The Adventures of Jim & Rhonda

Well, it’s 23 December and we’re here in Hanoi.

Back in Hue we did some interresting sightseeing including the Citadel and a tour to the temples and pagodas along the Perfume River. The Citadel is is a HUGE complex of 10 square KM and is fully surrounded by a brick wall 2meters thick and a moat. Construction started in 1804 and a large part of the complex is now used for shops, gardens, etc. The main sights started at the Nga Mon Gate which led over a smaller moat and another wall. This led you into the Imperial Enclosure, the Thai Hoa Palace and he forbidden purple city, where the kings harem resided. Some of the inner complex is, of course, destroyed from a variety of wars, but much of the palace and imperial enclosure is still in great shape.

The cruise on the perfume river was a full day tour. We left in one of the many dragon boats and visited 6 different temples and pagodas. Along the way the sightseeing was wonderful as we passed fishing villages and people going about their daily lives. Interesting that almost everyone you meet has a cell phone and yet they’re plowing the fields with oxen. Such a contrast! Many of the sites were worthwhile but the tombs of Minh Mang were the most impressive. Built in 1841 it is perfectly in harmony with the lake and surrounding areas and was almost reminescent of a japanese garden in some spots. Lunch of sauteed green beans, rice and corn cakes was included in the price and Jim & I also bought some vegetable spring rolls for our table to share. As usual, we met some interesting people on board to exchange information with! Especially good info this time on Halong Bay cruises.

We flew from Hue to Hanoi and Vietnam Airlines was just fine. There were 2 unusual aspects to the trip. One, they had us get on a boat from the terminal to drive all of about 70 ft to the plane when normally we would have just walked across the tarmac. Then, our lunch onboard was a white bread sandwich with bologna and american cheese!!!! It was good but certainly not what we were expecting! The 1hr flight arrived in Hanoi at 1:00pm and we had an airport pickup from the hotel we had contacted on line. That is where the crap began!

It was a 45minute drive into the Old Quarter of Hanoi and our driver indicated that down a narrow alley was our hotel, Paradise Hotel. Online we had originally requested Stars Street Hotel but Mr Linh, the manager, said that hotel was full but Paradise Hotel, the sister of Stars Street Hotel was brand new as of November 2007 and it was available. He assured us it had all of the same amenities, aircon/ hot water/ cable/ computer in the room, etc. for $55/night but he’d give it to us for $50. Well, the pictures emailed to us were NOT of the hotel we stood in front of. While Jim went up to check on a couple of rooms I glanced at their business card in the lobby and the rooms were $45night!! The second indication they were trying to scam us! Jim came down and was not impressed. Basically, the rooms looked nothing like what was emailed and were fine, but were comparable to the $25/nt rooms we’d been booking and certainly not worth more. Sensing we were getting ready to walk out the manager said he had 1 more room to show us… the VIP room. Jim checked it out and we decided we’d go with it however, when we got to the room we found the cable didn’t work, no top sheet on the bed, not enough pillows and no computer in the room! At that point we’d had enough.. We said we’d stay but we wanted more pillows, more sheets, a computer in the room and the cable fixed TODAY,not the next day when they thought they could get to it. And we were only paying $45/night!

So, to their credit they did get everything handled in pretty quick order. However, when we walked out to dinner the front desk clerk wanted us to prepay for all 5 nights we were booking in for. No way, we have always paid upon checking out on this trip, partially to take into account any miny bar or tour charges, etc. but also because sometimes plans change. He just wanted to argue about it until finally the man who assisted us with the cable stepped in and said it was fine for us to pay upon checkout. Not a fun afternoon!!!

We did feel better after some food and a beer and have had an enjoyable couple of days exploring the city. As with all cities in Vietnam the number of motos on the streets is out of control! Sidewalks are mostly unusable due to them being moto parking lots, and it’s generally dangerous to cross a street! The sightseeing and people watching is fantastic, however, and we’ve spent hours walking the streets. We got our trip booked for Halong Bay for next week. We leave on 26Dec and spend 1 night on a junk and then 2 nights in a bungalow on a private island. We are certainly looking forward to that. Then the 29th back in Hanoi for 1 night and then on to Laos for New Years. The city is in full force for Christmas with many people in full santa suits or at least santa hats, very adorable little kids all decked out and streets and streets of gifts, christmas hats and balloons and enourmous stuffed animals! Christmas trees and lights everywhere.

Tomorrow, Christmas eve, we are going to midnight mass at St Josephs cathedral, a huge cathedral that looks straight out of France. That is, if we can get in. Fromwhat we’ve been reading literally thousands and thousands of people go there for midnight mass. Can’t wait! It should be quite an experience. And Christmas day we are joining some other travelers at Finnigans Irish Pub for a traditional Christmas dinner which we’re looking forward to! Turkey and all the trimmings, yum:) and even a small gift exchange.

Our big decision for tomorrow is to decide if we really are going to buy the gorgeous wooden cabinet we found to use as a bar when we get home!

Merry Christmas to everyone. Next update after our 3 days in Halong Bay!

Cheers and God Bless – Jim & Rhonda

 

Some of you have been wondering about our day to day life on the road. Let me assure you it is NOT a typical vacation. You’ve all done them, you get up early, drag yourself to the airport, sit for hours, board your flight, finally arrive at your destination after hours and eventually get to your hotel later that day. But then, if you’re at a beach destination or staying in one spot you’re pretty much set. Well, every 2-4 days we’re doing one of those “travel days’.

Mind you, we are not complaining! We dreamed of this trip for years and are thrilled to be living out our dream. However, this is different than any trip we’ve ever taken before. We have 3 types of days: chill days, sightseeing days, and travel days.

Travel days are the worst. NOTHING ever operates on time and, other than international flights, you’re told a wide range of times, generally something along the lines of 3-8 hours. We’ve now taken planes, boats, trains, buses, sleeper buses and motorcycles and I’m sure the list will continue to grow. A travel day normally starts with us getting up around 6am to get breakfast before our transportation for the day. Whatever time they tell you you’ll be leaving you normally actually leave between 1 and 11/2 hrs later. We’ve gotten stuck in the muck on the boat, had flat tires on the bus and .. once, even had them stop so they could wash the bus! The seating is usually not geared towards westerners so we’re often crammed into seats, which are occasionally just wood benches. For the bus rides you must deal with either the tv on full blast with kareoke playing or, at the very least, the CONSTANT horn honking as traffic is navigated. Usually 7-8 hours after we left we arrive at our next town. Then, the fight to get away from the hotel touts awaiting to actually get transport to our first choice hotel. I’ve normally done some research and have 2-3 hotels in mind so we must convince the taxi driver we do NOT want to see his hotel (where he gets commission) but want to go to the hotel you want. We have sometimes looked at 5 hotels before making a choice, a couple of times we went with the first one. I always wait with the bags while Jim goes in to inspect the rooms. By that time we’re usually just ready for some dinner and bed!

The second type of day is a sightseeing day. This can start from 4:30am to 8am depending upon what we’re seeing. These days are usually very interesting and are one of our favorite types of days. Occasionally you end up seeing something not so great but overall it’s at least always great to get out into the countryside and see the local villages and greet the people.

Chill days are just that…when we take a vacation from our trip. Mui Ne , here in Vietnam, was our last one. 3 days of doing very little except napping, swimming, watching the sunset, etc. They are the most like a real vacation and are really helpful after a country such as Cambodia where the history and poverty are in your face 24 hrs a day.

So, that is it, our life on the road… lots of sightseeing and travel days intermixed with a few chill days every 5 weeks or so to recharge our batteries.

Thats us, living the dream!!! Cheers, J&R

U

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