Hanoi 280315

When I arrived Hanoi after a 16hour train ride – the weather was gloomy with dark clouds. The public people was a bit cold but in a way it was good because the people or even the motor taxi don't hassle you that much comparing to the other cities that I went too – so it was nice to walk around without sellers on the street bothering you. And of course the traffic was crazy but in smaller streets comparing to the Ho Chi Minh City.

I would say the best part of Hanoi was the people I met at the place that I couch surfed which was an English Centre for the Vietnamese local to practice English speaking. I approached for a place to stay and by coincidence Ha & her sisters where the caretaker of this English Centre. Even the Centre’s name were welcoming  - ‘Vietnam Says Hello’.  Ha is a final year student and is studying in Hanoi. Her two sisters are living with her as they are working in Hanoi. Apparently there are many English Centers in Vietnam. It’s not that they don’t learn English in school but they didn't have the proper English being taught and their pronunciations were really bad I guess. And in these English Centre’s they usually have Westerners teaching English. ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ was still about a month old and the classes just started for about a week or two. It’s a business done by two young guys Trung & Son. I was quiet impressed with their ambitions at the very young age. And I really liked the idea that they gave travellers to stay. In Hanoi, it was something different for me and I really felt like a foreigner. Before this, along my trip, I would always see local Vietnamese talking to travellers (non-Asian) at the park but here they were interested with me too. In ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ – the building have four levels. The ground floor, the coffee room, the classes and my room were on the fourth floor. We usually hung out at the coffee room where students would be there and wanting to practice English speaking with you or just simply interested in what & why were we doing these travels. Even on my first day there was an hour session of  ‘talk show’ where a professor from Belgium just came to talk about his life and students came just to listen and learn the English language by communicating. A couple came to couch surfed two days after I arrived. Liam from England & Sabrina from Austria. They were traveling for five months and decided to find a work in Hanoi. So, having them around was great. Ha was really great in helping us finding our way in Hanoi. Trung had been hosting couch surfers before and just enjoys the company of travellers. Son, the local Hanoi boy was around at times to help out as well. We surely had a great time and we have nights just talking discussing exchanging opinions on everything that we would like talk about. Sometimes I would join the classes just to observe but all in all it was great fun to be surrounded with these curious people.

I also needed to get my China Visa in Hanoi – which was not that, hard. I tried going to agencies but they charge you like double the cost. So, it’s best to do it yourself. The process will take only three working days and it’s best to do this on a Monday. At first – I thought mine would get rejected because the officer that received my passport said that I didn't have enough documents. You will need a health insurance, a booking of a hostel in china and a flight ticket. I just had a booking of a hostel, which was usd1, and most probably I won’t stay there and I told them that I just wanted to travel by land. When she said it would be difficult – I just gave a proposal of my trip and the next day, I was granted a Visa. The tedious part was to pay it at the bank of China, which was a little bit far from the China Embassy, but luckily there was a local girl to help me out.

I didn’t really explore the historical side, which was my initial plan when I wanted to go to Vietnam but I guess it was just enough when you have all these great people surrounding you. The Hoam Kiem Lake was the biggest attraction for me. It wasn't that exciting at first seeing it a little temple in the middle of the lake but once the night time arrives – it was simply beautiful with the illuminating lights.  The public busses were convenient – you just need to know where to go. It was 7 Dong per ride. The Old quarters were my daily routine thing because that’s where the best Halal food I had so far, next to the mosque. The Old quarters are where the backpackers are and at night there’s this one corner at a four junction where everyone just sit down on the little chairs drinking.  Besides that there’s the museums, which I didn't go too. And the best nature sightseeing was outside of Hanoi like Ha Long Bay & Sapa. I just can’t afford to go there and I think it’s probably like something similar in along Southeast Asia.

It was a great night out on my last night in Hanoi. We hand an entourage going to the night market. It was really long night market located in the old quarters and they only have it on Fridays. It started out only with Liam, Sabrina, Andrea (another Swiss traveller that just arrived at ‘Vietnam Says Hello’) and me. Along the way to the bus stop, we met Giang – a student/worker at ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ and she tagged along with us and became our translator for an Uncle that was interested in us inside the bus ride to the old quarters. The Uncle (old man) is mostly interested in Liam because his son is working in England. The Uncle invited us for ice cream desert, nearby his place at a walking distance to the night market. He also invited us to have lunch at his place on the Sunday but I couldn't join because I was heading for Luang Prabang, Laos before I would enter China. And then walking towards the Night market along the Hoam Kiem Lake – there were many local students stopping us just wanting to talk to us. And after the night market, we hung out at the crazy drinking corner. And lastly for the night was meeting Liam’s friend from Manchester where I met other Expats – mostly teaching English with only high school qualifications and just by using their tourist Visa. Some have been living for a year or two and only go out of the country to renew the visa. They just simply came to Hanoi and live there.

After a week in Hanoi, it was time to head for Luang Prabang. I thought of going too directly to China from Vietnam but somehow Liam convinced me to go to Luang Prabang – so it was kinda like a detour for me before entering the Mainland China. Thank you Trung, Son, Hana & sisters for the hospitality. Thank you students of ‘Vietnam Says Hello. And nice meeting you Liam & Sabrina & Andrea. Thank you guys for being a part of my life for the time in Hanoi! Vietnam locals are simply great!