Here again

Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
Here we are again in VN , but with a select audience, my faithful followers who can put up with my banal wanderings. I won't bore you with the flights but it was brutal. Left home about 8am and got to my hotel about 2 am your time after flying to HCM then on to Hanoi. The hotel were to pick me up but they didnt and now I am here I understand why. Its the worst run hotel I have ever stayed at. Half the time when I go to leave the front door is locked and the place is empty so I unlock the front door and leave. This morning I met 2 Americans at the front door who wanted to buy some of art works inside so I had to tell them no one was home. Room service is non existent but one thing I have learned from coming to VN is don't expect too much so I'm not bothered, I have a bed and a huge TV and a balcony. Strangely there is no elevator and I say this because when I booked I asked if they had one. They replied yes we have elevator, then 2 days later they emailed me again and said oh sorry the elevator is dangerous, we cannot use. Then when I got here I looked for the dangerous elevator and surprise surprise there was none. The Vietnamese find it very hard to give a direct NO to a query. 
Last time I was here in Hanoi with sister and Ron we tried to find B52 lake and this time I was determined to get there after our fruitless search last time. Its a very small lake called Huu Tiep fishing pond and is in the middle of a thickly congested residential area. Allah know what would have happened if the B52 fell on houses instead of in the pond seeing it is a large section of wing and undercarriage. I asked a few Grab drivers to take me there and they all shook their heads in ignorance of where it was or what it was. Perhaps it a bizarre and voyeuristic sight they want to forget about. I finally found a taxi driver who said he knew it and as soon as I got in the car he asked me to show him on Google maps where it was. He had no idea and we went hither and thither up and down small lanes that got smaller and smaller until we got to the vicinity and I had to walk through tiny alleys alive with butcher shops and vegie sellers until I arrived at the holy grail.  
When I decided to leave, after a coffee at B52 coffee shop I called a Grab bike to take me home. I had heard all about Grab and how cheap they were and wanted to find out for myself. You get an app on your phone and book the car or bike and it tells you how much you have to pay and the prices seem cheap. The guy arrived on a decrepit Honda Wave and when I got on he looked despondently at his suspension and said < on his google translate phone," No, cancer" Bejesus has he got cancer or his bike, or me? He wanted to cancel as his bike was sick he said. So he drove off in a cloud of smoke and I started walking and found another Grab bike around the corner who said he would take me for 100k. He dropped me right at my hotel and asked for 200k, I gave him a 100 and said goodbye, so not a good intro to Grab.
Today I ticked another box by paying my respects to the Trung sisters something I have wanted to do since seeing the name on streets signs in every town I have been to in VN. Hai Ba Trung streets are everywhere and the name loosely translated means the two Trung sisters. These two raised an army to defeat the Chinese round about 2000 years ago give or take a few years, They are revered women in Viet history and I found they had a temple dedicated to them. I got a cab and he actually knew where to go and I entered through a gate about 4 and a half foot high. As I entered I met a woman leaving and she gave me a sign that everyone was napping.I didn't realise the implications until later as after I wandered around the completely deserted temple and took my photos I came back to the gate and found it locked. I had booked a Grab car and he arrived to find me peering over a six foot high fence trying to figure out my escape. He suggested climbing over but that was beyond me so I wandered around trying to find a loophole but the fence was impregnable. When I had almost given up the lady returned and opened the tiny gate and the Grab was still waiting to whisk me off which he did for a very cheap fare back home. On the way something fell on the taxi roof with a loud noise. We looked at each other and he said "bombee" they always pronounce the last letter of bomb that way, we laughed but really it was a dark joke after what they went through.

Comments

David Robertson
2019-01-16

Once again a wonderful story

Kim & Riley
2019-01-16

I'm exhausted

LandR
2019-01-16

Glad you found a Grab man who didn't try to cheat you. At least you have a big tv. and a balcony. Good blog...keep 'em coming

Jay
2019-01-16

More lovely and quirky adventures as usual in VN for you Les. Love your work.X

LandR
2019-01-16

I added comments to a couple of photos, but can't find them....off into the ether somewhere...great photos though..

SandB
2019-01-24

Another interesting blog....love 'em and the extra photos. xx

2025-02-15

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