.  So we went to the gate and ate our bread and cheese breakfast before boarding began.  (We were so excited because the grocery store in Beijing had Brie!)

Our first leg was from Beijing to Hong Kong via Dragon Air.  Even though we couldn't get an Exit Row, we did the Aisle-and-Window seating gamble which we won because no one sat in between us so we had the whole row to ourselves.  The four hour flight was uneventful, if you don't count the fact that I had to go to the bathroom at least 3 times.  Jon loves that because he has to get up from his seat each time.  Grumble... grumble...

Do I Look Emaciated?  A Random Act of Kindness....

In Hong Kong, we had a 3 hour layover until our flight left for Hanoi.  So we went to gate 33 and sat down in the empty waiting area to have the lunch we packed - drinks, bread and cheese (this time, Gouda.  Also from the Beijing grocery store!).  So we set up a little lunch with food and drinks on the chair in between us.  

Out of nowhere, an official-looking man with a walkie-talkie came up to us and said, "Are you going to Hanoi?".  We said Yes and he looked at our little picnic and said, "Are you hungry?  I'll bring you some beer and snacks."  Then he put his finger over his lips to tell us to keep it secret and he winked and walked away.  Jon and I were dumb-founded.  We must have looked like starving backpackers, which is sort of what we are although I'm hardly waif-like.  (I could be anorexic and I STILL wouldn't be waif-like)  But why would this man come up to us and offer to do this nice deed?  It's not that we were suspicious, it's just been so long since we've experienced such blatant kindness.  We were astounded.  10 minutes later, he came out from the plane gangway with two airplane bags - one had two beers and the other had warm garlic bread (probably from first class).  We thanked him profusely and I hope he knows how much we appreciated it.  He disappeared for a while but showed up while the crew was boarding the plane.  So we got to thank him again and then got on the plane.

Now you should all go out and perform a random act of kindness for a stranger.

Flight to Hanoi

The flight was uneventful.  We had a row to ourselves, which of course we love.  The flight wasn't very long, although we did go backwards one hour in time.  In Hanoi, the airport has a ridiculously small airport for such a major city.  It had two baggage claims, and it took forever for them to bring out the luggage trucks.  Of course our bags were the last off the plane, but that's par for the course of us this trip.   (see July 28).   We had no problem getting a taxi to the Victory Hotel which Grant booked for us (God bless him!).  On the way into town, we passed another taxi which had run  out of gas.  We assumed we were stopping to pick up the passengers who we recognized from our flight, but instead the driver hopped in with us and left his passengers with the car.  We dropped him off a few minutes later at a gas station where I assume he would get a ride back.

The traffic in Hanoi is insane beyond comparison!  India was bad because cars drove wherever they felt like.  Hanoi is crazy because there are motorbikes EVERYWHERE!  Our taxi driver said that there are 1 million in Hanoi alone, to which Jon replied, "And they're all on the street right now!".  The shrill little motorbike horns were honking constantly, and the bikes were like ants - all around us!  Each time we tried to turn, we had to wait for a break in the motorbikes which had swarmed around us in every different direction.  Finding a break was next to impossible, so the driver just used his horn and inched ahead bit by bit.  But no one seems to get angry - this is all in a day's commute for them.

Victory Hotel

The Victory Hotel where Grant set us up is a cute little hotel on a side street in Hanoi.  They put us on the top floor, which was accessible by 5 flights of stairs.  But the room is very sweet and clean, and we have a balcony which looks out onto the rooftops of neighboring buildings.  Although the hotel is on a side street, it's still very loud.  But Grant warned us about this when he said, "You're going to think that I put you in the loudest hotel ever, but I swear the whole city is like this."  He wasn't kidding.

Quest For Dinner

We have no Lonely Planet, so we wanted to go to a restaurant which Grant recommended to us called Koto's.  The front desk at the Victory had a photocopied map, and the guy at the desk marked where Koto's was which was right across from the Temple of Literature 2 blocks away. We walked to the mark on the map but couldn't find it, so then we walked around the entire temple to see if it was on another street but still no luck.  Then we walked back to the mark on the map and looked again.  This time, we found it but realized we'd missed it because it was closed!  

So we wandered up and down the side streets looking for a potential restaurant.  There really aren't any restaurants near here.  Instead, people put little (teeny tiny) plastic tables and chairs out on the sidewalk and serve whatever people ask for from their kitchens.  After wandering around for a while, we decided to go back to the Victory and ask if they had any recommendations.

The Victory Hotel is one of Intrepid Travel's office hotels, so the hotel actually had a back room with a wealth of information about the city - all of it designed for Intrepid passengers.  So we sat and read through their restaurant recommendations and set out again - this time in a different direction.

Indochine

We found our way to Indochine, which was a veritable oasis after walking around for an hour.  We didn't have a reservation in the trendy little place (reservation?  In Vietnam?) but they kindly found room for us.  The restaurant had green tablecloths, the waiters wore traditional clothing, and the menus were in the shape of fans.  It was precious!  And the food was absolutely delicious.  On our way out, we discovered that they had another restaurant with a different menu across town.  We liked Indochine so much that we decided to go to Le Tonkin tomorrow night.

We walked back to the Victory hotel and enjoyed the sights and sounds along the way.  This place is LOUD!!!  Horns, honking, motorbikes - there's a constant noise level here.  I can't wait to find a Lonely Planet tomorrow so we can explore.