It's my last morning in Hanoi and I feel a bit sad. R.E.M. sing 'Leaving New York is never easy ...' and Craig David sings 'I think I've stayed too long...'. I could say the same about Hanoi. It is a beautiful place with great architecture, friendly people, chaotic traffic, delicious food and many things to see and do. You never get bored in this city. You can walk or even cycle around for hours and enjoy the scenery and taste different dishes and have an egg coffee or an egg chocolate or both. Thanks to the French, you get bread, which actually tastes like bread. This is something important for our delicate western stomachs, because we are used to a different type of diet and no matter how delicious asian cuisine is, our body will rebel after a while and will demand something it is used to. Bread is one of those things and it is good to know that it is not sugary, but proper bread. It is also good to know that the bakeries are proper bakeries and sell proper bread. Some of you might not understand what I am trying to say, but some of you will, because you have been in East Asia long enough and know what I am talking about.
Hanoi is also a good spot for party people. There's a great music scene with live concerts of every kind, there is the beer street and many clubs. However, nightlife stops at 2am. If you want to stay out until the early morning, find a club that locks you in. I was in such a club on my first night in Hanoi. The door gets locked at 2am and no more people are allowed in. If you're already inside, you are allowed out but not in again.
Like every morning, I walk to the vegan place for breakfast, and like every morning, the owner and I bow at each other and I take a seat while she prepares the two Banh Mi. Since I am very predictable, or boring in that matter, I don't have to tell her what I want. Today she asks me if I live and work here and how long I have been here and how long I am going to stay. She is sad when she hears that it's my last day. We bow at each other goodbye and I walk back home.
I have booked a ride with one of those black VIP mini buses to Ninh Binh, but I am somehow confused about the departure location. There were various options on the website. The most convenient one is to be picked up at your hotel in the Old Quarter. Since my accommodation is not in the Old Quarter, but just outside of it, I couldn't go for this option. Option number 2 is to go to the departure location yourself. This I do. What worries me a bit is the address. It says pick up is at the Central Circus and when I booked it, it also mentioned that pick up was at a company that sells all kind of audio equipment. And if you click here, you'll see a misleading photo (more about it farther down) and all other booking info.
Anyway, because I have to check out at 12pm and the bus ride is at 2:30pm, I decide to walk the few miles to the pick up location. My newly acquired suitcase is all packed, as well as my rucksack and my man bag. Yes, I do have a man bag and I am not ashamed of it. And yes, I managed to find a suitcase the size I want and in a nice Bordeaux colour, but the quality didn't convince me and I negotiated hard for the price I paid. I hope that it will last the rest of the journey until I get home. Then I can either throw it away or use it as storage for either winter or summer clothes. But somehow I have the feeling that it won't last that long. We shall see.
Time to say goodbye to the house and to the host. I fire up the map on my phone and see that it is fairly easy to get to the Central Circus. Since the pavements are used for whatever you can imagine, other than walking, I take the street, which is wide enough for everyone and it is in a better condition than the pavements. A few taxis stop next to me and ask if I want a ride, but I refuse. I want to walk. It is a beautiful day and part of the way is through an area I haven't been. So, I want to walk through it and see it.
However, I am worried that my suitcase isn't pleased about it and will rebel in some way. I have to cross several streets and going on and off pavements is something my big suitcase doesn't like. It makes some noises and suddenly I hear a louder noise and feel that something is wrong. I stop to look at it and see how one of the wheels has come off and is lying on the tarmac, making its last breath on the street and dying a heroic death. You'll be missed my friend! You will surely be missed!
There's no time for sentimentalities and flowers, etc. so I turn around and continue my walk with three wheels, which is quite hard, because the suitcase is hard to steer and falls to the side a few times.
