BootsnAll Travel Network



Archive for May, 2006

« Home

Hanoi, Vietnam May 9th 2006

Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Finally after 11 years, I’ve arrived in Vietnam. I regret to this day that I decided not to visit Nam back in 1994 when the US lifted trade sanctions against Vietnam and they opened their boarders to US Citizens. I was in Thailand at the time and was just too chicken to come to a country where I didn’t speak the language. I had no idea what to expect, but now after seeing Vietnam and meeting some of friendliest people in the world, I wish I did come and see the Vietnam before tourist industry ramped up to welcome the hoards of tourists running all around the country.

After arriving at HAN, I find a ATM and doing the calculations in my head, I decide to withdraw 320,000 Dong thinking that’s gotta be a heafty sum. Unfortunately for me, I left off 1 zero as the exchange rate is 16,000 to 1. So I pulled out all of $20. Unfortunately, the ATMs in Vietnam charge 20,000D per transaction.  $2.50 doesn’t sound like a lot of money until you put it into perspective.  I usually paid $4 per night’s accomodation and can eat for less than $5 per day.  I thought it was cheap to get from the airport to the city in Chicago at $1.50, but I managed to catch 2 public buses from the airport directly to where I stayed near Hoan Kiem Lake Hoan Kiem Lake for .50c (Bus #17 to the end of the line and change to # 8 across the street for anyone wanting to do this as well) I had heard all kinds of bad stories about minibus drivers trying to “shanghai” travellers into their commissioned hotels so I decided to take public transport where the drivers don’t have any vested interest in where they drop u off.

I’m convinced that there are no open museums in Hanoi. We tried to go to the Airforce Museum after calling to make sure that it’s open. I show the taxi driver where we want to go and he smiles and nods. After he collects the fare, he waits patiently for us to come out as he knows that the museum has been closed for about a year while being renovated. Bastard! We end up paying him 80K to take us back to where he picked us up. So I decide that I want to go to the B52 museum. I ask the hostel again to call to see if it’s open and once again the girl at the hostel tells me that it is, but it didn’t seem like the guy she asked was really that sure about it. I get there and there really isn’t a museum, but just a shot down B52, some SAM launchers, a radar station and a MIG-21 that is supposed to have shot down 3 F4 Phantoms. B52SAMMIG-21 Fishbed The building where the museum is supposed to be looks abandoned except the cafeteria which was hosting some kind of wedding dinner while I was there.

The only thing that I did find open was the infamous Hanoi Hilton where American Pilots like John McCain were inprisoned. Maison Centrale John McCain According to the photos and the signs they were all treated and fed very well. There were even pictures of American pilots cooking a chicken with smiles. They even had on display the nice pajamas that they gave the American flyboys to wear. Clothes at Hanoi Hilton If any of the propaganda were to be believed, the 6 years McCain was here would have been a cake walk, but the photos I took might tell a different story of the history of Maison Centrale Prison. Community Cell Shackled in Jail Right after this photo was taken, Adam thesouthafricanguyimet, decided it would be really funny to lock and bolt the cell door shut! Fortunately for me, we didn’t really know each other that well so he had to quickly let me out not knowing how I’d react.

The traffic in Hanoi is amazing. I found a rooftop beer garden where the main attraction is a major 5 way intersection that has absolutly no traffic control. Bikes, cars, motorcycles, pedestrians… all cross at will narrowly missing each other most of the time. I have some great video of tourists mucking up the whole situation trying to cross. But the locals cross without a problem even if they’re carrying their wares for sale. Traffic The key to crossing the street in Vietnam is moving slow, smoothly and predictably and never ever stopping or they will hit u. Sometimes the motorbikes will aim directly at you at high rates of speed expecting you not to be there when they get there.

In Hanoi, they have something called Bia Hoi which is .12c fresh keg beer. It’s not very good, (Adam described it as tasting like sweet meat) but it has to be the cheapest beer I’ve found anywhere in the world so it’s a little difficult to complain. I’m off from Hanoi for a 2 day trip to Halong Bay.

