Hi everyone! I just settled into my hotel across the world in Hanoi, Vietnam! It's the first time I've ever been to this part of the world so I'm really excited to explore. Uneventful flight and thankfully our bag made it as we head to Halong Bay tomorrow to float in the most beautiful area I've seen to wear off the effects of jet lag. Neither of us slept on the long leg of the flight (San Francisco to Seoul Korea, and we lucked out with a exit row with no seats in front of us) but both passed out for a couple of hours from Seoul to Hanoi.
My first views once we went through the clouds was jagged glowing lines and hazy clusters of lights that seemed to go on forever. We got in around 10 pm local time, so didn't have a view of the city coming in.
There was no paperwork to complete and we went through customs quickly and was on our way. I had forgotten that I brought two apples to snack on, but no one minded us a bit. The concept of personal space is definitely different here than in the US. There could be plenty of room around us, and people would still wheel their bags and cars right next to us.
The ride to the hotel was... something incredible. We had a driver from the hotel pick us up, which, for long international flights is SO much easier than getting a cab and trying to explain where you're going when you don't speak the language. The driver went skirting around garbage trucks (there were a lot out for some reason!) and little motorcycles, honking all the way. The bikes often drove in clusters, and would just casually meander around not paying any mind to the other cars on the road. Our driver skillfully and quickly dodged all of them --- sometimes on our side of the road, and sometimes passing in the other side of the road of the highway! Bikes also seemed to go both ways on the street, and a couple of times we had bikes headed right for us. There appeared to be two lanes each way most of the time, but drivers just did what they felt like doing. At one point we had so many motorcycles in front of of swaying in a dance, and our driver was honking away to no avail. He managed to finally swerve around them, almost taking out a pedestrian, who didn't walk any better than any of the drivers on the road did. He barely missed her and she didn't seem to react at all! I meant to check the side of the car to see how many dings it has but I forgot! Tomorrow we head out during rush hour traffic at 8, and we are so looking forward to this adventure!
The hotel is gorgeous! It's brand new, having been opened in may of this year. We had been looking at another small botique hotel that a friend of mine recommended, but they didn't have all the nights free that we wanted so settled on this one, called the Golden Sun 4. It's in the historic old town area and on a small side street so quiet. The man who checked us in spoke some English, and agreed to store our bags for the time we're in Halong Bay so we don't have to carry so much.
The lobby is gorgeous and we took a small elevator to the third floor to our rooms. they are beatifully done with wood laminate floors, a flat screen tv, a beautiful new bathroom and a big wardrobe. There's even a little balcony which is overlooking the largest tangle of wires I've ever seen! We took pictures and I'm curious to see what this looks like during the day! It was quite impressive for a huge mass of electical wires!!
I'm wide awake, which is surprising. Hopefully I'll sleep a bit, but I think tomorrow will be a mellow day. I know in the next few days we'll do some hiking, boating and touring caves, as well as visiting the floating fishing village, which I'm really looking forward to! I won't have internet so I'll be sure to provide an update when I get back!!
S
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