This part of the trip definitely feels different given that we only have 3 or 4 days in each location and our suitcases barely get unpacked and we are re-packing them again. Bali has been an amazing place to visit and I am pretty sure we would come back here if time/resources allowed us to do so. I wouldn't mind a bit more of a relaxing pace, with massages every day and beaches to relax on.
Was up at 6:30 AM this morning so that we could get packed once again. I decided to get rid of some clothes to make way for items we've picked up so far. We have our villa sign, my small carved mask and a few other little things that have to fit in the suitcases all while our existing clothing seems to be getting larger. How does that work exactly?
Items were packed up and we weighed our luggage. I was just under the 20 kg limit and Laureen's was just over. I guess we balance each other out. Breakfast arrived just as we completed our packing and after the hotel staff left, we had a short call with our granddaughter (and her dad) just to catch up a little. We sure do miss them. When the call was over, we enjoyed our breakfast and then headed out to the lobby to do our final checkout. The bill was in the millions of rupiah's (a little over 2 million) for all of our dinners, massages, and purchases. It works out to just over two hundred dollars Canadian. Very reasonable for what we received.
Our new guide/driver met us and we started on our way to the airport. The guide was rather talkative, and it was getting to the point where I might have been considering to pay him to be quiet. Most of the things he talked about, we had already heard from our previous guide. Thankfully the ride was only about 35 minutes to the airport.
We arrived with plenty of time before the check-in counter had opened for our flight. The international terminal in Bali is more like a larger shopping centre that just happens to have planes landing at it. We made our way through the lineup, presented our Vietnam Visa's and were on our way through security. No hiccups here, so we just had a few hours wait before our plane would be boarding. This would give me some more time to write on the blog as I gave up and went to bed last night as my head bob'd a few times before I called it quits. Laureen looked it over after I published it and found a few mistakes which I fixed.
We picked up a bit of lunch for the flight, as VietJet is a discount airline and charges for everything. Even water. We made our way on the plane and said our final goodby to Bali.
This is scheduled to be a five hour and 10 minute flight, and just after we were airborn, I had an opportunity to snap a picture from the window. It even looks great from up here.
The flight was mostly uneventful except I think Laureen had Crooked-Eyed-Larry's sister sitting beside her. How is it that the strange ones are attracted to us? Laureen did her cross stitch and I listed to some music and watched the end of a movie that I didn't finish from the previous flight. We were seated in an emergency exit row so we 'thought' we would have more leg room. I certainly did as there was not seat in front of me. but Laureen, on the other hand, was crammed into her seat and Crooked Eyed Jane was right there in the aisle. After just over 5 hours, we touched down near Hanoi, Vietnam.
After stepping off the plane, and before going through immigration here in Vietnam, there was an individual with a sign that had Laureen's name on it. This was the person to fast-track us through the immigration process - and that she did. Essentially, we were ushered to the front of the line for all of the items and in no time we were out of the airport, meeting our driver and guide, and heading into Hanoi, and to our hotel.
We arrived at the hotel and instead of standing at the counter to do your checkin/checkout processes, they sit you down on the couches in the lobby, and they come to you to sign you in. They also brought us some ginger old tea - just because. We were whisked up to our room and our luggage followed. Here is the room before our stuff expands into it.
We’ve gotten into a good rhythm of “set up” and “take down” as we move to various accommodations. One of our steps is to put our passports, cash etc. into the in-room safe. Of course we were super surprised when Curt was able to pick-up the entire strongbox. Hmmm that’s not “safe” laughing.
After we got settled, we went down to the basement restaurant for dinner. We had the entire place to ourselves. A quick shot of the food we ordered.
After dinner we went outside and walked around the streets of Hanoi near our hotel. It's really hard to describe the chaos that is happening around you. Even crossing the street is an adventure because the cars won't stop and you can get kinda trapped in the middle of the road. Our guide told us to walk slowly but with confidence. One has to weave their way through the moving traffic.
We wandered in and out of a few stores all while walking by droves of people, sitting in the sidewalk/streets on what looks like little kids plastic tables and chairs - and there are hundreds of them. We scooted through many streets, tables, traffic, people, shops and even some people with a huge plastic tub, on the sidewalk, filled with water, soapy suds and restaurant supper dishes (Yup right there on the sidewalk!). We were in somewhat of a search for Vietnamese made clothing and perhaps even some tacky tourist trinkets (Curt is specifically looking for his Vietnam baseball cap.) I would say that 95% of the street level vendors are food related and the rest would be “spas” for massage/nails, convenience food/pharmacy stores and clothing/accessory stores. But ALL of the clothing is expensive US/Euro designer clothing! Perhaps if you are able to buy this, it would show your status in society. (The average worker here only makes approximately $500US per month.) The entire area is definitely marketed to the local people not tourists. It truly was an overwhelming experience and evening walk. After spending about 30 - 60 minutes just checking the general area out, we decided to stop at a Starbucks and pick up some dessert and drinks to head back to the room and call it a night. I'm exhausted again - but I guess that is what you get when you travel!
Tomorrow is an 8:45 AM start with our first tour in Vietnam.
Curt & Laureen in Hanoi, Vietnam
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