Sleep is not easy when the
bus turns and winds its way on the road, but at the same time, I must admit, I was
not uncomfortable. Just before 5 am the bus stopped in what looked like a
terminus from the prone position I was in. However, none of the passengers got off
the bus. I too remained where I was, waiting for someone to announce where we were.
After about 45 minutes I saw a couple of passengers pick up their shoes in
plastic bags and get off the bus. The stay at the place was getting prolonged
and the day was breaking slowly. I got up and went out of the bus to be told
that we had reached Hanoi bus terminus; the wait was for passengers to wake up!
As soon as I alighted from the bus with my baggage a guy came to me shaking his
car key, obviously a taxi driver. I chose another who offered to take me to a
place where I could link to WiFi to get the address of the hotel where I was
booked. The Gallant Hotel was more than 20 kms from the bus terminus and wound
its way through streets that were congested and narrow. Finally, after making
numerous enquiries I reached the hotel located in a nondescript road. I paid
off the taxi driver, who smiled a great deal and handed me over to the next set
of smiling faces – the hotel staff. I was told by one of them that the fare I was
offering was a great deal less than what the meter read. 250,000 Dongs it came
to and I was paying 25,000 Dongs. With a great many zeroes in the currency in
Lao PDR and Vietnam I have been often at sixes and sevens dealing in the currencies.
The zeroes may make one feel that a lot of money is passing hands; in fact the 300,000
Dong fare I paid for the bus ride of nearly 500 kms was less than Rs. 1000.
The hotel belies the
surrounding; it was neat, clean and fairly big. Since I had arrived early I was
told that I would have to pay 50% extra if I were to move into the room just
then. I decided to wait in the lobby, despite the room rent being only $84 for
three nights for a twin sharing room; the deal too good to believe. I got
undisturbed time to work on my blogs and the rest of the documentation,
particularly filling out the expense account. With WiFi available I was able to
link up with Elvis D’Cruz, who had arrived Hanoi on 20th and was
staying in another hotel. I told him to come over to the hotel by 10 am because
the receptionist told me that the room could be ready by 11 am. I was feeling
hungry too after a while. I walked to a small store on the narrow street and bought
some cakes and biscuits to keep the growls in check. And there was plenty of
water to drink at the reception.
When Elvis arrived I broke
the news of the car being held up at the border. The totally unflappable guy he
is, I was comfortable discussing the various alternatives that faced us, from
the worst to the best. He is a guy with simple solutions to complex problems. His
positive attitude and ‘can do’ thinking has endeared him to me over the past
ten years that I have known him since being colleagues in DP World, Cochin. After
an hour we had sorted out what we would do in the next two days – this being a
Sunday we reserved to do some local sightseeing and on Monday visit the India
Embassy to seek help with the border problem; a day visit to Halong Bay was scheduled
for Tuesday. We were scheduled to stay in Hanoi for three days.
After freshening up in the room
we took a taxi to the Opera House, which is now a major restaurant. The opera
house has been the venue of many political battles, particularly at the time of
the fight for Hanoi. In front of the building a stage was being readied for a
show to commemorate the Earth Hour. We understood from the youngsters that the
music show would be at 8.30 pm and quietly marked to be there during that time –
it never happened finally. We walked around and reached the History Museum, which
would open only by 1.30 pm. Just outside the gate we met three Indians from
Himachal Pradesh, who were on a short holiday there. What caught our attention
was one of them wanting to ride a motor bike that belonged to one of the three
girls who were taking them on a city tour. Elvis and I thought it a good way to
cover a lot more of the city and took down the numbers of the girls.
Lunch at the Van Nam hotel
was an elaborate affair. First things first, it was local beer to start. The Saigon
beer was excellent and then we tried the Hanoi beer that was not so great. We felt
we should have stuck to Saigon. It was braised pork in claypot and braised pork
belly with eggs and steamed rice for the main course. We barely managed to
finish the meal. The pork and the preparations were outstanding; we took our
time over it. Thereafter, intent on visiting the History Museum we unfolded the
small map and sought directions numerous times and still lost our way. But,
that was providential too. We finally landed up near the St. Joseph’s Cathedral,
which serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi. We had to wait a while
before being permitted to enter the church since the mass for children was
going on.
By the time we came out of
the church Minh and Tao were waiting with their mobikes to take us on a city
tour. And for the next two hours they took us on an enjoyable ride in the city;
we covered areas that t we would normally not have covered. The first landmark
we visited was the Temple of Literature, which is a temple of Confucius, the great
teacher of the 4 century BC. The temple was built in 1070 and houses the
Imperial Academy, Vietnam’s first national university. The admission charge is 30,000
Dongs. The temple, over the years, has seen many kings, nobility, bureaucrats
and scholars pass through its portals. The temple is featured at the back of
the 100,000 Dong currency note; such is the importance attached to this ancient
seat of learning. The Vietnam Military History Museum, situated opposite the
Lenin Park which features a very large statue of Lenin, was about to be closed
when we visited it. We found that most tourist sites closed by 4.30 pm. However,
we were permitted to get inside the gate and take a few pictures of the
exhibits outside and the Flag Tower, which was built in 1812.
Then past the One Pillar Pagoda,
which is considered one of the most historic Buddhist temples in Vietnam, we
parked near the Truc Bach Lake. The huge freshwater West Lake has a road going
around it for 17 kms. The Truc Bach Lake was created when a road was built through
the West Lake. The two lakes seemed to be popular recreation destinations for
locals and tourists alike with many gardens, villas, restaurants and paddle
boats. We did cause some mirth among the passing public with the photography
sessions there with the two mobike girls.
Without a doubt the most prominent
feature of Hanoi is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the embalmed body of the
Vietminh leader, Ho Chi Minh, is kept in a glass case. The mausoleum, inspired
by the Lenin mausoleum in the Kremlin, despite its imposing presence, has been dubbed
the sixth ugliest building in the world by a TV channel. We were late to enter
this historic site too and decided we would be back another day for it.
Then we drove over the Long
Bien bridge, a 113 year old cantilever bridge across the Red River connecting
two districts of the city of Hanoi. The bridge was bombarded heavily by the US
troops during the Vietnam War due to its critical position – the bridge
connected Hanoi to its main port Haiphong. The defence of the bridge is still
part of the self image of the Vietnamese and is part of folklore and poetry of
the time. Trains, two wheelers and pedestrians use this bridge while all other traffic
uses the newly built Chuong Duong Bridge. It was sad to see poor people live under
the Long Bien Bridge in squalor and extremely unhygienic conditions.
Minh and Tao, the two mobike
girls, who had taken us all over the City, dropped us back to the hotel. After
a bit of unwinding and debating if we should have dinner at all, for the lunch
had been too heavy and was lying about a bit uneasily in the stomach, we took a
walk down the rather bare street where the hotel is situated. The smells emanating
from the eateries in the street only made us more nauseous. We walked further
away from the street and came to the Almond Café, which, happily, had an
English menu. We ordered soups we thought would be light; portions were humongous,
but we got through them nevertheless.
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