February 07, 2015

Day Two and Three in Hanoi

So my time in Hanoi is about to come to an end, I think. I'm planning to leave for Ninh Binh, about one and half hours south of Hanoi, sometime today. It all depends on whether I get my clothes washed in time. I thought initially that I brought three T-shirts, but I can only find a total of two in my entire backpack and everything. I need to buy another, probably, but if I do here and now, it'll be a cotton one, slow-drying, bad-breathing, and probably not very long-lasting, as well.

The fact remains that I've worn both of my T-shirts for long enough and really need a new one. Given the somewhat chilly temperatures here in Hanoi right now (hovering between 50 and 60 F for the last few days), I really wish I had a second pair of zip-apart pants, as well.

The main attraction for me in Ninh Binh is Tam Bich, which is essentially a river and some surrounding semi-mountainous area that is quite beautiful, and hopefully less populated and touristed than Ha Long Bay.

One of my hosts (unfortunately I still can't remember his name) is going to have my laundry done for me in a nearby shop, but it's a little early for it, so I'm going to have to wait about thirty minutes before he can do it. I'm trying to get my laundry done so I can get out of here before check-out time, but it might be a little difficult. Currently both my shirts are in the dirty laundry bag, and the one I bought yesterday for two or three dollars simply disappeared.

I talked a bunch with one of my bunkmates, Lizzie, last night, who had a lot to say about travel in Southeast Asia, which is helpful. I plan on visiting Hoi An if at all possible, and maybe Hue as well, as it's apparently very picturesque and has a ton of history to it. Hoi An has one of her favorite places she stayed, the Sunflower Hotel, which has a pool and excellent breakfast and so much more. I might have to return to Hanoi and then fly out via VietJet for ~$30 to Hoi An, where I'd stay for a few days and see things. Hopefully the Sunflower Hotel lives up to my expectations for breakfast.

Yesterday nine of us from the hostel and other friends nearby went to a Vietnamese restaurant, where I spent the most on a single meal I have since I got here, 180,000 dong, which amounts to about $9.50 or something. I got a plate of deep-fired sweet corn (unfortunately overrated; I wish it'd been salted, and it's not as delicious as it sounds), six seafood spring rolls (excellent, but between eating something I shouldn't have on the street earlier and being almost full by then, I couldn't eat them all), and a bowl of chicken mushroom soup (also excellent), and to top it off, a bottle of water, as always.

I've heard you can mutate into a swamp monster if you drink so much as a drop of the tap water here, but I can't confirm as I haven't tried it yet. Bottled water is almost as ubiquitous as beer in Hanoi. Every street vendor that sells beer or food sells bottles of water for something like $0.50, depending on how much and which vendor.

Yesterday I bought a SIM card and 3.7 GBs of data, which cost me 150,000 dong, or about $7.50. It was difficult figuring out what was included with the service, but eventually it became clear that the service was data-only, and I think it lasts a month. It said something 12 on the card, which might or might not mean it lasts 12 months, but it's still a good deal either way.

Yesterday after supper, I let the gang know I might be leaving the next day, and we said some goodbyes.

My laptop battery life is really excellent; I can go days without charging it easily; writing this whole post, while online, brightness low, has depleted the battery only 3%. I should be able to make it to Ninh Binh on this charge easily. My phone is a different story, but the biggest cost is when I did a Hangouts video call with my family back home; my phone went from something above 50% to 6% in probably less than thirty minutes. Anyway.

I seem to always wake up between six and seven when I'm in a bed not my own; this means I'm usually tired by the afternoon, and take a nap of a few hours then to compensate.

Yesterday I went to the Vietnamese Fine Art Museum (30,000 dong, if I remember correctly), and saw lots of sculptures, paintings, and statues. Other things stood out to me as well, but this in particular struck me:


They conducted another A-bomb test again
1956, Lacquer

You never really appreciate the amount of feeling and ingenuity, originality and uniqueness of a people until you see their art; it really shows what kind of people they are, and what they've been through. Lizzie mentioned last night a number of exchanges where she was offered a price in dollars, or her change in dollars, and when she refused it and asked for dong, on occasion she would be offered a better price, sometimes a better attitude and a smile. The Vietnamese remember the horrors in our pasts, and to change money and make sales in our currency is I guess shameful to them. The kindness of using their money is more than that of simple convenience.

As of now, I've taken over 300 photos here in Vietnam, all in RAW, which results in large files sizes, but the best fidelity, the most data, and I've been altering them with the free program RawTherapee, which I'm barely an amateur with, but which gives me good results. With more practice, I should be able to remove even more issues with my photos after the fact, and make them just as vibrant and colorful as real life.

Among those I've bunked with thusfar, there are Lizzie, a Brit, who's traveled around Southeast Asia enough to give me pretty good advice on the subject. 

Tony is a Ukrainian who left his country literally just at the right time; the Ukrainian hryvnia has dropped over the last year, and apparently dropped significantly just the last couple months or so. I don't know the specifics very well, but looking at the graph on Google, it looks like the last month or so have been pretty bad for the hryvnia.

Marina is a French girl who speaks pretty good English and is also traveling around; it's sometimes hard to tell if my bunkmates are traveling together or we just happened upon each other and can't remember anything from before, but whatever.

That's the sum of the people currently sleeping feet away from me; there was a group of youngsters from Utah and Oregon, if I rememeber correctly, a couple girls and a guy. They traveled to Ho Chi Minh City just yesterday...or the day before; I can't really remember.


I apologize for not writing more yesterday, I was kind of busy seeing things and then trying to decide whether to go to Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, or Ninh Binh. I'm pretty sure I'm going to Ninh Binh, but I need to repack AFTER my clothes get cleaned, which might take an hour or two, if not more. Then I'll get on a bus to Ninh Binh, and go from there.

The street food I ate yesterday tasted pretty bad, and I was anticipating some...consequences...but they have yet to show. As of now I am well, and haven't done anything I shouldn't have. I really need another shirt. Should have bought two of those REI ones I shopped for like the day before I left, I really like it.

Anyway. It's sunday, so maybe I'll download a sermon or something and listen to it. I can't believe it, but I think I recorded the last sermon preached at my church, CityLife. I've been on the road less than a week. In that time, I've visited a whole new country, bartered in a different currency (somewhat effectively), learned to cross mad traffic that basically doesn't know how to use a lane, what to do at a stop light, or the meaning of common courtesy.

And I still haven't had pho yet. I'll probably get some for lunch today if I stay in Hanoi that long. Otherwise, probably in Ninh Binh.

I am well.

Update: I looked in my day backpack, I looked in my camera bag, I looked in my pockets of my jacket and in my locker...but where did I not look? The bunk above me. I'm no longer shirtless.


!Noah!

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