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Other entries in Hanoi

hard to leave this city

came back to hanoi for one night before heading north to sa pa. we met up with paulina (england) - had met her on the way to ha long bay and hit it off immediately so it was cool to track her down before she heads south. had a great time immersed in girl talk!

the rest of the day was admin. I'd paid the guest house to get my laos visa - they could turn it around in one day, which was all the time I had. but at noon, I saw they still had it... never mind it's supposed to be ready in 5 hours. if I had to make it happen, it'd be impossible, but I've learned to put faith in the locals. sure enough, all worked out just fine.

next I had to get to the train station to buy my ticket to sa pa. (I refused to pay double the price that the guest house was charging.) the guest house lady even tried to warn me, "it's too much trouble, you should just get it here". whatever honey - I'll do anything to save a few $$s!

well...I got there and headed to the open window. I stood there for 5 minutes watching 3 staff people totally ignore me. I got a little of their attention. all that got was one of the women flashed 4 fingers at me. ?? oh, 4 minutes? ok, no problem. more locals start getting in line behind me. 20 minutes goes by....I realize she didn't mean 4 mins but probably that they open at 4pm. that's another 20 mins away...

but heck, I have nothing better to do with my time, so I stand and wait. plus there's this lovely cold air blowing out of their air-con office which makes this so much better than sweating on the streets......

meanwhile, even more vietnamese get in line behind me. but it's not really a line, its more like a huddled mass. by now, I've staked out MY spot first in line at the window. but the race for 2nd in line is between the girl on my right and guy on my left. both are leaning into me. clearly whoever pushes into me the most will get the next spot.

4:00 - a dude sllllooooowwwllly sets up his work space: stamps, paper, chair, fan. I make a pre-emptive move and shove my notes through the glass - necessary move to continue to claim my spot as first in line. (back off locals, I may be blond, but I waited a long time to be here - don't underestimate me!)

bingo - finally the guy takes my paper. after all that waiting, he says they have no soft-sleeper w/ air con left. no worries - during all that waiting, I had time to come up with plans a, b AND c. I already decided I'd take the hard sleeper w/no air con. plus this saves me $5 - I just hope I don't regret it.

side note on a tiny accomplishment: 5 months ago, I would have been so stressed to keep asking questions and patiently make a decision with 30 locals breathing down my neck. now, it's no prob. I even took a sec to think about my options while the girl and guy squeezed in even tighter.

so I got my ticket and said quick good byes to the girls. then it was off to find a moto-ride to the train station. well.....more drama. I walked away from 5 drivers who'd rather rip me off and miss a sale than charge something reasonable. I finally find a guy who flashes me 2 fingers for the price. "2 thousand dong?"(about 15 cents) I ask. twice. he nods. I get on.

locals pay 3 thousand so along the way I wonder how he's gonna extort this one - it IS one of those 'to good to be true' deals. he drops me off at the station, I get ALL my bags, then dig for money. I hand him 2k and just start walking - fast. I hear him protest, but I just keep assuming I'm right and don't look back. this I've learned - don't hesitate, don't make eye contact - just keep moving away.

the next day, I was telling this story to 2 canadians and they pointed out he probably meant 2 dollars, as in US. sheesh - what kind of chump did he think I was? it didn't even occur to me last night that he would quote something so outragous.

honestly, I gotta get out of viet nam. I'm having to tap into an aggressive, pushy, forcefull side of me that I just don't like. I hear bargaining in laos isn;t so intense...

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