Hanoi (Vietnam)
The first few moments when you feel the sunlight beating through the curtains, the hot sun on your face and when you feel that uneasy sensation of it already being late in the day, well, it’s always a little disorientating. So too the first few moments of this day, Christmas Eve, its special morning moments were also catching me off guard. The transgression of the night before to the morning after and indeed the day after was now dawning on me in the 10-15 seconds of mental oblivion that accompanies me as I awaken from my slumber, then the realisation hits me square between the eyes, ‘If it’s another morning in Hanoi then obviously it’s another hangover for me!’ , as my uncle would say, ‘pissed again’.
The first few moments when you feel the sunlight beating through the curtains, the hot sun on your face and when you feel that uneasy sensation of it already being late in the day, well, it’s always a little disorientating. So too the first few moments of this day, Christmas Eve, its special morning moments were also catching me off guard. The transgression of the night before to the morning after and indeed the day after was now dawning on me in the 10-15 seconds of mental oblivion that accompanies me as I awaken from my slumber, then the realisation hits me square between the eyes, ‘If it’s another morning in Hanoi then obviously it’s another hangover for me!’ , as my uncle would say, ‘pissed again’.
I’m sure that morning we played the Black Ice album once again whilst tried to get energised and tried to get our mojo on and other meaningful stuff. Check-out time at the HE3 was approaching, although a quick call down to reception and a plead for clemency meant that they were kind enough to grant us a stay of execution, for an hour at least. We were well versed in traversing the common hurdles of Struggle St and by the time we actually stepped out onto the Hanoi streets for a re-orientation session with our senses, well, we were functioning somewhere at close to a pass mark, althought I suggest that I probably would have needed a supplementary exam to get over the line.
Somwhere in those first few minutes Frichot came up with the golden call of the morning (or was it early afternoon?), ‘Lets go to KFC’, 'Oh yeah my man, I like it like that!'. Now KFC in Hanoi holds prime position on the north-west corner of Hoan Kiem lake, the restaurant itself (yes, I’m calling it a restaurant), is spread over 4-5 floors and has some terrific views out over the central part of the city. We had a brutish feast, the remanence of which was particularly ugly, but that was of no concern or real consequence, as long as it was washing away the residual of whatever it was that I had been drinking about 10hrs earlier, then that was just fine with me.
Somwhere in those first few minutes Frichot came up with the golden call of the morning (or was it early afternoon?), ‘Lets go to KFC’, 'Oh yeah my man, I like it like that!'. Now KFC in Hanoi holds prime position on the north-west corner of Hoan Kiem lake, the restaurant itself (yes, I’m calling it a restaurant), is spread over 4-5 floors and has some terrific views out over the central part of the city. We had a brutish feast, the remanence of which was particularly ugly, but that was of no concern or real consequence, as long as it was washing away the residual of whatever it was that I had been drinking about 10hrs earlier, then that was just fine with me.
Central Hanoi - from our luxurious KFC abode - right on the edge of Hoan Kiem Lake
Hoan Kiem Lake from the fantastic KFC - Hanoi - Vietnam
'The Remains of the Day' - KFC carnage in Hanoi!
After what I’m sure was a couple of hours of eating and just staring into the abyss we finally moved onto the streets and gingerly made out way around the Old Quarter before Jet suggested that we make our way down to Fanny’s for some sweetness and so that he could eye off the little Vietnamese vixen that he’d been scoping out the last few occasions that we been on premises. Admittedly Jet was already a well known identity at the place and the moment he walked in the girls came a runnin’. For my part I almost crashed out at the table a few times, I think the nights were catching up with me and unfortunately there was no amount of quality caffeine that was giving me the lift that I needed. As it finally came time for Jet to say his goodbyes he wished his harem well and exited stage left and jumped into a cab in order to take a ride to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.
HCM’s mausoleum is a large memorial dedicated to the 'father of the modern state’ and where the actual embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh lies. The body of HCM is enclosed in a glass case which is the traditional way to honour famous Communist leaders. Not that we were able to actually see him as viewing times occur on particular days, at set times, and this was not one of them. Never the less, as a spectacle, this place is enormous and had that imposing sense or presence about it, kind of what you’d expect from a Communist monument and special dedication to its main man, and really, as the sun dropped it provided a dramatic setting for the place and its immediate surrounds, it all seemed very appropriate. Frichot and I absorbed our surroundings for a while longer before the afternoon sun got the better of us by which time we had started eyeing off another cab, bound for a totally different destination, this time it was to be the Tran Quoc pagoda located on the edge of the West Lake, an area a little north-west of the Old Quarter.
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - Hanoi - Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - Hanoi - Vietnam
Love this shot - for some reason I think of Jeff Buckley everytime I see it!?
Specifically it reminds me of this song [Everybody here wants you]
As we jumped into another cab I pointed out the location on a map to the driver and I swear his response was ‘Chewbecca?’. I automatically responded with 'Yeah, sure!'. I figured if someone was going to take you to a place that sounded like the big the name of a big Wookie from the greatest movie of all time then it was going to be alright by me.
