A Day Gone Awry

Wednesday, Aug. 39, 2006--Hanoi to Haiphong

I never sleep well when I must set the alarm for an early bus or train. I set the alarm last night for 4:50, knowing it would take 30 minutes to bathe and get out of the hotel and another 20 minutes or so to get me to the train station for my 6 a.m. train. But I slept restlessly worrying about whether the alarm would really go off. I eventually awoke and got up 10 minutes earlier than planned.

The hotel was locked up tight when I tried to leave. But one of the young men working there was sleeping on a cot by the door. He had to get up, unlock the glass doors, and raise the metal doors to let me out. It had been raining slightly, but it was dry enough by then for me to walk with no problems.

I was excited about my plan. I would arrive in Haiphong at 8:15 and would go to the ferry landing. I intended to catch a ferry to Hong Gai, a small village on Ha Long Bay, the bay with all the karst upcroppings that is always shown in films from Vietnam. I had decided on Hong Gai, because the ferry to there went by the main concentration of outcroppings saving me from having to take an organized day tour on a boat to see them.

The train ride went well. I sat with a family group of about 6 adults. The hard wooden seats (only thing available on this train) were uncomfortable. But I read a book and tried to get the time to pass without noticing too much.

I hadn't even planned to come to this part of Vietnam. Although it is a big tourist area, this is the rainy season here. I had already decided that it would be best just to avoid it and the mountain provinces north of Hanoi because of August and September being the wettest months of the year. I changed my mind after being encouraged to leave my hotel in Hanoi, because I had communicated from Texas with a couple of Vietnamese people on an Internet travel discussion board. I was lucky. Although it rained hard just before we arrived in Haiphong, it was sunny when we got here.

First, I went into the train station to plan my departure. I bought two train tickets for tomorrow--one to get me from here to Hanoi, and an overnight train to get me from there to Hue. Then I walked to the ferry landing. That's where things started falling apart. The ferries to Hong Gai had been canceled. Everyone seems to go to Kat Ba and then do the organized tour. I didn't want to take the ferry to Kat Ba, because it doesn't travel through the bay; it goes behind an island. Why should I go there for one night when I wouldn't see the upcroppings on the way and wouldn't have time to take a tour?

I decided just to stay here in Haiphong, and it was such a good decision. Haiphong is a fairly small city that is easy to get around by walking. They aren't used to tourists. The tourists pass through without stopping except to maybe each a meal before catching the ferries or buses. So all the local people were amazed to see me. They all smiled and said hello. Father's holding children would walk up to me so that the children could wave to me. It was the kind of day I really enjoy most when traveling: mingling with local people--seeing what their daily lives are like and interacting to a certain extent with them.

I ate lunch on the street. The couple were so happy to have me at their eating stall. They sat me on a short plastic stool at a small table on the sidewalk. The man immediately poured me a bia hoi (local draught beef) which I realized was best, since they didn't sell anything else to drink. The woman brought me a plate of rice noodles, a bowl of sweet vinegary sauce with slices of carrot and cucumber in it, a plate with two fried spring rolls cut into pieces, a bowl of various leaves, and a small empty bowl. I tried dipping a piece of the spring roll into the sauce, and she came over to show me what I should do. She put some noodles in the small bowl, a piece of spring roll on top of that, pulled apart some leaves and added them to that and then poured some of the sauce over it all. I ate that with the chopsticks, then I repeated the process 4-5 times until I had gotten full. The whole meal with the drink cost $1.25.

In the afternoon, I tried to explore two sites in town. One is a long communal living house. When I got there, it was closed. I got the impression it may have burned down and was being rebuilt. Anyway, it was under a cover and had been closed for about a year. From there, I walked to a pagoda temple. It was interesting to see, but photos were not allowed.

I returned to town and just walked up and down streets saying hello to people and seeing what was happening. One thing going on everywhere was that banners and flags were being hung along the streets. Sept. 2 is Vietnamese Indpendence Day, so they are preparing for the celebrations. Eventually, I stopped at a sidewalk barber and got my hair cut. He used manual hand clippers. I sat on a folding chair, and he had a mirror hanging on the concrete fence. He actually did a good job of cutting the hair, and I was impressed to see that he replaced the blade to shave my neck. People paused to watch, since it was so unusual to have a westerner getting a haircut in such a place. Cost: $.60.

As the day went along, I realized something was wrong. I was sneezing and my throat was starting to feel as if it might be getting sore. Sure enough, by bedtime I either had a cold or allergies. I'm not sure which. My head is aching and has been. Most of the discharge is clear. So I am hoping it is allergies and that it will clear up in just a few days. Maybe the open windows on the train as we passed through fields caused the reaction. But if it is a cold, I dread being sick for a week or so.

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006--Haiphong

I checked out of the hotel at 9 so the ladies could clean the room. I walked and walked looking for an Internet cafe. I knew one just two blocks from my hotel, but it was full. Eventually, I had to return to it, since I couldn't find another. I feel draggy and uncomfortable due to the cold/allergies. I must pass the time until 3 p.m. when I will catch the train. There will be a 2 hour layover in Hanoi, then I will catch a night train for Hue. It's raining down that way, and I see a low pressure system off the coast of southern Vietnam. I've been lucky so far, I hope I don't arrive to days of raining. And I hope that the Independence Day celebrations don't cause a problem getting a hotel when I arrive tomorrow. Will just have to see.