Vietnam, Part 1
Day 21, January 18
So technically we’re still in the Philippines but we are en route to Hanoi so I’m moving on the Vietnam posts. We’re currently at the Manila airport.
We made it through the night with very little sleep and checked out as soon as we got everything charged and packed up. We had to walk a little ways to find a taxi because apparently at 11am is when all the taxi drivers take their lunch.
We made it to the Manila airport and found out we couldn’t check into our 10:15pm flight until 5pm. Luckily this airport is NOTHING like the Jakarta airport and we were able to to go into the area with all of the food and shopping.
We did our own thing for lunch because my stomach was still not settled from last night. So while Taryn got Pizza Hut that looked really, really good, I decided to play it safe and get plain white rice from KFC.
My super cheap meal
I also had a banana earlier so I was hoping I could bounce back without having to break out my medicine that my doctor prescribed me because I still have a month to go and I have very few pills. I drink A LOT of water in my normal everyday life, but today I have doubled my normal water intake. (Mecia, can you imagine that?!)
While my sister went to get a massage and Taryn went to call her mom, I sat at KFC to look things up for Hanoi. I discovered that the KFC here has spaghetti thanks to the people sitting around me. I thought I was going to be sick from the smell though so I had to quickly move. Today might be a rough travel day for me.
Our Spain friends from the hostel found me when I was posted up somewhere. We chatted for a bit and exchanged numbers before they left to go find food.
1 hour until we can check-in!
My sister found Kenny Rogers Roasters here and they have chicken noodle soup. So I got some of that and some steamed veggies.
Kenny Rogers Roasters for the win!
And then my sister found a juice bar so I got the body cleanser. I am slowly feeling better and am very thankful for the Manila airport. This would not be possible if we were at the Jakarta airport.
We finally got to check-in around 5ish, which means we got to get rid of our heavy bags and just carry around our smaller backpacks. Praise the Lord!
Once we were in we still had another 4 hours before we boarded the flight. I broke out my book and tried to read when I wasn’t distracted by the constant airport announcements.
Trying to read but getting easily distracted
Somehow we were able to pass the time without being bored out of our minds. I spent most of my time finding somewhere to buy water and then looking for a bathroom.
It was finally getting close to our boarding time, so I ran to find water one last time and get a snack. On the way I heard that our gate had been changed. I was waiting in line to pay and then looked at the time and was 10pm and our flight was set to leave at 10:15pm. So I had to drop the items and run to where we were. Just as I neared Taryn and my sister, we heard our names be announced over the PA system. So we grabbed our bags and sprinted to the new gate. We were the last ones to board. Somehow we went from having over 10 hours to kill to almost missing our flight.
But we made it on and luckily it was not a full flight so once we were in the air we were able to spread out and get our own row. I tried to sleep but I couldn’t get comfortable.
So long Manila!
We landed at 12:30am at the Hanoi airport. Hanoi is an hour behind Manila so at this point we had been going for over 13 hours.
Once we got off the plane we had to go check in for our visas. Since we had already started the paperwork, it didn’t take as long. We handed over our passports and paperwork and waited for them to call us up one by one to pay and get our passport backs.
Then it was time to go through customs. Since we had to wait to get our visas approved, it gave us time to miss the big long line that was there when we first arrived. We soared on through customs and went to get our bags.
While we were on our way to convert money over, we saw our driver that would be taking us to our hotel for the night. We stayed at a hotel near the airport since at this point it was now close to 2am and didn’t want to be traveling much further that day.
They room was really nice after coming from our last hostel. We were admiring how big and clean it was and then sat down on the bed. The bed was the hardest bed I have ever sat on. It felt like I was sitting on a metal bench. There was no give to the mattress. So we get cleanliness but lose comfort. But again, it’s only for a night.
Our beds made of bricks
Day 22, January 19
We woke up a little later than usual, around 10ish, today because we didn’t really get settled until around 3am. We had to be out by noon and still needed to eat breakfast, shower and gather our things up.
We went to their “restaurant” and had a very difficult time communicating with the little guy taking our order. We mainly pointed to the menu and held up one finger.
Good morning, Vietnam!
Either they’re trying to pull it together or saying a blessing before our food comes out
My stomach still was feeling really queasy so I just got hard boiled eggs and fruit. I ended up taking one of my emergency pills that my doctor prescribed me before I left. Fingers crossed it kicks in.
The white fruit it called pitaya which from what I could gather is basically white dragon fruit
I went to open up my eggs and realized they were soft boiled. I really on like hard boiled because I have this mental block that soft boiled is not fully cooked and is not safe to eat. So my stomach started turning with that sight.
I was able to eat all my fruit and one of the egg whites of the egg. My sister ordered a rice and peanut dish so I had some of her plain rice.
