The ‘Sleeper’ Train
After
warming up thoroughly by watching classics like ‘The Platoon’, we felt ready
for Vietnam.
A bus and a train ride brought us from Yangshuo in China
to Hanoi in Vietnam,
via the Chinese city Nanning
- famous for it’s dog hot pot. Not hot dogs – but really, hot dogs. We’re
talking puppies in scorching, boiling pots, most likely with fantastic
seasoning. It’s China,
after all. We did enjoy a break in this city, but we passed on their speciality.
Well, we think. I carried a note which said ‘I do not eat dog’ in Chinese
letters and had to point at a number of dishes in their menu before our
waitress approved my choice. I miss my dog, Tamlin… Anyhoo, we got on the night
train expecting a boarder crossing not unlike the one we had experienced on the
train between Mongolia and China, where they gently woke us up by lightly tapping
our shoulders, asked for our passports, having one look at our sleepy faces and
then let us drift back into deep sleep, never even glancing at our baggage. Crossing
at the Friendship Gate was a tad bit different. The immigration offices of the
two countries are situated quite a bit apart, maybe 20 minutes by train, not
enough time for a proper nap. Immense no-mans land. So much for friendship, eh?
Both the Chinese and the Vietnamese boarder control required that we got off
the train with all our belongings for inspection, scanning and some tedious
paper work. Zzzzzzzzz. But worst of all was that we in the end arrived in Hanoi at 5am and not 7am
as per the time table we had been screening prior to booking the tickets. No beauty
sleep for us! We were dropped off at a tiny station - not even a station
building but just a gate letting us off the tracks - outside of Hanoi, to be
greeted by total darkness lit up only by the grins of the taxi drivers who had
gathered to welcome us…
Taxi!
We had been
warned beforehand to be a tad bit on our guard in Vietnam, especially watching
out for taxi drivers overcharging or bringing you to a hotel of their choosing
instead of the one you have selected, so that they receive commission. Often
the hotels claim they have recently changed names! Hmm… But we try not to
become paranoid. It’s a shame that a few bad apples soil the reputation of an
entire country – 99.9% of the people we dealt with here have been just great! Anyways,
after a lot of negotiations at the train ‘station’ we finally agreed to be
taken to our hotel by a guy who only asked about three times the fair fare. Fair
enough! Going by the meter works in most cases though; unless they have a fast
running one or if they just take you round in circles until they are happy with
the total amount. The scenic route-scam happened to us once, in Hué. We watched
the map carefully as we drove and when the cabby couldn’t quite explain why he
had taken us all the way out of the city and then back again when our hotel was
just down the road from the station, we refused to pay what he was asking. We
even got backed up by the brave hotel staff even though the taxi driver was
giving the poor girl quite an earful. He called us cheap. We gave the money we
had taken back from him to the hotel staff as tip. Pah! And so we were in Vietnam! Fish
sauce galore. Just in time for Christmas.
As we had arrived in
Hanoi - the city of the three million scooters and motorcycles - before dawn, we
opted for a hotel recommended by Lonely Planet, as we were very tired and it’s
just not the time to walk around looking for a decent place. At the City Gate Hotel
we asked for a room and were told - a bit rudely but excusable as we had woken
him up in an ungodly hour - we could have one for a rate slightly higher than
what was stated in LP, but we had to wait until 8am. So we waited. Or I did –
Lars went out armed with his camera to watch and capture the streets turning in
to vegetable and meat markets in the early morning hours. At nearly 8am we were
told by the now fully awake and still very rude receptionist there was no room
available, and he had no idea what he had promised at 5.30. Way to early for
any type of communications apparently. Luckily Lars had spotted several other
options and we quickly found a very nice hotel. If you’re ever sitting at the
computer with absolutely nothing to do, check out the reviews of that first
hotel at tripadvisor.com – it’s just insane! This guy locks the doors with a
padlock at night, and if people try to leave early for the airport, he demands
more money before opening the door! Nice! I’m glad they were fully booked…
Hanoi is a very noisy city as everyone is driving using
their horns and not so much the mirrors, and it’s a fun sport trying to cross
the road. You walk very, very slowly, giving the scooter-people plenty of time
to dodge you, of course without ever slowing down. Try and run across and you’d
be pancake for sure. The pancakes here are awesome. And the soups. And the
spring rolls… We found a nice street stall not unlike the one in Shanghai but instead of
feasting on spicy, peppery food, we now indulge in the sweetness of lemon grass
and fish sauce, and a bunch of tasty creations of filled rice papers, fresh or
fried. Yum! And, not to be forgotten, fresh beer!
--(@
Louise