I reach the destination after a while and see that it really is an audio company. There's a storage room on the ground floor and a staircase next to it that leads to the first floor. There are many boxes and several people in front of the storage room, who are having lunch. I leave my luggage next to some boxes and go upstairs. There is a desk in what looks like a reception room, but nobody is there. I hear voices from one of the floors upstairs. Since I am more than half an hour early, I sit on the couch for a while and wait until somebody comes down. But they seem to be on their lunch break and nobody comes down. I hear some plates and cooking noises from upstairs. They must have a kitchen in one of the upper floors. I go down to the street and try to find the building in the photo from the website, but it is nowhere to be found. The only building that looks slightly similar to the one in the photo is a hotel around the corner, but it is much bigger than the building in the photo. While waiting and thinking whether this was a good choice or not, I could have gone by coach or train instead, I see many black VIP mini buses stopping directly opposite. Some of them take the turn around the traffic island, which makes me hope that it could be my mini bus, but they don't stop.
I decide to go upstairs to the company again. This time I find two ladies sitting on the couch and ask them if they know the mini bus company. They don't. But they say that mini buses stop in front of their company and people get on and off and they invite me to wait in their premises. Some more people join the little gathering and the ladies explain to them who I am. They even offer me tea.
Something that makes me wonder, besides the pick up address, the misleading photo, etc. is, that there are no other passengers. Will I travel alone? Will I be that lucky to have the mini bus to myself?
I go downstairs a few minutes before 2:30pm and at 2:28pm a black VIP mini bus stops in front of me, the doors open and a few people get off. One of them is holding a piece of paper and asks me if I am going to Ninh Binh and shows me the paper with my name on it.
He takes my luggage and places it in the boot and I take a seat.
Besides me, there are three other people on board. The driver obviously, the guy with the paper and one person who sits at the back.
However, we don't start our journey, but spend another 15 minutes waiting. I don't know what the problem is and why we wait here, but I am not worried anymore, for one, I am on the bus and secondly, I have read many reviews that report that.
The guy with the paper makes a few phone calls, then we wait a little longer and then we leave. In the meantime I have asked the driver to switch on the A/C and the WiFi so I can work on an article.
And then something I read in the reviews happens. We stop somewhere to pick up more passengers. Why this is happening? No idea. Like other people have written, the VIP buses stop somewhere to pick up people, even though it is nowhere mentioned that this is possible. However, the man in the back gets off at this stop and then we make it onto the motorway. Since this is Vietnam, the traffic is crazy on the motorway, too. It's not only that, the driver and the other guy are having a very loud conversation, which makes it impossible for me to concentrate. I shut down my computer and enjoy the ride instead.
When we arrive in Ninh Binh, earlier than expected, I see that the building from the photo is their headquarters in Ninh Binh, that's why I couldn't find it in Hanoi. I am asked to get off and before I can ask any questions, I am guided to a car waiting in front of us. This is something I read in the reviews, too. Quite clever though! You are driven to the departure location in a car, then to your destination in the mini bus and to your hotel in a car again. The ride through Ninh Binh is quite adventurous and feels like a Playstation game. The driver speeds up, brakes abruptly, overtakes other cars, doesn't stop at traffic lights and takes a turn where it is forbidden to turn. We reach my hotel a few minutes later and I am happy to have made it.
The hotel owner is already waiting outside and greets me. I check in and he has someone to carry my suitcase upstairs. There is no lift in the building, that's why he asks me if I want a room on the upper floors or in one of the lower floors. I go for the lower floors. The hotel is quite small with seven rooms and it has a spacious lobby and restaurant and some sitting facilities outside.
I go to my room, make myself comfortable and fire up Lonely Planet. I read yesterday that the city itself has almost nothing to offer, but the surroundings are full of sights, so I try to locate on the map a park somewhere in the centre and also look for a restaurant to have dinner. Lonely Planet recommends 'Chookies', which is opposite my location. Well, there's a canal between us and the only way to get to the restaurant is a 20 minutes walk to the nearest bridge and back on the other side. Standing in front of the restaurant, you can see the little lake with the various hotels and homestays and just off in a little side street is my hotel.
When I was looking at hotels in Ninh Binh, I read in the description of another hotel around the corner, that it is situated in a tranquil location and some of the rooms offer lake view.
When I walk out of my hotel, I bump into the hotel owner and a woman. We greet each other and she asks me in a harsh tone: "Where are you going?!"
