Friday, 5 December 2008
Departed KUL for Hà Noi at 1430 and the flight took 3.5 hours. The plane was quite small (Being 737-300) and quite a few Vietnamese were on board too. We landed at Noi Ba International Airport at 1655 local time (Vietnam is an hour behind) and it was some time before I was reunited with my bag; I was one of the last passengers to leave the carousel in fact. I noticed that one of the outer compartments had the tell-tale sign of having been opened and I wasn’t at all pleased about it.
The taxi driver that I had arranged to meet me was already waiting and before long, we were already on the highway heading to the city. It was already dusk when we emerged from the airport and before long, the night had settled. The highway passed paddy fields and agricultural lands and some small towns. There were also some stone markers at the side of the road counting down the km left to the city. Just as I thought we would be on the airport highway all the way to the city, the cabbie made a crazy left turn – ignoring the oncoming traffic - and took a small narrow road with shops and an even narrower pedestrian walkway lining up on both sides of the road.
Oh and by the way, do they really love to use the horn.
Arrived at the hotel shortly after 6 pm and it was a very fast check-in. My room was a simple single en-suite room. That was when I discovered that my luggage padlock was missing and no doubt my bag had already been tampered with while in transit. Even the bag containing my undergarments was not spared. You can imagine just how violated I felt then. I was just seething with anger and fury, wondering where the violation and breach of trust had taken place: at KLIA or at Noi Ba.
I left the hotel and went to the Tourist Information Centre just diagonally across my hotel at Cau Go. Then I walked in search of dinner and found the only (or one of the only two?) halal restaurants left in Hanoi, Nisa Restaurant at 90 Nguyen Huu Huan Street. I had pho bo (beef noodle soup) for dinner.
After dinner, I walked along the busy streets of Hanoi (made busier by the motorbikes and cyclos coming from all directions) until I came upon the Dong Xuan night market which stretched all the way from Hang Dao, Hang Ngang, Hang Duong before ending at Dong Xuan. The hawkers mainly sold clothes and some handicrafts (not many). I also found a mosque - definitely the only one here but it was already closed for the day. Returned to the market but after a while, the crowds started getting to me. A sure sign for me as any to head back to the hotel.
I booked a day tour to Halong Bay for the next day and a city tour for the day after with the hotel (decided to skimp and not spend the night at Halong after all - initial plan was to spend a night on one of the junks there), spent some time on the Internet before retiring to my room.
My room had no window. A shame you say? A blessing actually as I was spared the noisy Hanoi traffic. The traffic was as bad as in Ho Chi Minh City and motorcycles ruled!
A little advice for travellers: bring USD and change to VND in Vietnam instead of changing say your MYR into VND in Malaysia. The difference is tremendous; MYR1 will only get you VND2000+ in Malaysia but will get you about VND4600 in Vietnam. However, it’s not easy to change your MYR in Vietnam as I discovered so just bring USD and you’ll be fine.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
An early start - morning prayers are earlier in this part of the world. Left the hostel at around 0815. I was running late and had a very light breakfast. After picking up passengers, we set off for Halong Bay about 165 km away or 3.5 hours on a good day and more if you're unlucky. We took the Chuong Duong Bridge to cross the Red River out of Hanoi and saw the Long Biên Bridge on our left, built by Gustave Eiffel. The traffic out of Hanoi was bad and we were bumper to bumper for about half an hour before we finally got ourselves out of the jam. Oh and on the way, we passed Gia Lam Airbase from where John McCain (still remember him?) was sent back after being POW in Vietnam for five years after his plane was shot down.
There were a group of nine Irish travellers, some Americans, an English couple, a Japanese couple, some Vietnamese as well and another Malaysian who now resides in Melbourne besides yours truly.
We reached Halong Bay after 1 pm. We boarded our boat and went all over the bay. Unfortunately for us, the sunny weather of Hanoi didn’t extend to Halong; it was overcast in Halong and a bit chilly what with the wind. According to the BBC weather forecast, it was supposed to be around 20C during the day in Hanoi for the five days I was there so I packed light.
We sailed for about an hour admiring the rock formations and monolithic islands that Halong Bay is famed for, so much so it is recognised as one of the two of Vietnam’s World Heritage Sites. We stopped at a little fishing village for a while and then the boat docked in the middle of Thiên Cung and Dao Go caves. It was incredible being in the caves. The stalactites and stalagmites were really large and in some cases, you wouldn't know where one started and one ended.
