Long Bien

Before leaving Gayle’s, Stevenas came with a van full of students who were returning from the TAFE, they prayed for safe journeys and for my return, God willing next year.

It was a teary goodbye after such a special time with Gayle and her adopted family.  It took us around an hour to get to the airport where we were dropped off with all our luggage – a suitcase and a backpack each. We were very early, with time to fill and while waiting for check-in (which we couldn’t do online).  We sat where Vi-Lay had waited for me when she arrived, then continued through immigration where they questioned me about my visa not visible in my passport.  The thought flashed through my mind that maybe I should have visited immigration after paying for my second month online.  Praying, I calmed my anxiety, looked for the screen shot I took of the new visa and showed it to the inspector.  Oh, she explained a 60 day visa, Yes, I replied with relief as my passport was handed back and I joined Vi-Lay before going through customs.  This time she was stopped. Praise God she was, as she had forgotten to take her battery power pack out of the suitcase. With it safely in her hand luggage we looked for another place to sit to wait for our flight check-in to open.  There weren’t many seats but we found one amongst some Middle Eastern women clad in burka.  I initiated a conversation with the older woman looking after her grandchildren who told me her family were from Saudi Arabia.  She was 65yrs old, traveling with her three adult daughters and three grandchildren.  It was interesting talking to them, seeing how liberated they were. We were surprised they were traveling without their men chaperoning them.  The two older sisters had travelled, studied abroad, and the youngest wanted to study in Australia, while grandma insisted we visit Saudi Arabia claiming it was a beautiful country.  After bidding our goodbyes, we headed for check-in to be first in line at 2:30pm for our aisle seats. It didn’t take us long, then wandered around the shops and restaurants looking for something appropriate for Vi-Lay’s lunch, I had brought some noodles I had made the previous day.  The airport prices were exobitant and on top of the price came 15% tax! We still had plenty of time to wait for our departure, filling our water containers from the drinking water fountain provided and just enjoying not being rushed or stressed.

Our flight left a little late but caught up during the flight arriving at 9:45pm Vietnam time which is an hour behind Bali.  After collecting our bags, we breezed through customs and immigration exiting quickly to find a toilet. As we did we looked for Ngoc, our guide and driver for the ten day 4 wheel drive tour we had booked from Perth, but couldn’t see him. He was there as we exited and was surprised to see us come in on time ua the VietJet airline was renowned for coming in late so he hadn’t rushed.

Ngoc loaded our bags into the back of his modern 4 wheel drive Toyota, taking us into the city.  The roads from the airport into town were wide and modern with many overpasses; they were very quiet at this time of the night but I could imagine how busy they would get. As we entered the city it became busier with lots of scooters, many electric which we were told didn’t have any government tax only the petroleum cars were taxed at 150%!  Still Ngoc said this was reasonable as the government didn’t tax the people’s income if it was under a certain amount which was why people asked for cash.  Any card transactions were charged 3% bank fees. Ngoc was an encyclopedia of information about his beloved country.  He told us about the ancient kingdoms, the king moving the capital to Long Bien which was then renamed by the French to Hanoi meaning ‘behind the river’ on which the city was built.

He drove us to our hotel where we were warmly greeted by the staff at Golden Dragon Hotel, Ngoc stayed with us till we sorted things out at the reception. Vi-Lay had booked ahead but had to change the bookings after our road trip as her flight got changed. She was told to cancel the two nights as it was cheaper just to pay the hotel directly.  She also notified them that I would be staying on until the 31^st July in a single room. Once sorted, Ngoc was happy to leave us promising to return Monday at 8am. He was spending Sunday with his parents who lived out of town.

We were shown our room where our suitcases had been taken as we were checking in.  It was an unusual building with a very narrow staircase going to several floors with only one elevator.  Our room, 101 was an economy room on the first floor. We were told it was a comfy ‘cosy’ room as it was very quiet.  This was because it was away from the other rooms and didn’t have a window, just ventilation fans to keep the air moving and still it was a bit musty.  The hallway to the room had an open grid floor, through which we could see the entrance to the kitchen, there was a wooden board over this grid with various shapes cut into it to allow light into the passage below. Our room was at the end of this little narrow passageway.  The doorway was very low, forcing me to duck every time I entered.  The ceiling of the room was also very low, just allowing room for me to stand straight but with a low beam down the middle, which caused me to walk bent over to avoid hitting my head.  There were two poles in the room too.  At first I thought they might be for pole dancing but they were decoratively covered in rope. Vi-Lay later discovered they were concealing electrical wires running from the upper room through ours to the floor below.  The room itself was a reasonable size with an ensuite which had a glass wall.  For privacy there was an opaque blind which we left down permanently.  Unfortunately we were still able to see vaguely through it.  Still it was only for 3 nights and we were happy not to be disturbed by the other guests or the street noises.

