Leaving Korea/Arriving in Vietnam

Saturday, Aug. 26, 2006--Busan (Continued)

I found another local restaurant near my hotel and had fantastic meal, although what I had is questionable. The owner actually had an English language menu. What she recommended and what I ate was named "Hangover Chasing Broth." It was a tomato-meat broth with vegetables and backbone sections with meat. As usual, it was served with a large variety of side dishes. I got almost totally full just eating the broth and the rice. The more I think about it, however, I wonder if I ate dog meat. As I was eating it, I couldn't place the meat. It had the texture somewhat of chicken, but it was on backbones cut in half that had a diameter of maybe 1 inch (2.5 cm). It wasn't beef. What other animal that is eaten would have that size of backbone? I didn't have a hangover for it to chase, but the taste was delicious whatever the meat was. And it was so spicy that it made my eyes water. A Korean guy at the next table eating the same broth was huffing and wiping his forehead from the heat it was generating in his body.

Sunday, Aug. 27, 2006, Gyeongju to Inchon Airport to Hanoi

Rain was forecast for the day. I got to the station at 8:30, just 5 minutes before it started. It was a good day to be traveling; I wouldn't have enjoyed being out seeing sights in that weather.

The ticket to the airport was more than I expected (more than the tourist office had said it would be)--about $37 for the 5-hour bus trip. But it got me all the way to the airport in bad weather without having to change anywhere or worry about connections. I still had 5 hours before my flight when I got there. I explored the airport and bought a small bag of cookies with my leftover coins--the first dessert I had eaten in about 10 days! I also exchanged my remaining Korean won bills for Thai baht. I could have gotten dollars, but that would have been more expensive in the long run; while paying to change money, I might as well pay once and get another currency that I know that I will be needing to buy along the way.

Hanoi Aiport is fairly new, but it seems to be degrading fast. It must not have been good construction. Or in small countries like this, there is sometimes corruption in the contracting that leaves the country with a poor building the contractor with extra money in his pocket that should have gone into the job. There was no problem going through immigration and customs, but there would have been if I hadn't gotten my visa in advance; Vietnam does not give visas at the border or airports.

I headed to an ATM I had read that would be available and it wouldn't take my credit card. As I looked around, I saw a bank of other ATMS representing various banks across the way. (The guildebook had indicated there would be only one, so I almost panicked before I saw the others.) I went to them and chose one that takes VISA. It said it was out of money. Then I tried the only other one in that cluster that said it would take VISA, and it, too, rejected my request! I looked around. Unbelievably, there was another cluster of ATMS (there must be at least 20 machines in that small airport lobby) further away. I tried ANZ, a Japanese bank I have used before, and was rejected again. About to give up hope, I tried Citibank. For a fee that isn't usually charged on credit card cash withdrawals, I got 3,000,000 dong. That's a little less than $200 U.S. How relieved I was to have local money.

I didn't know whether to expect a driver or not. I had told the hotel not to send one. But the confirmation voucher I got from them said that a driver would be waiting for me with my name on a board for the $10 fare that is the normal taxi charge. When I came out of customs to go to the ATM, there was no driver, but we had arrived 50 minutes earlier than scheduled. After my ATM ordeal, it was within 10 minutes of our scheduled arrival. But there still was no driver. I waited until 5 minutes past our expected arrival before feeling safe to go ahead and take a taxi.

As the guidebook had forewarned, a friend of the drivers was asked to come along after I had paid for the taxi. So he got a "free" ride. Fortunately, the detour to drop him off was only half a block off the route to bring me to my hotel. Best of all, the taxi driver didn't speak English well. Why is that so good? In countries like this, the normal procedure is for the taxi driver to spend the time getting to town (45 minutes of driving time while you are trapped in the taxi with them) explaining how bad the economy is, how difficult it is for people to make ends meet in the country, how he has to pay almost all of the taxi fare he gets to rent the car from the company, etc., in hopes of getting a big tip. For me, it is a real turnoff. I felt much better about tipping the guy last night for keeping his trap shut!! The other tactic that I avoided because of his lack of English was the push to get me to hire him for the day while I am here to take me around town privately to see the sights. It actually was a quite pleasant ride!!!

We came down wide boulevards and through elegant sections of town on the way to the Old Quarter where my hotel is. Here, it's anything but that. The streets are narrow and twist and wind like a maze. Even the driver had trouble finding my hotel. But he did find it avoiding something else my guidebook warned me about--drivers who try to take you elsewhere that gives them a kickback on rooms by telling you that your hotel has gone out of business.

My room is nice! The whole building, like all buildings in the Old Quarter is narrow. My room represents the width of the building, and there is only a narrow space to walk along the end of my bed which butts a side wall. But it is a long room. And it has molded plaster ceilings with an elegant light fixture and nice sconces on the walls. The bed is good. It's European style--two twin beds pushed together to make a double. I have a big TV with cable, a mini-fridge, a nice a/c with temperature control, etc. All that for $13 per night.

I stayed up another hour watching TV, because there was an Australian Football League (Footie) game on. I like watching that sport, and I seldom get to see it. Freemantle, a town I've visited, was mopping up the other team.

Monday, Aug. 28, 2006--Hanoi

Wow! I've definitely left rather quiet Korea which had heavy window coverings. At 5 a.m., the street noise began. And by 5:30, light was streaming through the thin curtains in my room. Although it's a nice room, there is no way to keep out that noise and light. I pulled out my shaving kit to get my earplugs, and that helped. Tonight, I will pull out my sleeping mask and use both it and the plugs so I can sleep later.

The neighborhood here (Old Quarter) is alive with people who live and work on the sidewalks during the daytime. Pedestrians are forced into the streets with all the beeping motorcycles (which have replaced all the bicycles which we used to see in photos of Hanoi). Getting around isn't too bad, however. Because of my experiences in Myanmar, Brazil, and other places, I've learned how to cross the street at a steady pace and let the drivers avoid me (rather than trying to avoid them myself and creating chaos as far as they are concerned). So I walked and walked and walked this morning. I wasn't sure, after twisting and turning several times, if I would find my way back, but I kept going. I watched people and looked in shop windows in the Old Quarter. I arrived at Kiem Lake and sat and enjoyed the serenety. I walked most of the way around it to the French Quarter. Then I walked block after block admiring the architecture of the wonderful old buildings (including the beautiful opera house) in that part of town. Eventually, I realized I was on a street that would lead me directly back to my hotel, so I returned here around noon to nap and relax.

I haven't eaten yet today other than the breakfast served by the hotel. Today, I had eggs and toast and the tang they serve instead of real orange juice. But tomorrow, I will have the Vietnamese noodles with beef. More on this afternoon and that in a later post.

Spending Update for Korea: I traveled a total of 9 days and spent $403.74 for a daily average of $44.86.