We left at about 4 something and headed back to Hanoi.
I joined the English couple (Danny and Susan), the other Malaysian (Richard) and his American colleague Michael for dinner. Danny and Susan are travelling throughout Asia, Australia, (probably New Zealand too?) and South America before heading back to Blighty for nine months! Richard and Michael were in Hanoi for a business trip and extended their stay by a day. We sure made an unusual quintet and attracted some attention. Dinner was had at Little Hanoi, recommended by the Lonely Planet. Danny and Susan were leaving that night for Hue by train.
We parted ways after dinner and Richard, Michael and I stopped at a DVD store and bought some DVDs. It was a long tiring but satisfactory day for me.
Oh a little side note: it was on the Halong Bay trip when I discovered that some squat toilets in some washrooms in this part of the world have no doors...
Sunday, 7 December 2008
This morning, I joined a tour of five (the other four were Australians) for a city tour. First we went to the Ho Chí Minh Mausoleum (closed Mondays and Fridays so the queue today was quite long). The mausoleum is located in the Ba Ðình Square in Hanoi and modelled after the Lenin’s Mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow. Cameras, cell phones and drinks are not allowed in. After passing through security check, we filed into a row and walked along the road and into the mausoleum, up the stairs and into the chamber and down the stairs and out again, all in revered silence. The preserved body of Uncle Ho was in a glass-encased tomb and flanked by four guards on either side of his head and feet. Actually, his wish was to be cremated and his ash to be scattered all over Vietnam but the government ‘disobeyed’ this wish. We were allowed to take pictures at the Ba Ðình Square within certain parameters. The Heroes Memorial is at the far end of Bac Son across Ba Ðình Square. Then we walked to the Presidential Palace nearby. It was built by the French and offered to President Ho Chi Minh but he refused to stay there, stating it was too large. He moved to the vestige behind the Palace and stayed there instead (he also moved into a house on stilts after that).
After that, we drove to Văn Mieu or the Temple of Literature. This temple was founded in 1070 as a Confucian temple. In 1076, Vietnam’s first university was established within the temple to educate Vietnam's bureaucrats, royalty and other members of the elite. I only found out the difference between pagodas and temples: temples are built to revere saints or well-known people whereas pagodas are built to revere Buddha.
Next, we went to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology which focuses on the 54 different ethnic groups in Vietnam. So Vietnamese are not all Viet, but more than that. There are also outdoor exhibits of tribal dwellings outside the museum.
We stopped for lunch (seafood and vegetarian dishes served, hurray) and after lunch, we walked to Hoàn Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword). We crossed the Huc Bridge to the Ngoc Son Temple (Jade Mountain Temple) on Jade Island and spent some Kodak moments there.
The last pit-stop on The Amazing Race around Hanoi was to Tran Quoc Pagoda by the West Lake (the largest lake In Hanoi). There was a tower of eleven layers of Buddha there and some tombs.
We parted ways after this and I walked to Hang Luoc to find Al-Nour Mosque. The mosque was closed and locked though and I could see no sign of any local Muslims around. Then I walked to the nearby Cho Dong Xuan. It’s a market that sells low-priced garments etc and didn’t really look exciting. Then I walked all around the Old Quarter before heading back to the hotel to rest.
I strolled around the neighbourhood before having dinner where I met a fellow Malaysian who’s now a professor at a university in Melbourne. Then I walked to the nearby Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre for the 2115 water puppet show. This puppet show started off in the Red River Delta over 1,000 years ago and they used puppets playing in water depicting daily life of villagers (planting paddy, fishing, children playing) and myths/legends too (four dragons dancing, phoenixes dancing and legend of the restored sword). In essence, the show tells of a romantic simple life of bygone days, well, at least to me. To the right side of the stage (to the audience’s left) was the group of musicians who played the traditional instruments that formed the background music and supplied some of the dialogues and songs for the show.
The show lasted for 45 minutes. At the end, the people who played the puppets came up behind the screen to meet the audience for a brief while.
Monday, 8 December 2008. Eid-al Adha
I went back to sleep, or at least tried to go back to sleep, after morning prayers. I said tried to because I could hear the Caucasians who stayed at the hotel returning to their rooms in their inebriated state. Then it was the cleaning ladies who came to do their usual job. When I finally got up at 8 something, I realised immediately that there was no electricity. It turned out the whole Old Quarter (if not the whole of Hanoi!) suffered power outage today. Madness. And remember my room had no window so it was pitch dark until I got a stub of a candle from one of the cleaning ladies (which died out just after I finished my breakfast). The shops were still opened though.
