So Korea's never managed to wear on me too much, though there are times when the day to day pattern gets stale and it's time to get out and do something new for a while. So for winter break this year, Vietnam and Thailand got thrown on the agenda for three weeks (2 in Vietnam, 1 in Thailand). On January 13th my travel companion Harrison and I stepped out onto the cold morning streets and began the first day of our exploration with a smoothness that can only be achieved by forgetting to have arranged for two entry visas rather than one. There was much celebration, followed by a night in the airport sleeping on benches waiting for the payment and bureaucratic processes to go through the next day (Monday) that would allow us to book another flight and get into the country. Luckily everything else went smoothly, which is to say unluckily everything else went wrong. The only place in the airport to sleep was having remodeling done in the male facilities, and not possessing the correct anatomical bits to make that one fly, we proceeded in a dejected manner to a place to grab some food and console our ill-fated selves. We got in line, made our choices, and were promptly informed that the cutoff for new customers ended after the person just before us, leaving the rest of the waiting customers (just us really) to make our way to wherever else could serve us, which as I recall, was nowhere but MacDonald's. You win by default MacDonald's, though I will compliment you on somehow getting Koreans quicker at serving food, a seemingly impossible task.
Anyway, after a night of late emailing and payment processing from my phone on an airport bench, we managed to book a new flight for the Wednesday, and spent a hell of a lot of time getting to know the ins and outs of Incheon airport. Which includes Korean James Bond.
See him in his latest adventure, "Skyfarr"
So we flew.
We arrived in Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi at around 10pm, and got our visas processed before walking casually through no customs or immigration counter whatsoever. Apparently those shut down at some point in the evening, and then you can just walk right on into the country as you please should you happen to have landed after that point. I respect the relaxed perspective.
Hanoi (and much of Vietnam that I saw, really) has a way of transforming at night when all the shops close and the roll down doors are locked up. It can look empty and cold, with only a few signs of life from people passing on mopeds or hanging out in alleyways. In a lot of ways it looks like a vacated war zone, with many of the buildings in ill-repair and few sources of light. Such was our introduction, and I was a bit surprised and perhaps a little disheartened that despite it being close to midnight, there seemed to be little that would have drawn me to a place like it. The next morning however, our first day in Vietnam, brought it all to life in a way I wasn't at all expecting, and after a breakfast at the hotel of chicken pho and one of the better cups of coffee I'd had in a while (Korea, you have no talent for it whatsoever) we walked out into the streets and figured we'd wind up somewhere we could sleep at some point before the sun went down. So here's how that went.
This cat seemed a little strange looking, and also it's on a leash, which is a strange thing in general to do with a cat
The thing I loved about Hanoi was that all around the city people would hang bird cages out on the street with exotic (to foreigners at least) birds. Makes for a pleasant environment, which Hanoi was above all else
An electrician's dream. A black wire isn't working properly, look into it
Anything and everything is going on at all times, and even though it looks like an insanely busy city, there's a lot of just hanging around, sitting, napping, and conversing going on at all hours. Not sure what people do for a living, but it seems to work out somehow
Nice city for alley-wandering
Nobody was watching over these pots or appearing to be around to sell them. In the west someone would just steal them, even if they didn't want them. We're a bunch of dirty thieves, is what I learned
Beer Temple: It's 10:40 am, close enough. This place had the best selection I've seen since Canada for really reasonable prices (by western standards), so it was a hell of a good find for an aimless wandering
They'll transport anything on their little motorbikes, doesn't matter what it is or how big, they'll do it. I saw a whole bunch of people moving entire fruit trees on theirs. There are very few cars or trucks in Vietnam and it's amazing
Memorial statue dedicated to martyr soldiers
The site of my first haggle, and I talked him down by 60% by accident, walking away out of genuine disinterest rather than strategy, but I got a large complete map of the city in English out of it, which was handy. I'm really good at things sometimes
The districts that perform certain trades have people working out on the sidewalk, just setting up a small table saw or drill press on the curb and working at what seemed like a pretty casual pace. There doesn't seem to be a similar perspective to the west on segregating space between where work is done and where other things are done. On the sidewalks you sit, walk, eat, sleep, whatever
They totally wear those hats on an everyday basis, it's awesome
Many people go about their day wandering around selling fruit on their bikes, since so many people spend time outside or working on the corners, I guess it's really convenient to just buy stuff as it comes by
You can find some peaceful places just off the streets without any effort, and with the insanely low cost of everything in Vietnam you can spend your day restaurant surfing around the city and probably only spend 10 bucks all day
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