(Kyle) Woke up this morning and had to get all our stuff ready since we had to check out at noon. So we first got up and had our breakfast. It wasn’t that great so I think that I only had coffee and some bread with cheese.
(Angy) I had very little for breakfast as well since it was not very fresh. We again took our time getting ready and didn’t check out until the very last minute. We rented another moto for half a day and walked across the street to the restaurant called Son, to have lunch. This was the most leisurely lunch we have had on our trip so far. I had lemonade, which interestingly enough, they call limes lemons here. So when ever I get lemonade it had slices of limes in it. Kyle ordered a burger, and I ordered grilled fish in a banana leaf and spring rolls. It took forever for the spring rolls to come but they were very delicious. Then Kyle’s burger came and he finished eating it before my food even got there. The fish took quite a while to cook, but that was ok, we were sitting in a lovely little open air restaurant perched over the river. The fish was ok; I guess I thought it would be super yummy. It was the whole fish, eyes and tail and all, but it was hard to eat around the bones, and the first time it was brought to the table the waitress cut it open and it wasn’t fully cooked so she sent it back to cook longer. So then I was all paranoid about it not being fully cooked. But it was still good, and came with steamed rice.
We hopped on the moto after lunch and went to pick up my dress, skirt and top. The dress was good on the bottom half, but the top was not right. Half of my boob seemed to pop out on the sides of the halter top type dress, so they said they would fix it. Then the shirt I had made was not right either. The little pleats and detail were all crooked. So they said they could fix that as well. But at least the skirt was perfect. I just had such high hopes for the dress, I was quite disappointed. So we had to be back there to pick up the dress at 5pm and then on to catch our taxi at 6pm to the airport for Hanoi.
Kyle and I decided to see at least one of the sights in Hoi An listed in our guide book, so we rode off in search of the Japanese covered bridge. The Japanese community in Hoi An built the bridge in 1590, they covered it to act as a shelter from the rain and sun. It was much smaller than I thought it would be, but very ornate. We walked to the other side and did a little shopping. Kyle bought one of the coffee maker things that they use all over Vietnam. It is like a one cup coffee maker, that you put the grounds in and then pour hot water over it and set it on top of your cup so that the coffee drips straight into your cup. The Vietnamese coffee is very good, and rich. Kyle also bought some coffee beans, and some chopsticks, he is trying to get chopsticks from every country we visit.
On our way back to the moto we stopped at a little restaurant and had some ice cream. I had mango sorbet and Kyle had coffee sorbet. Yummy! Then we took the moto across the rive in search of this area of town that is known for it’s woodcarvings. We drove all over, but didn’t see anything. So we headed back to the main part of the town. We had passed a place that sold shoes, so I wanted to stop and check it out. We had just crossed back over the river and all of the shoes were on our left side. So Kyle decided to try and cross traffic instead of just parking the moto on the right side of the street and then cross on foot. Well none of the motos that you rent come with side mirrors so as he started to turn left and cross traffic, a girl on another moto comes zooming up from behind on the left side, we almost plowed right into her!! I hopped off and Kyle quickly got the bike up on the sidewalk. That was the closest call yet! I was so pissed at Kyle, so he walked off and let me look at shoes. The shoes work just like all the clothes shops, you pick what you like, they take your size and then make the shoe for you. This would have been nice except we didn’t have enough time for them to make the shoes. We decided to see if my dress was ready instead of shopping anymore. I think we were both excited to be moving on to the next place and then meet up with Robin and Erika.