The pagoda is located right on the edge of West Lake, by far the largest lake in Hanoi and one that still contains the remains of a B-52 shot down by the North Vietnamese in 1972. By the number of dead fish floating close to the edge of the lake it appeared to be a most chemically enhanced lake also. Unfortunately the pagoda was none too stimulating. Aside from it being constructed in the 6th century and representing the reign of I’m not sure who it was quite the boredom fest and didn't live up to our unwarranted high expectations, so who was at fault there, really?
We walked around for 10-15 mins, enough time for Frichot to be caught out by several photo requests, at which time I suggested that he start charging (seriously, he would have made enough to pay for his holiday!). We then continued walking up Thanh Nien Rd and based ourselves in the lounge of the Sofitel Plaza Hotel for an hour or so after that. With Frichot’s reflux kicking into gear he turned into the Milky Bar kid and took down a gallon or so of milk whilst I settled in for a few well placed daiquiri’s, I needed something, I hadn’t had a drink for several hours at least!
The pagoda is located right on the edge of West Lake, by far the largest lake in Hanoi and one that still contains the remains of a B-52 shot down by the North Vietnamese in 1972. By the number of dead fish floating close to the edge of the lake it appeared to be a most chemically enhanced lake also. Unfortunately the pagoda was none too stimulating. Aside from it being constructed in the 6th century and representing the reign of I’m not sure who it was quite the boredom fest and didn't live up to our unwarranted high expectations, so who was at fault there, really?
We walked around for 10-15 mins, enough time for Frichot to be caught out by several photo requests, at which time I suggested that he start charging (seriously, he would have made enough to pay for his holiday!). We then continued walking up Thanh Nien Rd and based ourselves in the lounge of the Sofitel Plaza Hotel for an hour or so after that. With Frichot’s reflux kicking into gear he turned into the Milky Bar kid and took down a gallon or so of milk whilst I settled in for a few well placed daiquiri’s, I needed something, I hadn’t had a drink for several hours at least!
Chewbecca Pagoda! Right on West Lake - Hanoi - Vietnam
Another cab ride and another part of town a little later in the day, Jet made the call that we should go and check out the flag tower. Not too much to write home about there either to tell the truth but across the way the residents of Hanoi were getting their badminton + shuttlecock kicking game on. When it comes to kicking the damn shuttlecock these guys have wicked skills! I sat in amazement and watched the moves that some of these middle aged men were pulling off and the speed at which they were playing the game, I mean I was struggling to sight the object through the air let alone have the skill and dexterity to smash the thing back over the net with my foot! We did however get the opportunity to display to the Hanoi faithful the absolute class that these boys from Oz wielded with borrowed badminton racquets, although walking off the courts with our heads bowed only meant that we were taught a good ‘ole fashioned lesson, in the classic sense – (see also: the hard way!) – i.e., the game that you can’t bring to the table is the one that you don’t have, in the badminton sense, we had no game!
As the night waded its way through the crowded Hanoi streets and into the heart of the city we slowly made our way back to Hang Bong St, and when I say slowly, the Christmas Eve traffic was really cranking and was now causing even the pedestrians all sorts of delays. At a guess it was 40%-50% up on an average day and was still in the process of picking up volume. If it was going to be anything like HCM a couple of years ago for NYE then we were going to be in for a true Vietnamese spectacle, and to say it now, the members of Team Hanoi did not let us down. The constant movement of bikes dropped to a motorised shuffle as the thousands upon thousands of urban mobiles were commencing movement and making their way to God knows where and attempting in vain to get past everyone else at the same time.
Frichot and I in turn made our way to the City View café, a great restaurant at the top edge of Hoan Kiem lake for our last dinner in Hanoi before having to catch the midnight express to Da Nang. Looking out over the city and the mass of people out on the streets had me awestruck and a little dumfounded. How these people manage to get anywhere on nights like these just had me asking questions. The streets around the lake and in most streets through the Old Quarter were absolutely gridlocked, which I also realised meant that if we were wanting to make our train later that evening that an early start might be the more intelligent way of doing things.
Frichot and I in turn made our way to the City View café, a great restaurant at the top edge of Hoan Kiem lake for our last dinner in Hanoi before having to catch the midnight express to Da Nang. Looking out over the city and the mass of people out on the streets had me awestruck and a little dumfounded. How these people manage to get anywhere on nights like these just had me asking questions. The streets around the lake and in most streets through the Old Quarter were absolutely gridlocked, which I also realised meant that if we were wanting to make our train later that evening that an early start might be the more intelligent way of doing things.
Christmas Eve traffic - taken from the City View Cafe - Hanoi - Vietnam.