At that point it was already 11:30am and we only had half an hour to get ready and check out. So we ran downstairs to shower and pack up.
We’ve become pros at packing up quickly so we were down in the lobby right at noon. We settled our bill and had them call us a taxi to take us to our next hostel for the night.
Taryn and my sister found one in the old quarter in the heart of Hanoi. I sat back and let them make the decisions because I wasn’t feeling well.
I was able to manage to take a picture
Our taxi arrived and took us to our new place. The ride over was an experience. I thought Manila was an assault on my senses but I just hadn’t experienced Vietnam yet.
There are no rules for driving. I did see some stop lights that drivers adhere to but beyond that it seems like a free for all. Pedestrians don’t have the right away. I think it’s whoever has the loudest horn wins.
We were zig-zagging all through out traffic and motor bikes. There were many times I though our car tapped a person or bike but we kept on going.
So many motorbikes carrying around big trees
This seems really unsafe
But we finally made it to our hostel. We get out of our taxi and are greeted by a dead rat beside the car.
There are so many workers working when you first walk in and they are all young and speak decent English. It is not like any of the other places we have stayed so far. This seems like a much younger and hipper area.
Our hostel is more of a party hostel from what we are gathering. I saw a sign for laughing gas and free beer. And all of the other people staying there that I have seen so far, have been young.
I’m just praying that it’s not too loud at night. I haven’t been able to sleep well the past few nights and would really love to sleep at least one night.
They gave us a welcome drink of tea and coffee while they checked us in. Then they showed us up to our beds. We are staying in the larger 20 bed dorm but we lucked out and all got bottom beds. Each beds has its own outlet, light and cubby area to put things.
This seems very practical to bring on a backpacking trip
We saw a sign for a free walking tour at 4pm so we decided to kill time until then.
We go downstairs a little before 4 and just hang out and wait for our tour guide.
A backpacker’s life
We walked past Hoen Kiem Lake and hear the story behind it. It has something to do with a Golden Turtle God. I’m still unclear on all of it. But here’s a picture of the temple.
2017: Year of the Rooster
They carry flower trees around for the Tet Holiday
Our tour guide was a little 23 old girl that looked like she could be 16. She told me she just graduated University 7 months ago and studied computer, french and english. I’m really impressed with all that they study over here. My measly little film/communication degree pales in comparison to what the average student studies over here.
Our awesome tour guide who saved me from all the motorbikes
But back to the tour. She took us to Hanoi’s oldest ice cream place. The ice cream had a very coconut taste to it, almost like a snow cone. It was really good but not what I was expecting.
Sorry for the blurriness of the photo. I dropped my phone and it messed up the screen so I can’t see how my photos are turning out.
She then lead us all around and down a few streets with the typical street food I’ve heard so much about. It was a madhouse. I stayed right beside our guide when we were crossing busy places. I got a steering wheel from a motorbike in the back at one point. It is pure chaos but really exciting to see another culture and how they live.
A cute Vietenamse book store we stopped in
We stopped at a place to try snail and I decided to go all in even though my stomach wasn’t 100%. I ate one while the others chowed down on like 5 or 6 each. To me the consistency was what I imagine an eyeball would be. It has a stringy part and then attached to that is a sack of fluid or snail. I’m not sure how to describe it but it was really gross to me. But I think I was alone in feeling that way. I can at least check that off my list.
This is the moment I’m thinking this is what eyeball would feel like in my mouth
Everyone was staring at me so I had to swallow it
And she quite enjoyed it
We walked around a little bit more and then headed back to the hostel in time for the free beer at 6pm.
Our hostel
Cheers to surviving eating snail
After our beer we decided to book our trip to Halong Bay for the next day. My sister and I signed up for a 3 day/2 night trip while Taryn opted for the 2 day/1 night trip. Since we booked through our hostel we got a free meal. So we ended up just eating dinner here. It was ok. I got the chicken fried rice but it all tasted very stale.
After dinner we walked around to see if we could find some dessert. We found the most westernized place possible as we were told by a local Vietnamese man that struck up a conversation with us.
Lantern place all lit up at night
Then it was time to organize our bag for the next few days. We aren’t able to bring both our bags so we have to bring only what is necessary and leave the big bag locked up here. So I knew, at least for me, that would take some time to get things sorted.
After that I was done with the day. I was feeling nauseous and really tired and knew that 6am would come around quickly.
Momma Payne
January 20, 2017
It does look like a busy, happening place. So much to see all at once. I hope you are feeling better now.
Jillian
January 21, 2017
It’s a very chaotic place but so full of culture. We are really enjoying it. And yes, I feel much better. Those pills really helped.