Welcome to Hanoi!

Hey guys and gals,

So, Hanoi has been... interesting to say the least. Some of you will probably know about the story that follows, but it's worth putting into words, so that there will be an archive of my frustrations to look back upon when I reach a state of complete zen, forced upon me by the sheer fact that if I don't accept Vietnam--and Asia to a greater extent--for what it is, I will perhaps go insane. Most of you know that I can be a fairly intense and emotional person, and that sometimes I get worked up. Well, Vietnam is seriously putting me to the test. Just ask Jennie :-)

BTW- I'm skipping our time in Macau, because we were only there for 1 day and not much happened. Just picture Las Vegas in Asia, surrounded by a developing Asian country, and neighbouring the PRC. There's Macau in a nutshell! For more, check Jennie's blog.

Back to Hanoi. So, our plane from Bangkok was delayed well over an hour. No worries. On the flight over we met some nice Canadians; one who is persuing her PhD research in Hanoi. She told us about some friends of hers running a nice hostel, but we informed her we had already reserved a nice place (or so Lonely Planet said) on hostels.com But whatever, it's good to have other options I figured. Oh boy would this ring true later that night!

Our flight lands in Hanoi around 11:00 PM. The immigration officer, a pimply 20 year old I gather, greets me with some mean sounding Vietnamese and gesturing. I think, "Thank you, nice to meet you too", but I keep my mouth shout. It's late, there are guns. Being a smart-ass is probably not the best thing to do. After immigration, we get our stuff, and part with the Canadians. Our student friend tells us to call her if there's anything. Good thing I got her number. We find a cab (my buddy Huy warned me about the private driver scheme, so we went with the reputable white or yellow-shirted drivers). We get ushered in, only to have some random guy tell our driver something in Vietnamese. Humm, this seems a little off.

We drive in the darkness that is Hanoi night time (hardly any street lights) for about 45 minutes. Then the driver stops in front of the wrong hotel. Some drunk guy opens Jennie's door, "Give me your reservation number!" We explain this isn't the hostel we reserved. No matter. "I bring you to my friend hotel. Very nice!". Ughh, no.

I reiterate to the driver in a stern tone that I want the Stars Hostel. He finally finds it and let's us out, after trying to keep extra change. Ughh, no.

Buddy at the hostel, in the four English words he knows, explains that we have no reservation, the price is no longer $8/person/night (now $26), and that he will bring us to his friend's nicer hotel. Ughh, no.

So it's midnight in Hanoi, ther are no street lights, the only guy on the street is pissing on a tree, and we've only been in the country 1 hour, and already 3 people have tried to screw us.

Needless to say, I called up that favour with the Canadian girl, got into her friend's really nice and clean hostel, Little Hanoi, and all ended well.

Welcome to Hanoi!

ZA