It took us a while to unpack and rearrange a few things before showering and climbing into bed.  The beds were made up with thick doonas which is common for air conditioned rooms here in Asia.  I had asked Vi-Lay to bring some cotton sheets for us to use instead as neither of us liked cold air conditioning.  We turned the temperature up to 22⁰ before turning in for the night just before 1am exhausted.

We both slept kind of well but still woke early, me at 5am and Vi-Lay a little after.  Unfortunately Vi-Lay had a bit of a tummy bug which wasn’t pleasant, praise God she had something to help.  We chatted about things we’d like to do for the two days we’re in town, then went out for an early morning walk to see what was available on the streets and to visit the ATM to withdraw cash as that is the most used form of payment. We would also prefer to pay in cash to avoid the 3% charge.  Noting a few street vendors and eateries, and after scouring the corner convenience store for fresh milk, we returned to our hotel for our breakfast which was included.

There was a variety of cooked foods, fresh fruits and drinks as well as a small menu of things we could order including banana pancakes which we both ordered. I had pre prepared my usual muesli to which I added fresh fruits. Vi-Lay tried the percolated coffee stating how strong it was and adding lots of milk.  I inquired about where to buy fresh milk as everywhere I looked offered UHT but calling it fresh milk, I suppose it is fresh if the other milk you know is condensed. I needed real milk, not UHT to make my kefir.  Emma at reception and her staff looked it up, called a place to check but unfortunately it was over half an hour walk away. I’d have to go without until I could ask Ngoc on Monday.

After breakfast we retired to our cosy room where we both worked on various things. I then brought my computer downstairs to the dining area tables to write my journal before I forgot the details. It wasn’t long before I felt I couldn’t keep my eyes open and retreated to the room where we both crashed out for about an hour.  It was nearly 2pm when we ventured out on the street again looking for some lunch.  Exiting the hotel we saw a lady hawker with a bicycle of pineapples.  I asked the receptionist to help us translate asking for one pineapple which I wanted to add to my breakfast.  We took this upstairs and put it in our fridge before continuing our walk.

We found a similar challenge here as in Bali that many eateries were not open at midday, preferring to open in the evenings.  We wandered the streets hoping to find something suitable for Vi-Lay’s tummy which was feeling a little better. We eventually settled on a bowl of Pho at a place which was surprisingly busy.  Inside it was air conditioned and much cooler than the sticky humidity of the open street.  We shared a table with a local lad and his mother who recommended the Beef Flank Pho.  Vi-Lay asked him what year he was in at school as he looked about 15yrs old.  In fact he had left university and had opened a pet shop, he was 22yrs old.  I knew the soup wasn’t going to fill me and had decided on beef fried noodles but was told they weren’t so good.  The Pho was lovely but not filling enough so I ordered the noodles anyway which certainly did fill me up.  Both Vi-Lay and I were surprised at the quantity of meat with our meal, definitely a change from Bali where meat is very expensive.  After our Pho, we wandered the streets seeing what else was available, noting a few places we might come back to another day.

It’s very hot and humid out battling the traffic that seemingly comes in all directions. It’s right hand drive here in Vietnam which means I need to be doubly attentive when crossing the roads.  Fortunately here there are wide verges and paths on either side of the street without the drainage holes to fall down as the drainage covers are parallel to the street and quite well covered.  There are instead other hazards including the motor scooters and bikes which park all along the paving between the shops and road, and the sloped, polished cement curbs which are smooth and slippery like marble. I have slipped off them twice already, trying to circumnavigate the bikes, resulting in a bruising of my knee.

There are lots of street vendors pushing their carts or bicycles loaded with wares, especially tropical fruits of all kinds. Some vendors set up shop outside other shops like the barber who had positioned himself along a small section of blank wall where he attached his mirror and a little shelf to hold his metal box of trade tools. He had borrowed someone’s power to plug in his fan and power tools, and was sitting in the customers chair reading a book while he waited for a patron.

Just after 6pm Vi-Lay and I were back out exploring the surroundings, this time to check out the night market and Lake Thập Rửa.  As we exited the hotel, I noticed a Vietnamese lady who I presumed was local. Further down the street I saw her again and smiled. She smiled back so I mentioned I saw her at the hotel and asked if she would like to join us on our walk, she did.  We introduced ourselves. Hanh was Vietnamese but from the USA and was over on a holiday. She was born in Saigon and had immigrated with her family when she was young; this was her first time back since then and was taking a tour of Vietnam.  We were blessed as she spoke Vietnamese and was able to translate for us when we were inquiring about things we saw along our walk.