Hola! Am I not allowed to leave the hotel? Do I have to ask for permission and tell them where I am going? Anyway, I smile and say that I am going for a walk to the centre. The woman, who is the owner's wife, tells me which direction to go.
I take the main road and walk towards the centre until I find the park mentioned in my guide book and am impressed by its size, beauty and the emptiness. There is nobody there. I am totally alone.
Hanoi is also a good spot for party people. There's a great music scene with live concerts of every kind, there is the beer street and many clubs. However, nightlife stops at 2am. If you want to stay out until the early morning, find a club that locks you in. I was in such a club on my first night in Hanoi. The door gets locked at 2am and no more people are allowed in. If you're already inside, you are allowed out but not in again.
Like every morning, I walk to the vegan place for breakfast, and like every morning, the owner and I bow at each other and I take a seat while she prepares the two Banh Mi. Since I am very predictable, or boring in that matter, I don't have to tell her what I want. Today she asks me if I live and work here and how long I have been here and how long I am going to stay. She is sad when she hears that it's my last day. We bow at each other goodbye and I walk back home.
I have booked a ride with one of those black VIP mini buses to Ninh Binh, but I am somehow confused about the departure location. There were various options on the website. The most convenient one is to be picked up at your hotel in the Old Quarter. Since my accommodation is not in the Old Quarter, but just outside of it, I couldn't go for this option. Option number 2 is to go to the departure location yourself. This I do. What worries me a bit is the address. It says pick up is at the Central Circus and when I booked it, it also mentioned that pick up was at a company that sells all kind of audio equipment. And if you click here, you'll see a misleading photo (more about it farther down) and all other booking info.
Anyway, because I have to check out at 12pm and the bus ride is at 2:30pm, I decide to walk the few miles to the pick up location. My newly acquired suitcase is all packed, as well as my rucksack and my man bag. Yes, I do have a man bag and I am not ashamed of it. And yes, I managed to find a suitcase the size I want and in a nice Bordeaux colour, but the quality didn't convince me and I negotiated hard for the price I paid. I hope that it will last the rest of the journey until I get home. Then I can either throw it away or use it as storage for either winter or summer clothes. But somehow I have the feeling that it won't last that long. We shall see.
Time to say goodbye to the house and to the host. I fire up the map on my phone and see that it is fairly easy to get to the Central Circus. Since the pavements are used for whatever you can imagine, other than walking, I take the street, which is wide enough for everyone and it is in a better condition than the pavements. A few taxis stop next to me and ask if I want a ride, but I refuse. I want to walk. It is a beautiful day and part of the way is through an area I haven't been. So, I want to walk through it and see it.
However, I am worried that my suitcase isn't pleased about it and will rebel in some way. I have to cross several streets and going on and off pavements is something my big suitcase doesn't like. It makes some noises and suddenly I hear a louder noise and feel that something is wrong. I stop to look at it and see how one of the wheels has come off and is lying on the tarmac, making its last breath on the street and dying a heroic death. You'll be missed my friend! You will surely be missed!
There's no time for sentimentalities and flowers, etc. so I turn around and continue my walk with three wheels, which is quite hard, because the suitcase is hard to steer and falls to the side a few times.
I reach the destination after a while and see that it really is an audio company. There's a storage room on the ground floor and a staircase next to it that leads to the first floor. There are many boxes and several people in front of the storage room, who are having lunch. I leave my luggage next to some boxes and go upstairs. There is a desk in what looks like a reception room, but nobody is there. I hear voices from one of the floors upstairs. Since I am more than half an hour early, I sit on the couch for a while and wait until somebody comes down. But they seem to be on their lunch break and nobody comes down. I hear some plates and cooking noises from upstairs. They must have a kitchen in one of the upper floors. I go down to the street and try to find the building in the photo from the website, but it is nowhere to be found. The only building that looks slightly similar to the one in the photo is a hotel around the corner, but it is much bigger than the building in the photo. While waiting and thinking whether this was a good choice or not, I could have gone by coach or train instead, I see many black VIP mini buses stopping directly opposite. Some of them take the turn around the traffic island, which makes me hope that it could be my mini bus, but they don't stop.
