7-11 Hanoi - Day 1

It was a rough morning for all of us. Sleep deprivation mixed with beer and poor diets kept assaulting our immune systems. Mike was hacking up a lung. Apparently Matt & Mike stayed in their rooms for two days in Chiang Mai, trying to ride out their colds. Chris and I checked out and sat down for breakfast on the main drag, Sisavong Rd. Mike, Jeff, and Matt were each staying in different rooms, so we planned to meet at the airport for our 2pm departure. We all made it miraculously despite the fact that it took 5 booking agencies before we found a guy who "knew someone" at Vietnam Airlines that could get us on the flight. We expected to change back all our spare Laotian currency, called "Kip", but of course, the exchange office was closed. Nobody outside Laos will trade or accept Kip, so it's a souvenier once you leave. After racking up a good bill of fruit shakes and mystery meat sandwhiches, Jeff decided to start heanding out his money to strangers around him. You should have seen their faces..confusion at it's finest. 5 minutes later, we discovered a souvenier shop owner who would gladly exchange our Kip for USD. Jeff had a funny look on his face after he realized he just gave away $30.
The flight was pretty uneventful and most of us slept the 90 minute duration. Looking out the window, Laos is green and mountainous with almost no flat terrain in the North. As we passed into Vietnam, the terrain levelled out. Hanoi is in the middle of a fertile plain near the mouth of several rivers that lead into the Gulf of Tonken. With mountains off in the distance, it's actually a bit similar in topography as Sacramento. We loaded up on cash at the ATM machines in the terminal. In the local currnecy, 1 USD is equal to 18,000 "Dong", thus making us all millionaires after taking out just $50 or so. We loaded into a taxi ($10) and made the 40 minute trip into town. We quickly learned that there was no such thing as a traffic law in Vietnam, which gives support to claims we've heard that Vietnam has the most deadly roads in the world. Over 75 people die each day on the relatively small network of roads and highways here with a population of about 80 million. Note that 70% of the population lives in rural areas on farms, without cars or motorbikes. That's somthing like 100 people dying on California roads each day. Traffic lights are nowhere except a few of the busiest intersections downtown. Even then, drivers will run them if traffic is light. What would seem like reckless driving, road rage manuevers and suicide by motorcycle in the United States, is just the status quo here. It's not too often in California that I see a dump truck driving in reverse on the freeway, or cars making turns into oncoming traffic, trying to bully their way across. We didn't speak much during that drive and all seat belts were firmly secured. As we took in the scenery, the construction of many buildings seemed out of place. Amongst rice paddies were solitary buildings or sometimes clusters of them. Despite the abundance of space, these homes were 3-4 stories tall and narrow with a colorful facade in front. Each side was windowless, bare concrete, as if any day they would become common walls with another building constructed beside it. These were "bostonians", meant to be packed tightly in rows along a crowded city street. A cab took us to the busy old quarter of Hanoi near Lake Hoan Kiem. The first choice on our list of hotels was booked, so we reluctantly went to a sister property. With taxis, it's always the same story across Asia: They put on a charade that your chosen hotel is full, so they take you to somewher else that they can get a kickback. The line is always "I take you to my uncle's place, it much nicer". Out front the Hanoi Family Guesthouse, we struggled with the decision to take a room. $5 each was to get us a room with 3 beds, a mattress on the floor and free breakfast & dinner. It was 100*F/40*C and 80% humidity out, so these terms, including air conditioning were tough to turn down. Mike wasn't too happy piling in with four other guys in one room, so he walked down the street and got his own $22/night room at a nice place. Our room was as basic as it gets, and to top it off, the A/C was acting up. We ended up downstairs that evening, invited to a home-cooked meal. As one delicious dish after the other came streaming out of a back kitchen, we knew we were in for a treat. The guesthouse was managed by three girls and their brother. They were all incredibly friendly and eager to get to know us. A couple other guests dropped in for dinner and a cold beer (also free), but mostly it was just us and three giddy girls trying their best to speak English with us. Huen was the eldest at about 30 years old. She had studied for a short time in London so her English was pretty good. Tam and Nga were in their late twenties and less able to communicate, but still, talking to them wasn't difficult. We pigged out on some amazing food that these girls had prepared. The big hit was pork belly in a tasty glaze. We were all fighting over the pork morsels with our chopsticks, then moving onto the morning glory (greens), rice, and noodles. We had stuffed ourselves, and with hospitality like this, wewere unsure if we'd eat out in Hanoi at all!
After a short nap, we grabbed a map and ventured out in search of a cold beer and a glimpse of the city in the evening. We eventually made it to the lake near the South end of the old quarter, known as Hoan Kiem Lake. We came upon the North end of the lake at a large intersetcion with a round-about. It was pure chaos. In Vietnam, horns are used like an ambulance uses its sirens and horns-- It's all about "Hey, look out for me! I'm coming your way and I'm not going to yield!". The honking puts New York taxis to shame. It's actually very annoying to be surrounded by horn-happy maniancs on scooters and cars all around you. We escaped the madness in the streets at the City View Cafe on the 7th floor of a building overlooking the lake and the busy streets below. A smooth scotch and a healthy dose of ice cream really topped off the evening.
On our way to our room, we came across the three girls layed out on the lobby floor, studying English. One thing led to another and we spent an hour giving each other language lessons. It was a lot of fun!