Some of the night markets were just getting set up, while others were already bustling with clientele. There were wares of all sorts from clothes, plastic goods to the usual food stalls.  Many of the streets in the old quarter are one way and some are closed off to traffic to make them pedestrian only but this didn’t seem to stop some of the scooters getting through.  We made our way through the maze of streets and laneways towards the lake following Google maps and ignoring the hawkers trying to get our attention to buy at their stall. At Lake Thập Rửa, we turned left and followed the path around the contour of the lake.  There were less vendors here, some selling sweet tea drinks and other snacks; there were also many artists drawing portraits of clients. We took some photos of the red bridge to the temple on the lake which was lit up with lights; one of the three of us taken by an Indian man who was from Melbourne but who’s accent was very Indian and not at all Australian.  Vi-Lay bought a bun at a fancy bakery with lots of colourful cakes and biscuits, and Han took a photo of the two of us in front of a HANOI sign with a flying dragon above it as this is the meaning of Long Bien.  I took another photo of what looked similar to the durian Es Teler we had in Bali and a screen shot of where it was from on Google maps so I would remember where to come looking for it in the future.

We then found our way back to the hotel where we parted ways with Hanh who hadn’t eaten and was venturing back out for dinner.  We turned in for the night as it was nearly 8pm.

I slept well waking at 4am ready for the day.  Vi-Lay was up but went back to bed while I went downstairs to do some typing, filling in all the previous day’s exploits.  Although there are staff here 24 hours, it was dark downstairs except for the light which was shining through the glass panelled door in the kitchen.  I sat in the dim light waiting for dawn.  Two staff slept on the sofas at reception to attend to anyone who might arrive or leave during the night.  By 5am one of the kitchen girls arrived with her shopping and started setting up for breakfast. By 5:35am guests started arriving, eight Pilipino ladies, with all their luggage, wanting to weigh their luggage before departing. The foyer soon filled up with other early risers, most of whom who were checking out.

By 7am Vi-Lay had joined me, then the breakfast guests started to arrive. There is always a lovely spread for breakfast; the pineapple I bought the previous day was added to my muesli as well as the passionfruit, daikon and banana from the pancake I ordered. I also ordered a ham and cheese omelette finishing off with a passion fruit drink which was rather sweet but delicious.  Vi-Lay was about to order a Pho beef soup when Hanh joined us and put an order in too.  She was waiting for her bus to pick her up for a trip to Halong Bay returning Monday afternoon so we wouldn’t see her again as we were leaving Monday morning.  I exchanged numbers to keep in touch, she asked for my blog link to read about our adventures as she wanted to know more places to visit as well as places in Bali which she was also interested in.  We were still at our breakfast table after she had left at 8:30am and remained here relaxing till after 9am when we retired to our room for a cat nap.  I hadn’t realised how tired I was.

We were up and out the door again by midday wanting to check out the restaurant Hanh had told us about that made steamed savoury rice-pancake rolls (chee cheong fun). They lived up to our expectations and were delicious.  While we were there we remembered we wanted to try egg coffee, a Vietnamese specialty dish. We had seen a café which sold them so retraced our steps back past the ATM we had used and sure enough there it was.  We were greeted by a lovely lady welcoming us in.  I wanted to try it iced and Vi-Lay a hot one. We also asked if we could watch it being made as I was a barista and might like to try it at home.  Mr Tuân, who we later found out was the boss, went through the steps with Vi-Lay taking photos of every stage.  It was very interesting; first they separated the yolks from four eggs beating them till they were thick and frothy, adding a little condensed milk and vanilla essence, then once creamy warm it by putting the jug into another jug of warm water to cook.  Then add a shot of expresso coffee before pouring it into warmed cups with a little brown sugar. What a treat!  I’ll definitely be back for more.  I’m not sure if it was because Tuân messed up my order giving us both hot drinks or if it was just because he was so taken with the two of us but he offered to take us on the back of his and his worker Nam’s bikes to find durian.  Both Vi-Lay and I thought he was taking us to the place I’d shown him where we had seen the iced durian desert, but instead, he led us through the town to the freeway.  Both Vi-Lay and I started to wonder if it had been a good idea to hop on the back of a strangers bike! Where were they taking us? Tuân’s English was quite good but had I misunderstood? Eventually they pulled into the local farmers market where they stopped at a vendor selling durian. Tuân haggled for a price, then we chose the one we wanted.  It was so much cheaper than the ones we had seen in the shops. Instead of $9.30 AUD per kilo we bought a 2.6kg one for $15 AUD. She packaged it up for us to take away.  We asked Tuân and Nam if they wanted to share with us but were relieved when they said they didn’t like their smell.  We were overjoyed with the bountiful overflowing blessings the Lord had showered upon us since our arrival.