Christmas Eve traffic - taken from the City View Cafe - Hanoi - Vietnam
In the traffic - it's kind of like being 'In the tubing' - that's a Laos reference by the way
We walked back to the HE3 and hit the internet for a while, waiting for the staff to lock us in for a ride to Hanoi’s main railway station but this my dear friends is where all elements of simplicity and good planning simply dropped from the pages of history, worldly rationale and logistics, because from this point on someone or something in this universe had decided to fuck with your dynamic duo big time. It went a little something like this. About 90 mins before the train was to depart the staff mentioned that they’d received a call from other guests coming to the hotel and due to the insane traffic they’d be arriving an hour or so late. In their infinite wisdom and with absolute concern for our travel plans the staff decided to organise a couple of scooters to give us a ride to the station. During this waiting time, as it was perhaps a friend of a friend of staff that was trying to get to the HE3, a random taxi pulled up relatively close to the front door and hence the doorman worked his magic and waived the random driver in for our sake. With the clock ticking down but still plenty of time left up our sleeve we threw our bags in the boot and away we went. As our cab made its way amidst the chaotic Hanoi traffic it somehow managed to get nudged from the rear by a fairly large 4WD. Seriously, it’s kind of amazing that you don’t see a hell of a lot more accidents in Hanoi with the type of fists of fury’ attitude that everyone has, and in this instance the driver of the 4WD, obviously in the wrong, thought it wasn’t worth his effort or bother to stop and just sped past. I could see the face of the cab driver and it was screaming out, ’Oh yeah, game on maestro!’. Our cabbie was infuriated and charged after this 4WD, now it was game off for an attempt to get to out destination. We were not involved in the complex world of retribution and payback and the maniac in the 4WD was gonna get chased down by our cab drivin’ hombre.
The cabbie puts on enough speed and executes enough quality manoeuvres so that he manages to get in front of the 4WD. As he does he slows down and angles his car across the lane in front of him, attempting to stop the guy in his tracks,and yes, the guy did stop, only after he deliberately ran into the back of us and destroyed the back of this poor cabbies vehicle. As the cab driver gets out of his car to confront the guy both Jet and I jump out and see that back bumper is lying on the street and the rear of the car is in a very poor state. Let me say this also, there are thousands of scooters whizzing by us at this moment and for right now, well, we’d just become stuck for a ride to the station. We make the assessment quickly and figure that these two might take a while to sort out their differences and thinking that the station isn’t too far away and within a walking strike zone, we hit the pavement.
The cabbie puts on enough speed and executes enough quality manoeuvres so that he manages to get in front of the 4WD. As he does he slows down and angles his car across the lane in front of him, attempting to stop the guy in his tracks,and yes, the guy did stop, only after he deliberately ran into the back of us and destroyed the back of this poor cabbies vehicle. As the cab driver gets out of his car to confront the guy both Jet and I jump out and see that back bumper is lying on the street and the rear of the car is in a very poor state. Let me say this also, there are thousands of scooters whizzing by us at this moment and for right now, well, we’d just become stuck for a ride to the station. We make the assessment quickly and figure that these two might take a while to sort out their differences and thinking that the station isn’t too far away and within a walking strike zone, we hit the pavement.
As we walk down the street it comes to my attention that for today only I don’t have a map in my pocket, so at this point in time we’re guessing our way to our end point and of course the longer we stay on foot the more time we waste in trying to get to the train on time. Jet and I take a few turns and all of a sudden the streets turn a little dark, there doesn’t appear to be a railway line let alone a railway station in sight. For some reason the area that we had entered was also devoid of any commercial premises and the two we were fortunate enough to find had people in them that couldn’t understand a word of what we were saying. As we scout the road for additional taxis, of which there were nought because of the Christmas Eve frenzy, it dawns on us that the train ride tonight might not be happening the way we had intended. We walk further and as we continue the prospects of getting ourselves over the line get infinitely bleaker. Turning down another dark road we spot what looks to be a hotel, fortunately enough it was, so I head into reception and ask for directions to the station. Thankfully the guy at the counter speaks English and advises me that in the time that we had left, approximately 20 mins, that walking to the station would just not get us there. Across the road is a taxi that looks to be off duty but he actually wasn’t. The guy at hotel receptions calls out something to the guy but I don’t think the driver took much notice or perhaps simply ignored it. I walk up to the driver and ask if he could drive us to the station and point to a map which the guy at the reception had just provided. This cab driver looks at both of us and shakes his head? What the hell dude, are you serious? We start waving around some money and start explaining that we need to get there quick, quick but this guy shakes us off again. Now I’m getting a little exasperated and had he not relented on our third time through for this request, well, I would have flipped out and taken the turkey for my own wicked ride. So finally and thankfully he caves and we jump in for what ended up being a 10min ride through reasonable traffic. We make the station and our awaiting train with 10mins up our sleeve, but sure enough, it was looking awfully sketchy for a long while. In the end we managed to jump on and get sorted for the ride south, now we’ve made it onto the night train, here’s for taking it down the coast to Da Nang.
Our destination - Hanoi Railway Station...finally!
Merry Christmas Frichot! On the Night Train!