I went to the Tourist Information Centre to enquire on the airport shuttle bus. Turned out there was such service on an hourly basis too. So I walked by Hoàn Kiem Lake and then turned to Tran Nguyen Han before turning to Tong Dan. The shuttle stop is next to Thang Long Opera Hotel. And the tickets, sold at the hotel reception, cost only VND25000 or USD2 (the hotel taxi would have cost me USD15 in comparison; same duration). I paid in VND as USD2 equals VND34000 or so, plus I figured I might as well start getting rid of my VND.
After that I walked down Tong Dan to the Opera House. Oh my, it is such a gorgeous building and looks distinctly French. Hardly surprising considering it is a small-scale replica of the Paris Opéra or Palais Garnier. I also went to have a peek at the Vietnam History Museum and Revolution Museum. Then I made my way back to the shopping district. Shopping day today! Oh, I also met some fellow Malaysians who were curious at me travelling alone. And they were surprised when I told them I flew MAS; turned out they paid more for their AirAsia tickets, a difference of more than RM300 per person!
Lunch was had at The Whole Earth Restaurant which offered vegetarian set menu. Headed back to the hotel for a while after lunch (still no electricity) before heading out again, this time to Hang Gai. And that was when and where I discovered that Hang Gai is the street to go in Hanoi if you want to look for silk clothes, embroidered table linen and embroidered pictures for framing.
Electricity was restored at around 3 pm. Hurrah!
Back to the hotel to store my goods and for prayers before heading out to get take-away dinner.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
I went to the banks today to try change some MYR and finally changed my money at the Tourist Information Centre (horrible rate). Set off for Thang Long Opera Hotel to catch my shuttle to the airport. It took only 12 minutes of walking with my trolley bag and that included dodging the crazy traffic. Not bad at all. Spent the next 35 minutes waiting anxiously for the shuttle. It only came at 1115 (scheduled to come at 1100 so you can imagine my anxiety; I thought I’d missed the bus or there was no service). And I was the sole passenger. I guess not too many people knew of the service.
Reached the airport less than an hour later. Check-in was a breeze. And MAS passengers didn’t have to pay the USD14 departure tax either (not sure about AirAsia passengers). There were some souvenir shops at the airport of course but I couldn’t decide how to spend the remainder of my VND (which I reserved for the departure tax) and ended up buying nothing, reasoning I’d rather buy nothing than buy something I don’t need.
Landed at KLIA at 1835 and as my bag was among the first ones out this time, I managed to get the 1900 ERL train to KL.
~~~~~~~~
I note the following major differences between the political capital of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam:
- The lady passengers in Hanoi sit astride on the motorcycles whereas in Saigon, some of the ladies sit sideways instead of astride
- I hardly saw any lady wearing áo dài in Hanoi whereas this was a common sight in Saigon
- Different products are sold: in Saigon, shops selling ‘clog shoes’ with silk embroidered/beaded straps are aplenty but there were only one or two that I managed to find in Hanoi. Even the silk cosmetic bags are different. The ones in Saigon are mainly beaded but the ones in Hanoi are mainly embroidered. Of course there are some common products sold like lacquerwear
- You need to go around the narrow streets of Hanoi to browse the shops. While you can do the same in Saigon, you can also shop for your souvenirs under one roof at Ben Thành Market
- Quite a few shops in Hanoi sell snake whisky which I didn’t see at all in Saigon. Am guessing this is because of the capital’s proximity to Laos (I first saw snake whisky in that small Laotian village we stopped at after ‘cruising’ the Mekong)
- There were more street peddlers in Hanoi, each balancing on their shoulders their weight of fruits, vegetables, instant meals for sale (their loads must be heavy and I wondered again and again if they managed to sell off their goods. I hope so).
~~~~~~~~
Arsenal beat Wigan by a narrow margin on Saturday. Yes, one nil to the Arsenal again. Apparently it was a dull game by Arsenal standards and Eboue who substitued Nasri was himself substituted. I was glued to the BBC live text as the TV in the room didn’t have any sports coverage. Heck, make that hardly any coverage of any TV station at all.
