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Hanoi, city of lakes

Vietnam, Summer of '99: Hanoi

Ben van den Anker
2006-05-02 01:20:38

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The bus brought me to a cheap hotel in Hanoi, after refreshment I went to the Sinh cafe office to get some information about a tour to Halong Bay. I was out of money and wanted to change some money. The man refused because the note was slightly damaged. Ok, I'll go elsewhere, no problem. Then I asked if I could make a telephone call, the paper said it was 3090 dong a minute. He said "4000 dong", "no", I replied, here it says 3090 dong. "Almost the same! Everybody pays 4000!" he said, if you don't want to pay 4000 you can go elsewhere". I already had heard about the Sinh cafe in Hanoi, it's not related to the Sinh cafe in Saigon. This was the first time I was really mad in Vietnam. I behaved; I wanted to pull him over the counter but the "good" side in my character won. If I did it I would have probably felt much better.

Hanoi is so much different than other Vietnamese cities, a lot of lakes, shaded boulevards and public parks. It's the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; people have referred to it as the "Paris of the Orient". It used to be notorious among travelers as a place to avoid; the police routinely harassed many tourists. Now lots of tourists can be seen again.

I booked a two days trip to Halong bay, surprisingly at another cafe than the Sinh cafe, and spend the rest of the day walking through the old quarter. This living legacy remains one of Vietnam's most lively and unusual places. Anything can be bought here, from the daily food to a gravestone. Every street is named after the product that is being sold there, there's a "Silk street" a "Copper street" and so on.. The streets are busy with life, police driving by on motorbikes tell merchants, which sell their products on the sideways, to move. As they see the police come they pack up their things and walk away faster than I ever saw anyone walk. Police confiscates cooking gear and they can get it back after paying a heavy fine.

After ...