The dress wasn’t back yet from being fixed. Kyle had commented the night before that all these shops just send the clothes orders to one big sweatshop where people all working at all hours cranking out clothes. So then I had this idea in my head that it wasn’t going to turn out. And I was right the dress and top were still wrong, they wouldn’t give me my money back for them, but said they could fix them, but we had no time, we had to catch our taxi. So I lost the little patience I had left snatch the dress, and top stuffed it into a bag and just left. While all this debating about the clothes being wrong was going on two women who were going to get clothes made there ended up walking out. I think I scared them off. I think what happens here is that they just quickly churn these clothes out, thinking “oh these people are just passing through; we won’t get repeat business from them anyway, so why do we need to do a good job.” It is cheap, but it is suppose to be custom made, so it was a huge disappointment. While I was busting out of the shop in a fit Kyle was trying to smooth things over for me inside. One of the women who worked there, had her daughter, who was maybe 14 or so there to help as well. She was such a sweet girl, and as I ran out she grabbed this other skirt and shoved it into a bag for me to take. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and just wanted to make me happier. This made me feel like an ass. I told them I was just so excited for the dress to work. I think we left the situation ok, the one woman kept saying “as long as you are happy, I am happy” As if the free skirt that doesn’t fit me, makes up for the other two items that don’t fit me either. So now when I get back to MN I will walk two blocks down Lowry to the Vietnamese tailor in the Good Deal market and ask them to fix what there countrymen messed up. I wonder how much that will cost me?! It is a very small world when you think about all the things from other cultures that are right down the street from our homes in the US.
We took the moto back to our hotel. Turned it in, and then checked our email while we waited for the taxi to arrive. We had a moment of freaking out when we got emails from Erika and the tour company saying they could only hold our reservation until 5:30pm if they didn’t hear from us. Well it was 5:50pm! I asked the receptionist to call the number for me, and of course he said it didn’t work, again shade-shiesty, Kyle called himself and it worked right away. They receptionist probably just wanted us to go with a company that would give him a commission. So we were off to the airport, and we had confirmed our Halong Bay tour. We had a long wait at the airport since we thought we needed to get there earlier, we are used to the airports in the US. So we read our books, and waited. It was fun again to board the plane. We took a little shuttle to the airplane, and then in the rain had to walk up the steps that were covered by a plastic tube leading into the plane. Kyle commented that he felt like he was waiting to get on an amusement park ride, with the loud noise of the plane and the sound of our feet on the metal steps. Once on the plane we started to get a little worried about how safe the plane was. It smelt really bad and the seats were very stained. Then from the vents this mist was blowing out into the cabin. Well despite our worried we made it safely to Hanoi. On the plane ride, we decided that since I was half way through reading my Dracula book that we would tear it in half so Kyle could start reading the first half. I felt bad about destroying the book, but it suited our needs. Now he is hooked on the book, he is a faster reader than I am, and can read on bumpy buses which I can’t, so he is rapidly catching up to me.
Once in Hanoi, we took a taxi into the city. It took about 40 minutes. This was the nicest taxi we had been in. The driver was wearing very nice clothes, and was driving a Honda that seemed to be brand new. A no-hassle ride that took us straight to the hotel where Robin and Erika were staying, but it was booked so they sent us to another hotel up the street. It was suppose to be $50 but they gave it to us for $45. The room was odd; it had a window to the hall, and then a window to a tiny square shaft that was as tall as the building. The hot water didn’t work, and black bits were coming out of the faucet, the towel was torn, and the chairs were stained, oh and the fridge wasn’t very cold. This hotel was called the Lucky Hotel, but we didn’t feel very lucky. They came up to our room to try and fix the water situation but no luck, I told them the room was only worth $35, if that. The man from the front desk said he would have to check with his manager. The next morning we got up early had a breakfast which was included, but not very good. We had to quickly get to Robin and Erika’s hotel to be picked up for the tour bus to Halong Bay. When we walked into the lobby to checkout, there was a HUGE cockroach on the floor, wiggling around on it’s back, I mean this thing was at least 3 inches long. This place was ridiculous! This was the most we had paid since getting to SE Asia, except for our first night in Bangkok, and it was by far the worst place, well for the money. I guess we kind of strong-armed them, since we said we were only paying $35, and they would just have to take that. It took about 5 mins and finally the girl behind the desk just gave up and wanted us gone. We hauled ass to the hotel and got there just in time. Off to Halong Bay with our new friends!