Departed KUL for Hà Noi at 1430 and the flight took 3.5 hours. The plane was quite small (Being 737-300) and quite a few Vietnamese were on board too. We landed at Noi Ba International Airport at 1655 local time (Vietnam is an hour behind) and it was some time before I was reunited with my bag; I was one of the last passengers to leave the carousel in fact. I noticed that one of the outer compartments had the tell-tale sign of having been opened and I wasn’t at all pleased about it.
The taxi driver that I had arranged to meet me was already waiting and before long, we were already on the highway heading to the city. It was already dusk when we emerged from the airport and before long, the night had settled. The highway passed paddy fields and agricultural lands and some small towns. There were also some stone markers at the side of the road counting down the km left to the city. Just as I thought we would be on the airport highway all the way to the city, the cabbie made a crazy left turn – ignoring the oncoming traffic - and took a small narrow road with shops and an even narrower pedestrian walkway lining up on both sides of the road.
Oh and by the way, do they really love to use the horn.
Arrived at the hotel shortly after 6 pm and it was a very fast check-in. My room was a simple single en-suite room. That was when I discovered that my luggage padlock was missing and no doubt my bag had already been tampered with while in transit. Even the bag containing my undergarments was not spared. You can imagine just how violated I felt then. I was just seething with anger and fury, wondering where the violation and breach of trust had taken place: at KLIA or at Noi Ba.
I left the hotel and went to the Tourist Information Centre just diagonally across my hotel at Cau Go. Then I walked in search of dinner and found the only (or one of the only two?) halal restaurants left in Hanoi, Nisa Restaurant at 90 Nguyen Huu Huan Street. I had pho bo (beef noodle soup) for dinner.
After dinner, I walked along the busy streets of Hanoi (made busier by the motorbikes and cyclos coming from all directions) until I came upon the Dong Xuan night market which stretched all the way from Hang Dao, Hang Ngang, Hang Duong before ending at Dong Xuan. The hawkers mainly sold clothes and some handicrafts (not many). I also found a mosque - definitely the only one here but it was already closed for the day. Returned to the market but after a while, the crowds started getting to me. A sure sign for me as any to head back to the hotel.
I booked a day tour to Halong Bay for the next day and a city tour for the day after with the hotel (decided to skimp and not spend the night at Halong after all - initial plan was to spend a night on one of the junks there), spent some time on the Internet before retiring to my room.
My room had no window. A shame you say? A blessing actually as I was spared the noisy Hanoi traffic. The traffic was as bad as in Ho Chi Minh City and motorcycles ruled!
A little advice for travellers: bring USD and change to VND in Vietnam instead of changing say your MYR into VND in Malaysia. The difference is tremendous; MYR1 will only get you VND2000+ in Malaysia but will get you about VND4600 in Vietnam. However, it’s not easy to change your MYR in Vietnam as I discovered so just bring USD and you’ll be fine.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
An early start - morning prayers are earlier in this part of the world. Left the hostel at around 0815. I was running late and had a very light breakfast. After picking up passengers, we set off for Halong Bay about 165 km away or 3.5 hours on a good day and more if you're unlucky. We took the Chuong Duong Bridge to cross the Red River out of Hanoi and saw the Long Biên Bridge on our left, built by Gustave Eiffel. The traffic out of Hanoi was bad and we were bumper to bumper for about half an hour before we finally got ourselves out of the jam. Oh and on the way, we passed Gia Lam Airbase from where John McCain (still remember him?) was sent back after being POW in Vietnam for five years after his plane was shot down.
There were a group of nine Irish travellers, some Americans, an English couple, a Japanese couple, some Vietnamese as well and another Malaysian who now resides in Melbourne besides yours truly.
We reached Halong Bay after 1 pm. We boarded our boat and went all over the bay. Unfortunately for us, the sunny weather of Hanoi didn’t extend to Halong; it was overcast in Halong and a bit chilly what with the wind. According to the BBC weather forecast, it was supposed to be around 20C during the day in Hanoi for the five days I was there so I packed light.
We sailed for about an hour admiring the rock formations and monolithic islands that Halong Bay is famed for, so much so it is recognised as one of the two of Vietnam’s World Heritage Sites. We stopped at a little fishing village for a while and then the boat docked in the middle of Thiên Cung and Dao Go caves. It was incredible being in the caves. The stalactites and stalagmites were really large and in some cases, you wouldn't know where one started and one ended.
