Hanoi, Vietnam – 15 to 18 February, 2007
When we arrived back in Hanoi from Halong Bay, the minibus back dropped us about a block from our hotel because it was rush hour and the bus couldn’t get up the streets. We didn’t mind as we only had a small pack with our overnight gear and didn’t have to handle any other luggage as we had left our large packs at the hotel for our return. We checked back in, and as promised the hotel had moved our luggage to a room with an internet connection in it. After a short walk around for dinner, we returned to the hotel to begin planning for our next move.
We had hoped to head out of Hanoi for Sapa in the northwest before the Tet celebrations in Hanoi began, but we were pushing the limit. In the end as we only had one day before Tet and our visas expired in less than a week, we decided to spend Tet in Hanoi. We originally thought we would have trouble finding a hotel room as many businesses including restaurants and hotels close for three days or more, but found the hotel we were in would remain open and had rooms available so we decided to stay.
The next day was New Years Eve and most attractions were closed in preparation for Tet. Instead we wandered the area looking for certain streets where specific goods are sold. In most Asian cities it seems like similar shops are often located in the same area. For example, if you go down one street every shop sells flowers, the next street may be motorcycle parts, the next hats, etc. We began referring to many streets by the goods sold instead of their actual names. The tour book listed some of the goods sold on certain streets in Hanoi, so we set of looking for coffin street, hat street, and silk street. It seems the book is somewhat out of date because we never found the coffins and there were only one or two hat and silk shops on the streets listed.
While wandering around, we saw three stages being set up for the evenings festivities around the lake. We also passed a barber set up in an alleyway and as J was in need of a haircut he decided to try his luck. The barber had one client, and while J waited several more turned up. It seems that along with cleaning everything in the house for Tet, everyone wants to get spruced up for visiting family and friends. The haircut turned out a bit shorter than planned, but it should last at least until we get to Thailand again.
We then decided to work our way back to Bai Hoi Junction for a few more cheap beers before the celebrations. Although some businesses were closed the streets were a buzz with traffic. We also wanted to visit a Vietnam Airlines ticket office in that area as we had decided to move on to Laos as our next destination. J also wanted to fly as we had heard the bus trip was about 27 hours and he wanted no parts of that one. We got our tickets booked from Hanoi to Vientiane, Laos for the 18th, then sat down for a beer.
After a couple of beers, we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest before going out for the evenings festivities. About 9:00 PM we walked towards the lake and were immediately in the middle of a huge crowd going the same way. Just as we reached the lake there was an acrobatic show on one of the many stages set up. We watched that for a while, and then continued along the lake until we reached another stage with various musical acts. Again we watched for a while before moving on to the next stage. We finally worked our way around the lake and found a place we could sit to watch the fireworks that were going to be launched over the lake.
We had about an hour to wait, but midnight finally rolled around and the party started. We soon realized that the safety cushion between the spectators and firework launchers is different between the US and Vietnam. After the first couple of blasts, we were covered in parts of the rockets drifting back to earth. While it was only paper or cardboard, some of it was smoldering and D was afraid her hair would be set on fire. J thought it was kind of funny to see her trying to hide behind a tree all the while brushing her head with her hand. We finally decided to move away from the launch area and enjoyed the rest of the show from a safer distance although the view wasn’t quite as good.
The next morning it was like another world when we ventured out into the streets. There were almost no cars or motorbikes on the road and you could cross even the busiest streets with ease. There were very few shops open, but breakfast was included at the hotel so we were just wandering with no real purpose again. Later in the day we did find that one of the Bai Hoi shops was open so we could have a New Year’s Day brew. Finding dinner that evening was more of a trick, but we finally found a small pizza place that was open, so had a light dinner there before returning to the hotel for an early night. We were scheduled to be picked up at 6:00 AM for our ride to the airport for our 8:30 flight.
Next stop Vientiane, Laos.