I decide to go upstairs to the company again. This time I find two ladies sitting on the couch and ask them if they know the mini bus company. They don't. But they say that mini buses stop in front of their company and people get on and off and they invite me to wait in their premises. Some more people join the little gathering and the ladies explain to them who I am. They even offer me tea.
Something that makes me wonder, besides the pick up address, the misleading photo, etc. is, that there are no other passengers. Will I travel alone? Will I be that lucky to have the mini bus to myself?
I go downstairs a few minutes before 2:30pm and at 2:28pm a black VIP mini bus stops in front of me, the doors open and a few people get off. One of them is holding a piece of paper and asks me if I am going to Ninh Binh and shows me the paper with my name on it.
He takes my luggage and places it in the boot and I take a seat.
Besides me, there are three other people on board. The driver obviously, the guy with the paper and one person who sits at the back.
The VIP bus with the mysterious guy
The guy with the paper makes a few phone calls, then we wait a little longer and then we leave. In the meantime I have asked the driver to switch on the A/C and the WiFi so I can work on an article.
And then something I read in the reviews happens. We stop somewhere to pick up more passengers. Why this is happening? No idea. Like other people have written, the VIP buses stop somewhere to pick up people, even though it is nowhere mentioned that this is possible. However, the man in the back gets off at this stop and then we make it onto the motorway. Since this is Vietnam, the traffic is crazy on the motorway, too. It's not only that, the driver and the other guy are having a very loud conversation, which makes it impossible for me to concentrate. I shut down my computer and enjoy the ride instead.
When we arrive in Ninh Binh, earlier than expected, I see that the building from the photo is their headquarters in Ninh Binh, that's why I couldn't find it in Hanoi. I am asked to get off and before I can ask any questions, I am guided to a car waiting in front of us. This is something I read in the reviews, too. Quite clever though! You are driven to the departure location in a car, then to your destination in the mini bus and to your hotel in a car again. The ride through Ninh Binh is quite adventurous and feels like a Playstation game. The driver speeds up, brakes abruptly, overtakes other cars, doesn't stop at traffic lights and takes a turn where it is forbidden to turn. We reach my hotel a few minutes later and I am happy to have made it.
The hotel owner is already waiting outside and greets me. I check in and he has someone to carry my suitcase upstairs. There is no lift in the building, that's why he asks me if I want a room on the upper floors or in one of the lower floors. I go for the lower floors. The hotel is quite small with seven rooms and it has a spacious lobby and restaurant and some sitting facilities outside.
I go to my room, make myself comfortable and fire up Lonely Planet. I read yesterday that the city itself has almost nothing to offer, but the surroundings are full of sights, so I try to locate on the map a park somewhere in the centre and also look for a restaurant to have dinner. Lonely Planet recommends 'Chookies', which is opposite my location. Well, there's a canal between us and the only way to get to the restaurant is a 20 minutes walk to the nearest bridge and back on the other side. Standing in front of the restaurant, you can see the little lake with the various hotels and homestays and just off in a little side street is my hotel.
When I was looking at hotels in Ninh Binh, I read in the description of another hotel around the corner, that it is situated in a tranquil location and some of the rooms offer lake view.
The lake view
Hola! Am I not allowed to leave the hotel? Do I have to ask for permission and tell them where I am going? Anyway, I smile and say that I am going for a walk to the centre. The woman, who is the owner's wife, tells me which direction to go.
I take the main road and walk towards the centre until I find the park mentioned in my guide book and am impressed by its size, beauty and the emptiness. There is nobody there. I am totally alone.
On my way the park and back I pass by this:
I walk the extra mile to that 'Chookies' restaurant, which according to my guide book and some websites, offers delicious local and western food. Unfortunately, they don't do local food anymore. They only serve western food, which is delicious. I treat myself with a meal and a big glass of beer. That should make me sleep like a baby tonight.
If you would like to read more by me, find those two on Amazon:
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