We left at about 4 something and headed back to Hanoi.
I joined the English couple (Danny and Susan), the other Malaysian (Richard) and his American colleague Michael for dinner. Danny and Susan are travelling throughout Asia, Australia, (probably New Zealand too?) and South America before heading back to Blighty for nine months! Richard and Michael were in Hanoi for a business trip and extended their stay by a day. We sure made an unusual quintet and attracted some attention. Dinner was had at Little Hanoi, recommended by the Lonely Planet. Danny and Susan were leaving that night for Hue by train.
We parted ways after dinner and Richard, Michael and I stopped at a DVD store and bought some DVDs. It was a long tiring but satisfactory day for me.
Oh a little side note: it was on the Halong Bay trip when I discovered that some squat toilets in some washrooms in this part of the world have no doors...
Sunday, 7 December 2008
This morning, I joined a tour of five (the other four were Australians) for a city tour. First we went to the Ho Chí Minh Mausoleum (closed Mondays and Fridays so the queue today was quite long). The mausoleum is located in the Ba Ðình Square in Hanoi and modelled after the Lenin’s Mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow. Cameras, cell phones and drinks are not allowed in. After passing through security check, we filed into a row and walked along the road and into the mausoleum, up the stairs and into the chamber and down the stairs and out again, all in revered silence. The preserved body of Uncle Ho was in a glass-encased tomb and flanked by four guards on either side of his head and feet. Actually, his wish was to be cremated and his ash to be scattered all over Vietnam but the government ‘disobeyed’ this wish. We were allowed to take pictures at the Ba Ðình Square within certain parameters. The Heroes Memorial is at the far end of Bac Son across Ba Ðình Square. Then we walked to the Presidential Palace nearby. It was built by the French and offered to President Ho Chi Minh but he refused to stay there, stating it was too large. He moved to the vestige behind the Palace and stayed there instead (he also moved into a house on stilts after that).
After that, we drove to Văn Mieu or the Temple of Literature. This temple was founded in 1070 as a Confucian temple. In 1076, Vietnam’s first university was established within the temple to educate Vietnam's bureaucrats, royalty and other members of the elite. I only found out the difference between pagodas and temples: temples are built to revere saints or well-known people whereas pagodas are built to revere Buddha.
Next, we went to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology which focuses on the 54 different ethnic groups in Vietnam. So Vietnamese are not all Viet, but more than that. There are also outdoor exhibits of tribal dwellings outside the museum.
We stopped for lunch (seafood and vegetarian dishes served, hurray) and after lunch, we walked to Hoàn Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword). We crossed the Huc Bridge to the Ngoc Son Temple (Jade Mountain Temple) on Jade Island and spent some Kodak moments there.
The last pit-stop on The Amazing Race around Hanoi was to Tran Quoc Pagoda by the West Lake (the largest lake In Hanoi). There was a tower of eleven layers of Buddha there and some tombs.
We parted ways after this and I walked to Hang Luoc to find Al-Nour Mosque. The mosque was closed and locked though and I could see no sign of any local Muslims around. Then I walked to the nearby Cho Dong Xuan. It’s a market that sells low-priced garments etc and didn’t really look exciting. Then I walked all around the Old Quarter before heading back to the hotel to rest.
I strolled around the neighbourhood before having dinner where I met a fellow Malaysian who’s now a professor at a university in Melbourne. Then I walked to the nearby Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre for the 2115 water puppet show. This puppet show started off in the Red River Delta over 1,000 years ago and they used puppets playing in water depicting daily life of villagers (planting paddy, fishing, children playing) and myths/legends too (four dragons dancing, phoenixes dancing and legend of the restored sword). In essence, the show tells of a romantic simple life of bygone days, well, at least to me. To the right side of the stage (to the audience’s left) was the group of musicians who played the traditional instruments that formed the background music and supplied some of the dialogues and songs for the show.
The show lasted for 45 minutes. At the end, the people who played the puppets came up behind the screen to meet the audience for a brief while.
Monday, 8 December 2008. Eid-al Adha
I went back to sleep, or at least tried to go back to sleep, after morning prayers. I said tried to because I could hear the Caucasians who stayed at the hotel returning to their rooms in their inebriated state. Then it was the cleaning ladies who came to do their usual job. When I finally got up at 8 something, I realised immediately that there was no electricity. It turned out the whole Old Quarter (if not the whole of Hanoi!) suffered power outage today. Madness. And remember my room had no window so it was pitch dark until I got a stub of a candle from one of the cleaning ladies (which died out just after I finished my breakfast). The shops were still opened though.
