It’s been a day on the road....planes, trains, and automobiles....they all made their way into the mix. Morning dawned with a special treat as we stood on the sidewalk in front of our hotel in Hong Kong. It was that famous moment from the Forrest Gump movie where there is a random feather floating from the sky. Our random feather took the form of a piece of paper that came from nowhere.....it made its way around the corner and sat at around the second story height for several seconds before it continued it’s journey down the middle of the street above the traffic in our direction. Eventually, it twisted and swirled its way right onto the sidewalk at our feet! We were all just standing their watching it happen...none of us really believing what we had just witnessed. As we marvelled at the event and as unbelievable as this may sound a second paper just like the first made almost exactly the same journey to join it’s friend in front of us. Unanimously we decided that this had to be a sign! A sign that we were in for an excellent day!
Vincent arrived with our taxi and we all piled in. It would take us about an hour to get to the airport and this time our cost was 1/2 of what we’d paid for the first ride. What a difference it makes to be able to book directly with the person rather than going through a service! So for $400 HKD (about $20 CAD each) we were chauffeured from door to door in style - just as we deserve! :-). As well, Vincent was in a talkative mood this morning and so we learned a couple of interesting tidbits along the way too. For example, did you know that when someone dies here (and assuming they’re not super rich) they will be cremated and their ashes held for up to 10 years in a government plot. The family will pay rent for that 10 years while they save enough money to purchase their own plot of land for the ashes to reside permanently. In years past families would always purchase land for their loved ones in Hong Kong but more recently (and as land prices have further escalated) they’ve been purchasing land in Mainland China. To make this even more interesting, the companies who manage the burial plots have instituted artificial intelligence that enables the Hong Kong residents to “visit” their loved one from the comfort of their own home! They just dial up the burial site and ask the cameras to point at their person’s plot and voila....they can have a virtual visit! And to think we can’t even vote online in our municipal election in Summerland while we’re away! Another thing Vincent told us is that gas in HK is about $5/litre which makes our $1.40’ish look pretty darn good! He also explained that most drivers like him choose to make 6 round trips to the airport every day whereas he chooses to make just 3. This allows him to maintain some balance in his life whereas his colleagues are stressed to the max and often involved in accidents simply because of the number of additional hours they spend on the road. Another interesting tidbit was that both luxury and subsidized housing are interspersed throughout the city, including the waterfront. We saw buildings right across the street from one another that were at both ends of the cost per month scale. On a personal note, Vincent has 2 sons. He described this as his “greatest disappointment”. When we questioned him on that he said it was because sons have to look after their sons NOT their fathers whereas daughters are more likely to look after their parents. As a result Vincent says he is saving like crazy to look after himself in his old age. LOL!
Once at the HK airport we located a spot for Gail to get her final burger of the trip. She was eyeing up McDonalds until Lynda spied a designer burger place that had beef from Scotland and ketchup from England and fries that had been double fried! In the end...that place won out over McD’s and so we spent the rest of our HKD on a lunch that was delish! On the downside, we’d all requested our burger be well done but as luck would have it Gail’s wasn’t so she sent it back. Unfortunately they have a policy that says they have to make it over from scratch soooo....in the end, she had mere minutes to eat her lunch. It’s likely finished her for hamburgers forever. LOL. Well....maybe not forever. We’re teasing her now suggesting that she will likely convert to a fish eater before this adventure is done.
We all climbed on board our Vietnam Airlines flight to Hanoi happy to be on our way and with full bellies to boot. The flight was supposed to take 2 hours but prior to take off the pilot announced that they estimated it would be just 1 1/2 hours to our arrival. Wahoo! And then they started serving us all a full hot meal! Yikes! None of us could even eat it which was sad as the taste of it we did have was delicious and that is not typical for airplane meals!
After a smooth flight we arrived in Hanoi and of course had to hit the toilet. There was a woman in line who said it is worth it to stand in the queue on this side of immigration as the ones on the other side are not nearly as nice (or clean). Hearing this we happily stood in the queue! Once we left the washroom we discovered that somehow everyone else had disappeared! It was as though we were the only people in the airport. It was a combination of creepy and fantastic. We took our time meandering the rest of the way to immigration where both Gail and Lynda got hit on. Seriously, I’m not joking! He even gave Lynda his phone number! Good thing he didn’t decide to “detain” them for nefarious purposes! LOL!
Our taxi from the airport into Hanoi was driven by a guy named Kip who spoke almost no English but who was a GREAT driver. He started our hour long journey by giving us each a complimentary bottle of cooled water. We were happy for it and were also happy that the taxi would cost us a total of $30 CAD. We’re thinking Vietnam is going to be a whole bunch more affordable than Hong Kong! Wahoo!
Kip dropped us at a restaurant called Quad An Ngon as it had been recommended by the girl in the info booth at the airport. It was especially attractive as it was within walking distance of the train station we’d need to find our way to in time for our 9:30 pm train. Kip stopped the car half on the sidewalk and half on the road. Used to the traffic here he just hopped out of his door and then opened the back door for Gail to get out into traffic too! Eeeek! All she said as she left the vehicle was “tell my kids that I love them” as she was pretty certain sure death was imminent! In the end she survived though and we all had a good laugh over the differences we’ve already noticed since arriving in Vietnam.
This restaurant we were dropped at was amazing! The owner rounded up all the best street food vendors around the city and put them under one roof - his restaurant. Then it was just a matter of hiring excellent quality wait staff, creating a space where diners could still see the street cooks in action, keep prices low, and voila....a super success was born. Supposedly there is another one in Saigon so others must love the concept as much as I do.
After our delicious dinner we dragged our cases over the uneven sidewalks, dodged holes, avoided puddles and mud, and managed to make it all the way to the train station (about a 15 minute walk) without getting hit by a car or motor bike. I did almost manage to get hit by a bus on the final street crossing in front of the train station but as I’m still here to type this you know that I managed to dodge that guy too. :-)
Crossing the street here is an art. Crosswalks are merely a suggestion and the rule of thumb is that once you start across the street you pretty much have to just keep going. Folks who’ve spent significant time here say the one thing you must never do is to stop part way across!
So now we are in the train station waiting room with tickets in hand for the 9:30 pm departure to Lao Cai (the stop nearest to SaPa), with a scheduled arrival time of 5:30 a.m. The train station in Hanoi is spacious, clean, and bright. Probably not enough seating during peak times but tonight it is just fine for us. We are booked into car number 6 and our train will come in on track number 6. We’re all feeling excited to get moving on this next leg of the adventure.
Next missive will be from SaPa.
Darlorlyngai
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