So, what happened in Hanoi?
Day 0 - Singapore to Hanoi
Arrived Hanoi late because Tigerairways kept delaying the flight. A short guy picked us up at Noi Bai airport. I had difficulties finding the board that wrote my name because he is so petite.A comfortable private car ride to the hotel. Arrived hotel late, at about 11pm. The receptionist was helping another guest to check-in, but he smiled and greeted us and told us to wait for a while -- in spoken English that I could understand, and with a smile that melted my heart. What a great 1st impression of Vietnamese men.
We were welcomed by cockroaches in the room, even though the room looks immaculately clean. The bellboy took a bottle of ordourless baygone to fulminate the cockroaches, but we used so much baygone after the bellboy left that we could have fulminated ourselves.
Day 1 - Hanoi to Halong Bay
Had already booked a day tour with the hotel to Halong Bay prior to arrival. Saw the same cute guy at the hotel recept early in the morning, happy! We were not in time to have our breakfast, but he was thoughtful enough to get the chef to prepare an egg sandwich so we could eat it in the car. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling because it reminded me of the breakfast that my Mum used to prepare for me when I was younger. And because we didn't had dinner the night before, we were super hungry.
Halong Bay was beautiful. Weather was scorching hot, but the caves we went to felt like a different world. The moment we stepped into it, we felt the natural "air-condition" within the mystical caves. Our local guide spoke pretty well, with strong Caucasian accent. I guessed he memorised his script really well. It was really surprising to see that the waters of Halong Bay so calm and peaceful, hard to imagine that it is actually an open sea, which should be choppy. On the way back, we went to the deck of the boat to look at sunset. I lied down to enjoy the breeze, and fell asleep. The guide only woke us up when we were about to reach the harbour. Best nap ever. Its hard to put that feeling into words. But falling asleep on the deck of the boat felt surreal.
Finally reached hotel after a long 3hours ride. We were so tired from being constantly on the road. Hungry, felt like we were deprived of food from this trip. Went out to get dinner, and the incident happened. I was pickpocketed and lost my camera. Devastated. I thought it was the worst thing that could ever happened when you are on a holiday. All Halong Bay pictures gone -- just like that. Can't make any police report because its already late. Could only wait till I return to Hanoi.
Day 2 - Hanoi to Mai Chau
Still shocked from the incident, but I had to put on a happy front and moved on. Again another long bus ride. But the bus stalled on entering highway. I asked myself, is this trip meant to be that adventurous? Luckily, the driver manage to kick start the engine again. However, he was a blur driver and took on a wrong route midway. Doesn't help too when the bus is crawling at 60km/hr. When we reached 3/4 of the journey, another mini bus came and took me and ling out of the bus, claiming that the other bus was overloaded. Well, it was for the better because the new bus was much faster. Enroute, we saw lots of cows roaming the streets and grassland. Interesting sight, beautiful mountains. Many a times, I kept imagining the bus went over the edge of the cliffs.
The 2 days we spend at Mai Chau Lodge, we experienced blackouts, enjoyed the sauna and the pool, went to the paddy fields, to the village home, to the morning market, borrowed 2 mountainbikes from the hotel and went around on our own. It was a right decision not to go on the tours organised by the hotel. We saw much more and had more fun just venturing out on our own. The bike ride was super adventurous as we almost couldn't got back to the hotel because we lost our way. With the hot sun, we were really sweating like mad. Although I was still feeling sore over the lost camera, the beautiful scenery make up for it. I witnessed how simple life could be. And I saw how farmville works in real life. Every grain of rice is so precious. I imagined myself retiring in a laid back countryside like this, not giving a heck on whats happening around the world, the fights, the rush hour. I want a simple life.
Cows crossing the road
Mai Chau Lodge sits in the middle of nature
Breathtaking scenery
A cloud that hung low
Day 3 - Mai Chau to Hanoi
Finally reached Hanoi and went back to the same hotel. Loi took me to the police station to help me get a report. He promised to help before I went Mai Chau, and he kept to his promise. The policemen looked like mafia as they sat around, smoking and drinking tea. But patient man Loi helped me as a translator. The whole process was like a dream as I was in a daze. When it was over, we were hungry because it was late and we didn't had dinner. Loi brought us to a local Zhe Char stall and we had our first real Pho Ga and Pho No. Clear soup with no MSG and generous amount of vegetables. Yummy.
Went back hotel to rest and chatted with Loi. From his stories, we understand the culture and the lifestyles of the Vietnamese better. A friendship started just like that.
Day 4 - Temple of Literature, the good 'ol wet market, Hoan Kiem Lake and shopping
Nothing fantastic. Honestly, all touristy places looked the same to me. Weather was extremely hot. We walked around randomly and chanced upon a market. Bought most of our Vietnam coffee from 1 auntie who was extremely nice. No English, merely lots of smiles, hand gestures and body language to communicate what we want to buy. 2 bagful of stuffs. Hot and tired. Went back hotel to put down the things.
Hoan Kiem Lake is like a breathe of fresh mint. The wind, the lake, coffee by the lakeside, and the sharing of gossips. Thats when I found out that I have a trustworthy face, because people feel safe to tell me their secrets.
Shopping at old quarters area. Bought a tie for Loi to thank him for his help. Most delicious Pho Ga ever and the best strawberry juice ever. The best meal of this trip, simple and delicious.
At a cafe beside Hoan Kiem Lake
Ice cream poached in black coffee
Day 5 - Random walking, Hanoi to Singapore
Supposed to head to Ho Chi Minh museum and Mausoleum but the Q was terribly long. Asked taxi driver to bring us to the Museum of Prisoners but taxi driver didn't understand English. In the end took us on a ride for nothing. 100,000 vnd for 1 trip. Map was utterly useless in Hanoi cos the streets were messy. They had many small lanes which were not shown on the map. Aimless walking brought us back to old quarters area, amazing.
Since it was the last day, we decided to stay put in the hotel for the rest of the afternoon. The long chat with Loi and his sister. Took group photos and said good bye.
Good bye to the heartwarming people at Asia Palace hotel 1. Goodbye to the hectic traffic. Goodbye to beautiful scenery.
And hello to concrete Singapore. Back to reality.
Loi, the one who help us alot, the one whom we feel really connected to.
The day shift employees, warm people!
The cute one!
He likes me, look at how happy he was.
