Culture SHOCK Vietnam

Cho Dong Xuan Market

I imagine landing in Vietnam is like landing on Mars, totally foriegn. Never before have I seen anything even simular in all my life. Hanoi is intense in every way, a complete assault to one's senses. We landed on the ground after a 2 hour flight from Hong Kong. Deciding to take a taxi to Hanoi city takes 45 minutes and costs $15 USD. Being tired and ready to settle in somewhere, we decided that would be our best option.

We get into the cab, insisting on keeping our giant backpacks with us at all times, because we don't want to enable the cabbie to insist on more money before giving us our bags. So there we are, squished into the backseat with our 2 giant backpacks and bright pink boogie boards. Along the ride we begin to notice the lack of traffic laws. Each time we come up behind another vehicle of any kind, our cabbie tailgates and repeatedly pounds on the horn. Either the cabbie is full of road rage or things work a whole lot differently here.

Along the way we pass dozens of scooters. They are carrying fruit, vegetables, trees, even furniture along with the passengers. Family of four? No problem! Dad drives the scooter. If a toddler can stand, he/she does so behind the wheel, in front of Dad. Mom rides in back and carries any infant children while holding netting over their head. We think this prevents debrit from whacking them in the face as they rush down the street. If there is a second toddler, he/ she gets wedged in between Mom and Dad. While Mom and Dad are somewhat likely to be sporting helmets, the children are definately not. It is a sight to behold!

Getting into the city, things intensify quickly.

Finally our cabbie pulls to the side of the road and says, " You get out here."

This is not the address we have gived him.

Suddenly a man is rushing out of a building, "Hello, you hav arrive."

Lonnie is looking around left and right. Now we do not have reservations at this point, but we insist that we do. We have given our cabbie the address of 'The Elegance Hotel' and the building before us says 'G Star Hotel'.

"This is the wrong hotel," Lonnie explains.

"No, here. Here. You stay here," the random man persists in broken english. Meanwhile he's pulling at our luggage.

"This isn't the right spot. See, this isn't the right address," Lonnnie repeats pointing at our guide book.

"Yes, yes! This it. You get out here! You come wit me now!" He's now getting visibly aggitated and things are happening so quickly.

"Look! This isn't even the right street." Lonnie shows me the address we gave the cabbie and it's not even close to where we've landed!

"You hav reservation?"

"Yes!" Lonnie all but screams.

"Let me see!"

"No. Look, this has nothing to do with you! I don't have to show you anything!"

Angrily the man finally backs off. "We have no room for you anyway!"

Frusterated and exhausted, we turn to get pay the cabbie the 25,500 that we owe him.

"It's 40,000 dong," the cabbie states blankly.

"No, it is not. We agreed on 25,500 dong!" we insist.

We pay him the 25'500 dong and hurriedly get out. So great, here we are in Vietnam. Not where we want to be, but we seem to be in the city of Hanoi at least. Guide book in hand, we attempt to navigate our way to The Elegance Hotel. It is a challenge to say the least. The narrow, winding streets are cowded and noisy. The sidewalks are packed with parked scooters, making it impossible to use them. So we are forced to walk in the street, amongst the chaos until we find the Elegance Hotel. They are booked. Feeling tired and defeated we page through the guide book in an attempt to find something nearby. A man approaches us telling us he owns a hotel just up the street and can give us a room for $5 - $15 USD. We agree to look at it. He seems nice and speaks broken english. We arrive and check it out. It is less than pretty, but we are so tired. We agree to take it. Finally we collapse onto the hard beds in our new found mouldy, smelly hotel room.

"Welcome to vietnam."

So we set out to see the town. The streets smell of cabbage, fish and exhaust fuems. They are lined with families eating bowls of pho next to oversized steaming pots. Wanting to cross the street, we hesitate. Vehicles zoom by us left and right. Alright, we've read about this, so here we go... Glancing both ways we begin to enter the street. The scooters around us seem to be playing a constant game of chicken. Don't hesitate and don't make any quick moves! They could get you killed here. Don't be alarmed at the constant beeping of horns surrounding you. They are only beeping to let you know where they are. And so we crossed as calmly and steadily as we could. When we reached the other side I was exstatic. We made it!

From 5am to midnight, everyday all day, the horns are honking. Some of the drivers even get creative with it, honking while slowly decreasing volume as if they are drifting away. It is a central part of life here in Hanoi. Our new favorite form of transportation is cyclo. Cyclos are a small carriage attached in front of a bicycle. The bikes are driven by local men. You can go pretty much anywhere around town that you wish this way. We always bargian until agreeing to pay 20,000 dong (1.11 USD) It's great fun to see to the chaos and the people from a cyclo.
Everywhere you look people are begging you to buy something. Whatever they have, they are certain you need. Exploring Hanoi truly is like seeing a third world country for the first time. Poverty runs deep here and the sights and sounds contriute to the feel. I stand out tremedously, the city pulls me far out of my comfort zone. My pale skin seems to be saying, "Sell me something, anything, I am ready to buy and be ripped off." It's daunting at first, but I begin to get the hang of it. Bartering too, becomes easy quicky.

Miguel (Lonnie is now going by his middle name) and I spent a few days checking out the city and enjoying meals for $1-$4 USD. It's a unique and foregin place here. After two days of the non stop chaos, I am ready to see Halong Bay.

Ho Tay Lake

Crazy Traffic below Legend Beer

Kristen going to work