Filthy Singapore

Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Alright, I figure after a month in China that I’d go to Singapore and find some civilized people, good clean food and ammenities. Singapore is world renown for it’s strict rules about hygenge and proper behavior. Well, let me tell you that just isn’t the case. It started out great! Just  about everyone in Singapore speaks Chingrish la.  Singapore is really easy to navigate and has all the ammenities of any western city except it’s stuck smack dab in the middle of SE Asia. I arrived at the airport about 7:40pm and got some info, maps, a SIM card, money from the ATM, boarded the Metro and was at the Hostel by 9pm.  I’m going to meet my friend Bob at a wedding on Sentosa Beach which is only a 10 minute taxi ride away from my hostel. I figure I should get there about 9:30. Unfortunately, on a Friday night, it is virtually impossible to hail a cab on the street and almost just as impossible to get one from a Taxi “Q”. I literally tried to get a taxi for an hour before I finally got one and didn’t get there until 10:30 sweating like a pig in the swealtering heat after putting on my dress clothes for the first time except for laundry days. Sentosa It was great to meet Bob’s Fiancee and get a chance to hang out with them before their wedding in Bali. Anyway back to Singapore being not such a pristine place. I get sick the 2nd day and my stomach is just not right for the whole time I’m there. We found a cockroach in our soup at dinner the next night which was pretty gross. Fortunately, the manager came out and appologized profusely and comped our entire meal. It’s funny because in China if we had found a cockroach they probably woulda just said your lucky that you only got 1 and plucked it out with their fingers.

Unfortunately for Bob, the only thing I wanted to see in Singapore was the Night Safari since I’d been to Singapore before and had seen pretty much all the other major sights already. It’s a zoo of nocturnal animals which is a good idea in theory, but in practice, not so good because it’s dark and they’re nocturnal animals for a reason. The guide on the tram kept saying that up on your left you may see some wild animal, but they’re quite shy so he may be hiding at the moment. After a few empty areas, I started saying, “Yeah and on your right you may be able to see our Unicorn, but he’s quite shy and maybe hiding just at the moment”. I’m sure they have animals, just not when the tram passes by. Bob found an animal and decided to play with it. Ride em Cowboy All in all it was pretty kewl, but it’s a little tough to see nocturnal animals in their natural habitat. So we decided to meet Bob’s friend at a Country Bar on Orchard road. This bar playing Kenny Roger’s and Garth Brooks tunes with waitresses in cowboy hats and confederate flags has to be the strangest thing I’ve seen in a long time especially in Asia, but then again it shouldn’t really be such a surprise as Singapore doesn’t really fit the typical bill in Asia either. Country

Singapore is also know to be one of the safest countries in Asia, but some asshole decided to steal the bottoms to my pant/shorts.  What the hell is he going to do with it?  They only fit my pants!  I think it was the lying whore of a maid at the Cozy backpackers hostel because when I asked her about it she said she’d never seen them.  But the Dutch girl that found them originally said she asked the maid what to do with them before hanging them up in the breakfast room.  When confronted she said, “oh I don’t know where they are now”.  Don’t stay there, some bastard actually stole another backpacker’s Lonely Planet as well.

Macau

Tuesday, May 30th, 2006
We got a late start for Macau. As I was leaving for the Vietnam Consulate, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to get into Macau if the Vietnam consulate had my passport when C asked me ... [Continue reading this entry]

Hong Kong April 29th 2006

Friday, May 26th, 2006
Alright, I'm sorry, but I'm about a month behind in my blogging.  But since no one is complaining, I only blog when I have time.  Back to civilization.  As we crossed the boarder from China to Hong Kong, it's amazing to ... [Continue reading this entry]

ShenZhen

Saturday, May 13th, 2006
OK, there's not a lot to say about this city as there is nothing more than a tacky theme park called Window to the World or something like that where they have a model of the pyramids, Eiffel Tower... ... [Continue reading this entry]

‘Secret’ Wall Tour

Saturday, May 13th, 2006
OK, after hearing about the 'Secret' Wall tour from Leo's Hostel in Beijing from multiple sources. I couldn't decide whether to travel all the way back up to Beijing then all the way down to Shenzhen just to go on ... [Continue reading this entry]