Tuân dropped us off at the café where we offered them some cash to cover their petrol before returning to the hotel with our goodies. Most places will not permit you to bring durian indoors but we snuck ours in and consumed it almost immediately, it was so delicious!

That afternoon while writing up my exploits for the day I saw one of the staff weighing herself on the scales the guests used for their luggage so I too hopped on.  I have gained 3kg since leaving Perth!  It’s all the good food and lack of exercise.

Emma, who has been so helpful since our arrival, notices how we had befriended Hanh and helped other guests feel comfortable, she came over before going home to say goodbye as she was not returning till after we left on Monday.  She even offered me a job, working with her at the hotel!  I’d would love to take her up on that, at least for a few months, my payment being accommodation and food and maybe joining some of the group tours.  Watch this space!

Our last evening before our tour we wanted to see the old city gates, Ô Quan Chưởng, we had come under with Tuân and Nam.  As the sun was going down we walked down the road towards the gates, passing rows of shops lit up with their colourful display of lanterns.  The night markets had just started setting up with people bustling around setting up stalls, food vendors serving their patrons seated on low stools or chairs along the curb.  After taking a few pictures we passed under the gateway continuing on to try and see the river.  This took us over the busy main highway we had crossed on the back on the scooters this afternoon.  We found a pedestrian overpass which took us safely across and continued towards the river. Unbeknown to us the riverbanks are also a mangrove swamp so we were unable to actually see the river.  Once we had walked close to the banks as possible we turned around to try and reach one of the bridges crossing the river.  This wasn’t as easy as we thought.  We followed the backstreets parallel to the river stopping to buy jelly drinks similar to those in Bali. By this time, sweat was dripping down my back and off my face even though it wasn’t as hot at this time of day.

Manoeuvring through the back streets we took a narrow lane towards the main road where there was a high wall separating the homes and shops from the road.  In places there was access over the wall via stairs which we took, walking beside the busy road towards the bridge.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to access the bridge from here, only seeing it from underneath.  We saw a train as well as vehicles using the bridge but still couldn’t see the river through the buildings lining the shores.  The wall eventually opened, giving access to the farmers market where we had bought our durian.  Having a quick look around, we then headed back towards our hotel on another route.

First we needed to cross the busy intersection. Praise the Lord there was a pedestrian crossing with a light.  The light turned red for the traffic and green for us but I was still hesitant to cross as although the cars and trucks had stopped the bikes were still coming, we started to walk then ran as we realised we only had 5 second to get across!  What a hoot!  On our return Vi-Lay wanted to find the place I’d had fried noodles, I was sure it was left of the hotel but she was convinced it was right so we scoured all the little roads in that direction but couldn’t find it, so instead she stopped at the rice pancake shop we had eaten at earlier.

We were both glad to get back to our room for a cold shower, wash our sweat soaked clothes and jump into bed by 9pm readying ourselves for our next adventure.

Photos:  1. Succulent flowers    2. Farewelling our Bali family    3. Pole dancing in our room   4. Pineapple vendor    5. Street Barber    6. Vi-Lay, me and Hanh    7. Durian dessert stalls    8. Egg coffee    9. Lantern shop    10. Farmers market

Prayer & Praise Points:

I praise God for helping us through the departure and arrival procedures both in Bali and in Vietnam.

Please pray for Vi-Lay and myself; for safety as we travel through Vietnam, especially on the roads.  Pray also for ongoing good health and protection against disease.

Please continue to pray for Gayle’s ongoing health concerns, especially her eyes and for Elsie and Ross Winchester as they continue their cancer treatment. Please also pray for my good friend Anthony Higgs who is needing a shoulder operation. Believe with me for the Lord’s intervention and total healing for them all.

Continue to pray with me for world peace both in the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, South Brazil, PNG and all countries dealing with major disasters, wars and the unbelievable hardships they cause.  Pray for all those caught up in the suffering these events have caused.  Pray that God’s peace may be known by all people especially for those who live in despair, that they will find hope in Christ Jesus.

Please keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers.  Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.