I imagine landing in Vietnam is like landing on Mars, totally foreign. Never before have I seen anything even similar in all my life. Hanoi is intense in every way, a complete assault to ones' senses. We landed on the ground after a two hour flight from Hong Kong. Taking a taxi to Hanoi city takes 45 minutes and costs $15 USD. Being tired and ready to settle in somewhere, we decided that would be our best option.
We get into the cab, insisting on keeping our giant backpacks with us at all times. After reading up on the area, we don't want to enable the cabbie to request more money before giving us our bags. So there we are, squished into the backseat with our two giant backpacks and bright pink boogie boards. Along the ride we begin to notice the lack of traffic laws. Each time we ride up behind another vehicle of any kind, our cabbie tailgates like crazy. Then he repeatedly pounds on the horn. Honk. Honk Honk. Honk. Honk! Honk! Either the cabbie is full of road rage or things work a whole lot differently here.
We get into the cab, insisting on keeping our giant backpacks with us at all times. After reading up on the area, we don't want to enable the cabbie to request more money before giving us our bags. So there we are, squished into the backseat with our two giant backpacks and bright pink boogie boards. Along the ride we begin to notice the lack of traffic laws. Each time we ride up behind another vehicle of any kind, our cabbie tailgates like crazy. Then he repeatedly pounds on the horn. Honk. Honk Honk. Honk. Honk! Honk! Either the cabbie is full of road rage or things work a whole lot differently here.
Along the way we pass dozens of scooters. They are carrying fruit, vegetables, trees, even furniture along with the passengers. Family of four? No problem! Dad drives the scooter. If a toddler can stand, he/she does so behind the wheel, in front of Dad. Mom rides in back and carries any infant children, while holding netting over their head. We think this prevents debris from whacking them in the face as they rush down the street. If there is a second toddler, he/ she gets wedged in between Mom and Dad. While the parents may be sporting helmets, the children are definitely not. It is a wild sight to behold!
As we get into the city, things intensify quickly.
Finally our cabbie pulls to the side of the road and says, “You... out here."
This is not the address we have given him.
Suddenly a man is rushing out of a building, "Hello, you hav arrive!"
Lonnie is looking around left and right. Now we do not have reservations at this point, but we insist that we do. The guide book made it clear on that point. We have given our cabbie the address of The Elegance Hotel and the building before us says G Star Hotel.
"This is the wrong hotel," Lonnie explains.
"No, here. Here. You stay here," the random man persists in broken English. Meanwhile he's pulling at the luggage we are grasping.
"This isn't the right spot. See, this isn't the right address," Lonnie repeats pointing at our guide book.
"Yes, yes! This it. You get out here! You come wit me now!" He's quickly becoming visibly agitated and things are happening so quickly.
"Look! This isn't even the right street." Lonnie shows me the address we gave the cabbie and it's not even close to where we've landed!
"You hav reservation?"
"Yes! Elsewhere," Lonnie all but screams.
"Let me see!"
"No. Look, this has nothing to do with you! We needed to be dropped at The Elegance Hotel!"
Angrily the man finally backs off. "We have no room for you anyway!"
Frustrated and exhausted, we turn to get pay the cabbie the 25,500 dong that we owe him.
"It's 40,000 dong," the cabbie states blankly.
"No, it is not. We agreed on 25,500 dong," we insist.
We finally pay him the 25,500 dong and hurriedly get out. So great, here we are in Vietnam. Not where we want to be, but we seem to be in the city of Hanoi at least. Guide book in hand, we attempt to navigate our way to The Elegance Hotel. It is a challenge to say the least. The narrow, winding streets are crowded and noisy. The sidewalks are packed with parked scooters, making it impossible to use them. So we are forced to walk in the street, amongst the chaos until we finally find The Elegance Hotel. They are booked. Feeling tired and defeated, we page through the guide book in an attempt to find something nearby. A man approaches us and says he owns a hotel just up the street and can give us a room for $5 - $15 USD. We agree to look at it. He seems nice and speaks broken English. We arrive and check it out. It is less than pretty, but we are so tired. We agree to take it. Finally we collapse onto the hard beds in our new found, moldy, smelly hotel room.
"Welcome to Vietnam," I say before passing out.
As we get into the city, things intensify quickly.
Finally our cabbie pulls to the side of the road and says, “You... out here."
This is not the address we have given him.
Suddenly a man is rushing out of a building, "Hello, you hav arrive!"
Lonnie is looking around left and right. Now we do not have reservations at this point, but we insist that we do. The guide book made it clear on that point. We have given our cabbie the address of The Elegance Hotel and the building before us says G Star Hotel.
"This is the wrong hotel," Lonnie explains.
"No, here. Here. You stay here," the random man persists in broken English. Meanwhile he's pulling at the luggage we are grasping.
"This isn't the right spot. See, this isn't the right address," Lonnie repeats pointing at our guide book.
"Yes, yes! This it. You get out here! You come wit me now!" He's quickly becoming visibly agitated and things are happening so quickly.
"Look! This isn't even the right street." Lonnie shows me the address we gave the cabbie and it's not even close to where we've landed!
"You hav reservation?"
"Yes! Elsewhere," Lonnie all but screams.
"Let me see!"
"No. Look, this has nothing to do with you! We needed to be dropped at The Elegance Hotel!"
Angrily the man finally backs off. "We have no room for you anyway!"
Frustrated and exhausted, we turn to get pay the cabbie the 25,500 dong that we owe him.
"It's 40,000 dong," the cabbie states blankly.
"No, it is not. We agreed on 25,500 dong," we insist.
We finally pay him the 25,500 dong and hurriedly get out. So great, here we are in Vietnam. Not where we want to be, but we seem to be in the city of Hanoi at least. Guide book in hand, we attempt to navigate our way to The Elegance Hotel. It is a challenge to say the least. The narrow, winding streets are crowded and noisy. The sidewalks are packed with parked scooters, making it impossible to use them. So we are forced to walk in the street, amongst the chaos until we finally find The Elegance Hotel. They are booked. Feeling tired and defeated, we page through the guide book in an attempt to find something nearby. A man approaches us and says he owns a hotel just up the street and can give us a room for $5 - $15 USD. We agree to look at it. He seems nice and speaks broken English. We arrive and check it out. It is less than pretty, but we are so tired. We agree to take it. Finally we collapse onto the hard beds in our new found, moldy, smelly hotel room.
"Welcome to Vietnam," I say before passing out.
