After finding out that our cruise in Halong Bay was cancelled our luck streak continued when the concierge at the Charming Hotel II said they were sold out. He told us their sister hotel, the aptly named Charming Hotel I, did have space and was kind enough to take us there.
After having our main excursion cancelled Stephen and I did our best to keep ourselves entertained in Hanoi for another day. We went to the Vietnamese Citadel and saw a fighter jet and a tank from afar (we couldn’t go into the museum as it was closed). We saw Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, which was also closed, but at least we got to see the changing of the guard. We wandered to Ho Lake, the lake John McCain was shot down in and also the largest lake in Hanoi, and drank fruit juice on an old barge that had been converted into a chic eating spot…we were the only ones there. For some reason, sitting on the barge reminded me a lot of Romania…maybe it was the abandoned-feeling barge, or the lake side setting or the fading memorials we’d seen. I cant really peg it.
We saw a memorial commemorating the site of the gunner that shot down John McCain. We walked to another pagoda where Confucius was supposedly enlightened underneath a tree of knowledge where we ran into a creepy guy that claimed to also be from New York – he was wearing a huge purple watch, cut off red muscle tee (which conveniently showed his tribal band tattoo), a fanny pack to end all arguments, and bright red shorts. I avoided but naturally Stephen engaged him in conversation until the point the man started asking us what our plans were for the rest of the day and where we were staying (he apparently had just landed and didn’t yet have plans, or a place to stay). Fortunately we were able to weasel away.
We continued our walk around Ho Lake, which was large and smelly and covered in a flotsam of dead fish, other dead animals (including, sigh, another dog) and other toxic seeming material. There were men fishing in the water, not sure that was a prudent thing to do…given the level of dead things floating in the water.
We wandered through a small village, far recessed from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, and came upon a spot where a B52 plane, viciously torn to shreds when it was shot out of the sky, was sitting underneath a canopy of algae-covered water.
It was juxtaposed against a grammar school where the screeches and laughter of the children echoed throughout the compound. Pretty poignantly highlighted the innocence of children and the horrors of war.
After walking for another, eh probably six hours, we went to a Bia Hoi (fresh beer garden) and had a few beers. The chairs were not made for a 6’2’’ man and the first one I sat on shattered underneath my weight. The people around really got a kick out of that. After a few beers Stephen tried to order ‘fried chicken with salt’ and got into an epic argument. with the waiter for about 15 minutes while each person tried to figure out what the other was saying. When the waiter finally brought out our dish we were horrified – they basically took a whole chicken (with the skin still on), steamed it and served it to us.
The menu at the beer garden was absolutely CLASSIC! Here are some of the menu items:
o Steamed chicken with lemon glass (crunchy?)
o Vietnamese German sausage (are they Vietnamese or German?)
o BBQ ribs are confingent
o Pale goat lemon
o Real estate fried peppers discharge
o Absinth fried omelette
o Pleased me fried melon prices
o Restoration workshop with garlic
o Coins boiled proud
o Steamed fish with tiger
o Tightened cabbage mushroom colander
o Dandruff beef hot pot
o Longer to re embed
At the end of the day we had a lot of fun salvaging a day we expected to spend in Halong Bay. It wasn’t as planned out as other days, but the spontaneity of it was fun. We walked so much and were still so jetlagged that we passed out at 6:30 and didn’t wake up until the next day prepared to go to Tam Loc which we have been told is ‘Halong Bay on land.’ (Thanks for the suggestion by the way JB)
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