Hanoi (pronunced with a silent 'H')

Annoyed in Hanoi

There is actually a whole other section that i wrote on Johnny's computer, but we have not found a place to plug it in. So we will just have to skip Hoi-An for now.
JG and i took the night train out of Hoi-An to Hanoi. I am wishing now that we would have stayed one more day. That last night we all met at an outside cafe. A few of us that have been running into each other on our travels. John, Malika, Myself, Hanita (who Malika met on the way to Muie-ne and is still with us) Chris and Ean. ( Chris is from Berkeley and Ean is Australian, they teach English in japan) Janene ( who Chris and Ean met from Florida) Dimi and Wayne (Johnny and i met in Saigon they are traveling overland from Singapore to Belfast no planes) We had a realy good time hanging out and drinking .18 beers. I was talking with Wayne and Janene about diving and Wayne told me had we stayed one more day he, since he is an instructor would take us out and all we would have to do is pay the rental fees on our equipment, but instead we took a train to Hanoi. We left the sun and fun and arrived at 5am in the rain. Everything was closed so we sat in the rain in front of our guesthouse for about an hour when the lady woke up let us store our bags and told us she would have a room in a couple of ours. So we walked around, all we really wanted to do was lie down. We couldn't find anything open even for coffee or food. We found a couple other hotel and almost decided to fork our $25 just for a bed. Finally she let us come in and wait. Malika soon showed up, she had taken the bus. The bus is much cheaper, but i can't fit my big ole legs in them little seats, especially not for 12 hours. The place was full but they had a second joint down the street. We followed the gal with our bags on our backs. On the way i slipped on some tiles. It was my bad leg so in fear of falling i kicked out my left foot for balance and kicked a couple of broken bricks. The toenail on my big toe bent backwards and the toe next to it split open. Inside i was crying and on the outside i was biting my lower lip. We got to the place and i asked for a towel, i had bloody black gutter muck all over my foot. I took a nap while Johnny and Malika went out. Later on i felt better and went for a walk. I had a map but quickly got lost. The People here in the North are not nearly as friendly as those in the south. I bought a bagget off of this lady. She tried to charge me 10,000. 16,000 is $1. this is 8,000 too much, but i was hungry so what ever. She handed me two and said 10k 10k. I said not just one. She pushed them into my hand and said ok 10k for two. I didn't even want two. I handed her a 50k bill and for change she gave me two 10k's and what i thought was 10- 2000dong notes but were actually 200 dong notes. So many 0's so confusing. That B.I.T.C.H. had short changed me like $1.80 You know you are tired when $2 pisses you off. Fine!! walking around Hanoi sucks because the traffic is every which way, you can't walk on the sidewalk because this is where every one parks so you end up in the street or the gutter. I was walking along the gutter when my foot slipped, I hate the rain, i could feel my sock filling with icky water as my foot was slipping down into the AbbyssAt the same time i am falling into the street when i hear honking, not motorbike honking but car honking. It was like slow motion. I put
my hand out at the exact time the car was passing me allowing me to use its momentum to push my self back onto both feet. I don't know what would have been worse, being run over or slipping into that drain. I finally made it back to the guest house. I was ready to leave and when we went out for dinner i stopped and checked to see if i could fly out early. The next day i decided would be better. We got up early and took a cab to the Ho Chi Mihn Mausoleum. The final resting place of Uncle Ho. The line was crazy long like 10 blocks easily. It moved right along though, like the pace of a slow walk. At one point we had to give up our bags and then a little ways down our cameras. there were a couple of security checkpoints. The closer we got to his place of rest the more in line we had to get. Two by two. There were more and more guards around. By the time we reached the entrance there was no talking, you could not have your hands in your pockets. look straight ahead and there was a fancy dressed guard in white duds and a riffle about every 20 feet. You walk up a marble staircase and soon you find your self shuffling past this little grey man lying peacefully in his glass tomb. It was neat in a very creepy sort of way. It was like a wax museum with only one statue. And we were done. I guess he goes on tour to Russia three months out of every year for cosmetic work. while we were milling around outside i overheard Malika and Johnny poking fun at Ho and how the Russian probably set him up in funny positions and take candid shots of him. I cautiously turned and said " I think Ho Chi Mihn is a pretty highly respected individual amongst the people of Vietnam and maybe We should keep it down a bit on the poking fun" i quickly realised what they had been saying and felt a bit ashamed. I was getting many looks form the people around us, so we thought it best to just leave. We booked an overnight trip to Halong Bay so we went looking for a jacket for me since, it was surely going to be wet and cold. Everything was too pricey and now one wanted to haggle down. Johnny had bought one the day before, but found one he liked better so he bought the new one and gave me the old. That day we hooked back up with Hanita so now it was going to be the four of us.
The mini bus came and picked us up in the morning and took us the three hours to the boat. The boat was and old Chinese Junk boats, the ones with the big red sails. I doubt it was old and they never even lifted the sails. I was happy that there were only us four two couples of older Italians and 5 Irish gals. We all stayed the night on the boat. First we had lunch on the boat. Very good eggrolls and cabbage, rice, french fries, noodle stuff. Then we cruised around stopping at some big caves that we walked around in. After the caves we stopped to do a bit of kayaking. Johnny and Malika in one and Hanita and i in the other. We took off for about 30 minutes. We explored a few caves and it was quite spectacular. it was damp out but warm. I changed into shorts but still had on my jacket. I decided not to take my camera since Hanita had hers and Johnny and Malika both had theres. Plus with my luck i'd either drop it of fall in. On the way back to the boat the boat people had us scoot our kayak around the back of the boat to the other side. The engine was running as we rounded the back end, but i know enough about boats to know that it was idling and even if it wasn't it would be pretty hard to find your way down to get chopped up into the prop. Hanita on the other hand did not know this and freaked out a bit, i don't know if she tried to stand up or lean way to far the other way, but we quickly found ourselves in the drink. The water was totally warm and i found it very funny as did Hanita. No one saw us go over because the were on the other side at the ladder waiting for us. Malika and Johnny were already on the boat. I knew Johnny would love it so i started yelling "Man overboard" Finally the crew came to see what was taking so long. They seemed a bit worried until they saw us laughing. Soon everyone was watching, i am sure some one has some good photos, except Hanita who's camera got drenched, she is shopping for a new one today. I was happy to have dry clothes to change into. That was actually the funnest part of my trip to Annoy. That night we had another great meal of fish. They split us up so i ended up sitting with the Italians, who i really liked. They are in their 70's and have been traveling together every year for the past 30 years. They have been every where. So we are thinking of going to Borneo for a couple of weeks. When i mentioned this to the Italians their faces lit up "Bella Bella!!" as this was one of their most favorite places. This makes me feel good.
Leaving Nam tonight, One night in BKK and then it is off to the second half of our adventures. I am happy about this because now i am headed to places i have never been. A couple of days in Singapore and we will soon be off to Island Malaysia and Borneo until April 1, Bali for two three weeks after, Hongkong and home.

miss you all
bob