3 1/2 hours later, multiple water buffalo, rice paddies and death defying car passings, we were deposited back at the curb of the Essence Hotel in Hanoi. It had only been 2 days, but it seemed like a lifetime ago that we were on this same street, getting ready to head to Halong Bay. We were not flying back to Singapore until the following day, so we had a little less than 24 hours to kill prior to that. Unlike the planning of the past 7 days, we were now improvising with minimal to do's ahead.First stop - lunch! We hadn't eaten anything since the breakfast on the boat and suddenly no one was bringing us food anymore. The decision for what we wanted to eat was easy, finding the right location was a different question completely. We had been in Vietnam for 72 hours and had had plenty of pho, but no banh mi sandwiches. Our hotel receptionist was helpful enough to point us in the right direction and we were off, weaving our way through the old quarter of Hanoi, avoiding motorbikes and crossing streets with no regard to crosswalks. Did we get lost? Yep. Did we eventually stumble into a tiny little shop with chairs that would be better suited for a child's tea place set vs. 6 Americans having lunch? Yep. Everyone ate at least half of their sandwiches full of pork, pickled vegetables, spices and of course someone's favorite, liver pate. Not as good as the banh mi we had in Ho Chi Minh City, but I would still walk 10 miles through a hot, sticky jungle for the bread the sandwich came on.
Re-energized, we split up. The shoppers went one direction, the historians went another direction. Our goal, find the Hanoi Hilton. Unfortunately most of the museums were already closed, but we thought we could at least see the famous prison. What is really incredible is its right in the middle of the city. On top of that, it just looks like a random yellow building. If there weren't signs out front, you would never even know what it was. 60 seconds of staring and taking a few photos, it was back to dodging traffic, sidewalks and turn signals both being optional and back to the hotel for a refreshing cold drink before dinner.Dinner was at a teaching restaurant for disadvantaged children. This had the double advantage of money going towards a good cause and they served some western food so certain individuals could order a panini if they so chose. The taxi ride over was of course an adventure in and of itself. We needed a 'big' taxi to fit us all in which turned out to be something slightly larger than a Mini Cooper with a 3rd row of seats in the trunk. Somehow the driver was able to honk the horn, talk on his phone, shift, listen to music and signal for turns when he felt like it the whole way there. My conclusion, he had to have a friend on his lap that was lending him a pair of arms to help pull this feat off. Either that, or a Hindu deity was our Vietnamese cabbie for dinner. The food was excellent, mango cheesecake and chocolate ice cream for dessert, and we even walked away with a hat as a souvenir. I was instructed to add one to the tab if it was less than $10.... $4.80 fit the bill quite nicely. So keep on the lookout for a KOTO black cap in Minnesota (Know One Teach One) that may look like its 10,000 miles from home.
Before heading to the airport the next day we had to make one final shopping excursion. After dinner we had sat up having a few drinks and learned about the cheap spices, coffee and other items we had missed out on. Walking down the twisting, winding roads our resourceful guide (Sarah) somehow found the spice shop they had been at the afternoon before. 15 minutes later we had our cinnamon and Vietnamese coffee (which lasted about 4 days when we got home, it was delicious) and were off in search of a duffel bag. Too many souvenirs had resulted in a lack of space for the flight back. The first shop we stopped at had just opened and offered to sell us a 'North Face' bag. I can confirm it was a North Face bag because sure enough, it said North Face on it. Who cares if they only wanted $35 for it? We shrugged our shoulders and then a 'Nike' bag came flying in on a frozen rope from left field..... or from grandma on the 2nd floor of the shop house, it was a multi-generational family operation. This one was a little more expensive and larger, not what we needed We went back to the North Face and started negotiating, meaning the calculator came out. What started off around $35 (700,000 Vietnamese Dong) ended up being around $15. Given there were smiles all around, I'm sure we got ripped off, but then again, we did score a North Face bag on the cheap, wink wink.
Goodies and bag in tow it was back to the hotel for one last round of chocolate croissants before flying back to Singapore. Successful first week touring around Asia, 99% complete.
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