I went to the Tourist Information Centre to enquire on the airport shuttle bus. Turned out there was such service on an hourly basis too. So I walked by Hoàn Kiem Lake and then turned to Tran Nguyen Han before turning to Tong Dan. The shuttle stop is next to Thang Long Opera Hotel. And the tickets, sold at the hotel reception, cost only VND25000 or USD2 (the hotel taxi would have cost me USD15 in comparison; same duration). I paid in VND as USD2 equals VND34000 or so, plus I figured I might as well start getting rid of my VND.
After that I walked down Tong Dan to the Opera House. Oh my, it is such a gorgeous building and looks distinctly French. Hardly surprising considering it is a small-scale replica of the Paris Opéra or Palais Garnier. I also went to have a peek at the Vietnam History Museum and Revolution Museum. Then I made my way back to the shopping district. Shopping day today! Oh, I also met some fellow Malaysians who were curious at me travelling alone. And they were surprised when I told them I flew MAS; turned out they paid more for their AirAsia tickets, a difference of more than RM300 per person!
Lunch was had at The Whole Earth Restaurant which offered vegetarian set menu. Headed back to the hotel for a while after lunch (still no electricity) before heading out again, this time to Hang Gai. And that was when and where I discovered that Hang Gai is the street to go in Hanoi if you want to look for silk clothes, embroidered table linen and embroidered pictures for framing.
Electricity was restored at around 3 pm. Hurrah!
Back to the hotel to store my goods and for prayers before heading out to get take-away dinner.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
I went to the banks today to try change some MYR and finally changed my money at the Tourist Information Centre (horrible rate). Set off for Thang Long Opera Hotel to catch my shuttle to the airport. It took only 12 minutes of walking with my trolley bag and that included dodging the crazy traffic. Not bad at all. Spent the next 35 minutes waiting anxiously for the shuttle. It only came at 1115 (scheduled to come at 1100 so you can imagine my anxiety; I thought I’d missed the bus or there was no service). And I was the sole passenger. I guess not too many people knew of the service.
Reached the airport less than an hour later. Check-in was a breeze. And MAS passengers didn’t have to pay the USD14 departure tax either (not sure about AirAsia passengers). There were some souvenir shops at the airport of course but I couldn’t decide how to spend the remainder of my VND (which I reserved for the departure tax) and ended up buying nothing, reasoning I’d rather buy nothing than buy something I don’t need.
Landed at KLIA at 1835 and as my bag was among the first ones out this time, I managed to get the 1900 ERL train to KL.
~~~~~~~~
I note the following major differences between the political capital of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam:
- The lady passengers in Hanoi sit astride on the motorcycles whereas in Saigon, some of the ladies sit sideways instead of astride
- I hardly saw any lady wearing áo dài in Hanoi whereas this was a common sight in Saigon
- Different products are sold: in Saigon, shops selling ‘clog shoes’ with silk embroidered/beaded straps are aplenty but there were only one or two that I managed to find in Hanoi. Even the silk cosmetic bags are different. The ones in Saigon are mainly beaded but the ones in Hanoi are mainly embroidered. Of course there are some common products sold like lacquerwear
- You need to go around the narrow streets of Hanoi to browse the shops. While you can do the same in Saigon, you can also shop for your souvenirs under one roof at Ben Thành Market
- Quite a few shops in Hanoi sell snake whisky which I didn’t see at all in Saigon. Am guessing this is because of the capital’s proximity to Laos (I first saw snake whisky in that small Laotian village we stopped at after ‘cruising’ the Mekong)
- There were more street peddlers in Hanoi, each balancing on their shoulders their weight of fruits, vegetables, instant meals for sale (their loads must be heavy and I wondered again and again if they managed to sell off their goods. I hope so).
~~~~~~~~
Arsenal beat Wigan by a narrow margin on Saturday. Yes, one nil to the Arsenal again. Apparently it was a dull game by Arsenal standards and Eboue who substitued Nasri was himself substituted. I was glued to the BBC live text as the TV in the room didn’t have any sports coverage. Heck, make that hardly any coverage of any TV station at all.
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