Gooooood Morning Vietnam, Again
Well we are here back in Asia. When we visited New Zealand last January for the wedding of Anna and Lockwood we tentatively explored the possibility of Lynn doing a little adventuring with us. At first it was one of those conversations that you have over several beers and make plans that you never really expect to come to fruition. Well not this one. Crispy was hugely excited by the prospect of adventuring with her sister and what started as a simple idea soon mushroomed into real plans and physical airline tickets. We decided on Vietnam as it is roughly equidistant for both Lynn and ourselves plus we really enjoyed our time there on our way home to Crispy HQ. We have a whistle stop tour of north and central Vietnam planned including many planes, trains and other mechanised forms of transport. We intend to see as much as possible during our short stay here. After our two weeks here with Lynn and she jets back to NZ we are going to continue adventuring for a while through Malaysia and India. Should be fun.
We have just arrived at the “digs” which is a cute little house next to a huge church on the outskirts of the old quarter of Hanoi. I had planned to catch the bus (86) from the airport which should have taken us direct to Long Biem bus station a mere 20 minute walk from our accommodation. However this is Asia and things are never as they seem. The driver informed us, in very broken English, that the route had changed and he would drop us 1km away from where we could easily stroll to our desired destination. Nope not a chance. Hanoi like any Asian city is huge chaotic and very very busy.
God knows where he told us to get off but we were completely lost amongst the chaos. Unlike most places Vietnam has no English signage and most of the people understand no English. A fact that constantly amazes me and frankly I find very rude. You can tell it was never under British Colonial rule. I tried for several minutes to try and orientate us but to no avail. Crispy was tired. Although the flights had been excellent it is still a long long time travelling.
We left Manchester at 1130 this morning for a 12 hour flight to Hong Kong. As we were flying East then you catch up with the next day really quickly. We flew through the night without even noticing and arrived at 7 am Hong Kong time. Midnight to us in real time. We are ready for bed and Asia is waking up. A short flight to Hanoi saw us travelling west so we gained yet another hour.
I asked a policeman for directions and after several gesticulations and mispronunciations he led us to two old guys on scooters. They call them “grab bikes” and they are a sort of unlicensed two wheel taxi service run by crazy old guys with nothing better to do. I started trying to negotiate a price but before I could fix anything Crispy leapt onto the seat and was off like a latter day biker chick through the madness of the city streets. Hair billowing and fists pumping. I quickly leapt behind my driver and we commenced a 10 minute wacky races through downtown Hanoi. Crispy in the lead then me, left, right, mind the bus, swerve dodge beep, honk. We lost each other several times during this Crazy mad dash but miraculously turned up simultaneously outside the church where we were meant to be.
It was sheer madness but very very exciting and if in a pickle again would have no hesitation using these crazy scooter guys again. My only regret is that I was holding onto the guy in front for grim death and couldn’t video it.
The digs are perfect and brilliantly placed for exploring the old quarter. We are on the balcony awaiting the arrival of Lynn. She gets into Hanoi at 7pm so we have organised an airport taxi to bring her direct to us. I don’t think she would enjoy the grab bike on her own in the dark..
Then, “let the games begin”. We can’t wait.....
Well we are here back in Asia. When we visited New Zealand last January for the wedding of Anna and Lockwood we tentatively explored the possibility of Lynn doing a little adventuring with us. At first it was one of those conversations that you have over several beers and make plans that you never really expect to come to fruition. Well not this one. Crispy was hugely excited by the prospect of adventuring with her sister and what started as a simple idea soon mushroomed into real plans and physical airline tickets. We decided on Vietnam as it is roughly equidistant for both Lynn and ourselves plus we really enjoyed our time there on our way home to Crispy HQ. We have a whistle stop tour of north and central Vietnam planned including many planes, trains and other mechanised forms of transport. We intend to see as much as possible during our short stay here. After our two weeks here with Lynn and she jets back to NZ we are going to continue adventuring for a while through Malaysia and India. Should be fun.
We have just arrived at the “digs” which is a cute little house next to a huge church on the outskirts of the old quarter of Hanoi. I had planned to catch the bus (86) from the airport which should have taken us direct to Long Biem bus station a mere 20 minute walk from our accommodation. However this is Asia and things are never as they seem. The driver informed us, in very broken English, that the route had changed and he would drop us 1km away from where we could easily stroll to our desired destination. Nope not a chance. Hanoi like any Asian city is huge chaotic and very very busy.
God knows where he told us to get off but we were completely lost amongst the chaos. Unlike most places Vietnam has no English signage and most of the people understand no English. A fact that constantly amazes me and frankly I find very rude. You can tell it was never under British Colonial rule. I tried for several minutes to try and orientate us but to no avail. Crispy was tired. Although the flights had been excellent it is still a long long time travelling.
We left Manchester at 1130 this morning for a 12 hour flight to Hong Kong. As we were flying East then you catch up with the next day really quickly. We flew through the night without even noticing and arrived at 7 am Hong Kong time. Midnight to us in real time. We are ready for bed and Asia is waking up. A short flight to Hanoi saw us travelling west so we gained yet another hour.
I asked a policeman for directions and after several gesticulations and mispronunciations he led us to two old guys on scooters. They call them “grab bikes” and they are a sort of unlicensed two wheel taxi service run by crazy old guys with nothing better to do. I started trying to negotiate a price but before I could fix anything Crispy leapt onto the seat and was off like a latter day biker chick through the madness of the city streets. Hair billowing and fists pumping. I quickly leapt behind my driver and we commenced a 10 minute wacky races through downtown Hanoi. Crispy in the lead then me, left, right, mind the bus, swerve dodge beep, honk. We lost each other several times during this Crazy mad dash but miraculously turned up simultaneously outside the church where we were meant to be.
It was sheer madness but very very exciting and if in a pickle again would have no hesitation using these crazy scooter guys again. My only regret is that I was holding onto the guy in front for grim death and couldn’t video it.
The digs are perfect and brilliantly placed for exploring the old quarter. We are on the balcony awaiting the arrival of Lynn. She gets into Hanoi at 7pm so we have organised an airport taxi to bring her direct to us. I don’t think she would enjoy the grab bike on her own in the dark..
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