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Asian Adventure - Hanoi, 30 April 2019
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The flight to Bangkok in Thailand, to catch our connecting flight to Hanoi in Vietnam was pretty uneventful. The plane we were on was the biggest commercial airliner available and consequently a rather smooth ride. We did get the odd bit of turbulence, but as a passenger I felt very little movement. My anxiety did get the better of me as we began our decent, but take off and landing has always been the worst part of any flight for me, this one was no exception.
The flight from London left late, very late, when we arrived in Bangkok we literally had half an hour to get to the next departure gate which was causing great concern for me. As we landed I began the task of putting on my trainers, which wasn't easy, since my feet had swollen during the twelve hour flight. My Aunt and I ran as fast as we could, off the plane and into the terminal, asking people where to go for our connection to Vietnam, which as per usual was on the other side of the airport...WHY DON'T AIRLINES PUT CONNECTING FLIGHTS IN THE SAME TERMINAL!!
Eventually with only minutes to spare we reached the departure gate, but to our horror we had another security check to go through, having to remove belts and shoes. Aunt T made it quite clear we were likely to miss the plane now, expressing her exasperation at the ridiculous waste of time running from one side of the airport to the other, only to be confronted by more security, before we even went up the three extra flights of stairs to our gate. I think we were both tired and angry and just needed a bit of luck.
Luckily they held the flight for us, aware of our impending arrival and we ran quickly onto the plane. Both of us were a sweaty mess after our arduous trip from London; no time to feel sorry for ourselves, the plane left shortly after we sat down in our seats. More food, this time chicken and noodles and before long we arrived in Hanoi.
Driving into Hanoi, I was struck by the lack of organisation. The roads were busy with cars, bikes and tuk tuk's driving in every direction; there didn't seem to be any rules. The ride was as hairy as the plane ride was long and I was just glad to get to our first destination 'The Light Hotel,' which was out of the World. The ambience, standards of cleanliness and care were exceptional at this city centre khách sạn, nestled between other dilapidated residences; worlds apart. Having to wait for several hours before being able to relax wasn't ideal however. We were offered a drink by the hotel staff who explained our room wasn't ready because of our early arrival. Nothing we could do about that, so took the lift to the sky bar upstairs overlooking the city - rather too high for me and the anxiety clicked right back in, eased ever so slightly by three bottles of Hanoi Beer, which tasted great.
Suitably refreshed we headed to our room, which was more like a suite and was absolutely immaculate, clearly everyone who worked in this boutique hotel took pride in what they do; I can't fault it at all, unusual for me.
In the evening we walked around the local area that surrounded our hotel, checking out the street food, which looked rather gorgeous until a large black rat ran past; my stomach began to churn. We sat down at a local bar and had a couple more beers at 30000 dong, about one British pound. The bar seemed like a local haunt and there weren't many tourists sat outside. The toilets were not the best I have ever seen, having to use a bucket to flush and without toilet paper, but it didn't really matter, I was on holiday and didn't particularly care. Sat watching the busy street in front of the little establishment, I was delighted to be a part of the vibrant, eclectic scene spread out before me; I couldn't be more content!
In the evening My Aunt and I had dinner at the hotel, in the restaurant on the eleventh floor. We were served by a lovely young man called Heu, pronounced Heal. He talked about his family life and of his Mother in particular, who had always instilled a positive moral compass within him, telling him to 'treat others as he would like to be treated himself,' which he duly did. We both had a great evening meal of Vietnamese food, which tasted superb. The spices and herbs I had never had before, still linger on my tongue today. Heu said the flavouring was unique to Vietnam and he couldn't really explain what they were, but they were mouthwateringly good, just like our first day in downtown Hanoi!
The flight from London left late, very late, when we arrived in Bangkok we literally had half an hour to get to the next departure gate which was causing great concern for me. As we landed I began the task of putting on my trainers, which wasn't easy, since my feet had swollen during the twelve hour flight. My Aunt and I ran as fast as we could, off the plane and into the terminal, asking people where to go for our connection to Vietnam, which as per usual was on the other side of the airport...WHY DON'T AIRLINES PUT CONNECTING FLIGHTS IN THE SAME TERMINAL!!
Eventually with only minutes to spare we reached the departure gate, but to our horror we had another security check to go through, having to remove belts and shoes. Aunt T made it quite clear we were likely to miss the plane now, expressing her exasperation at the ridiculous waste of time running from one side of the airport to the other, only to be confronted by more security, before we even went up the three extra flights of stairs to our gate. I think we were both tired and angry and just needed a bit of luck.
Luckily they held the flight for us, aware of our impending arrival and we ran quickly onto the plane. Both of us were a sweaty mess after our arduous trip from London; no time to feel sorry for ourselves, the plane left shortly after we sat down in our seats. More food, this time chicken and noodles and before long we arrived in Hanoi.
Driving into Hanoi, I was struck by the lack of organisation. The roads were busy with cars, bikes and tuk tuk's driving in every direction; there didn't seem to be any rules. The ride was as hairy as the plane ride was long and I was just glad to get to our first destination 'The Light Hotel,' which was out of the World. The ambience, standards of cleanliness and care were exceptional at this city centre khách sạn, nestled between other dilapidated residences; worlds apart. Having to wait for several hours before being able to relax wasn't ideal however. We were offered a drink by the hotel staff who explained our room wasn't ready because of our early arrival. Nothing we could do about that, so took the lift to the sky bar upstairs overlooking the city - rather too high for me and the anxiety clicked right back in, eased ever so slightly by three bottles of Hanoi Beer, which tasted great.
Suitably refreshed we headed to our room, which was more like a suite and was absolutely immaculate, clearly everyone who worked in this boutique hotel took pride in what they do; I can't fault it at all, unusual for me.
In the evening we walked around the local area that surrounded our hotel, checking out the street food, which looked rather gorgeous until a large black rat ran past; my stomach began to churn. We sat down at a local bar and had a couple more beers at 30000 dong, about one British pound. The bar seemed like a local haunt and there weren't many tourists sat outside. The toilets were not the best I have ever seen, having to use a bucket to flush and without toilet paper, but it didn't really matter, I was on holiday and didn't particularly care. Sat watching the busy street in front of the little establishment, I was delighted to be a part of the vibrant, eclectic scene spread out before me; I couldn't be more content!
In the evening My Aunt and I had dinner at the hotel, in the restaurant on the eleventh floor. We were served by a lovely young man called Heu, pronounced Heal. He talked about his family life and of his Mother in particular, who had always instilled a positive moral compass within him, telling him to 'treat others as he would like to be treated himself,' which he duly did. We both had a great evening meal of Vietnamese food, which tasted superb. The spices and herbs I had never had before, still linger on my tongue today. Heu said the flavouring was unique to Vietnam and he couldn't really explain what they were, but they were mouthwateringly good, just like our first day in downtown Hanoi!
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