Vietnam
Autumn 2023
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| A birthday celebration-in-style kicks off from the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long ("soaring dragon"), in Hanoi (Nov-2023) |
Journal Entry... I can't believe I have never been to Vietnam after all these years of traveling. My ignorant thinking often tells me it looks and feels the same as my home country, las islas Filipinas, which is hot, humid and crowded. Le poupee had previously traveled to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh (formerly, Saigon) & Hanoi, twice, on an office junket, and he, the winter-traveler, said, "Vietnam is hot, humid, and crowded with people and street motorcycles!" But inevitably running out of quick getaway travel locations was when a thought bubble of mine whispered, "How about Vietnam?" Well... come to think of it, I have always been fond of the brisket pho, fresh rice paper rolls, pomelo shrimp salad, stuffed chicken wings, to name a few, from #PhoHoa restaurant, in Manila. And so- Vietnam it is for my birthday trip.
4-nov: Touchdown, Hanoi. It was the earliest flight time I have ever taken throughout my years of traveling. The ideal #CebuPacific direct flight Manila-Hanoi was at 5AM, arriving Hanoi in the morning vs. PAL's 10pm flight arriving Hanoi at midnight; it's better to navigate a new city in the morning than midnight. Still, the 5AM flight meant foregoing sleep to get to the airport by 3AM, with all waking hours of the day used up for last-minute travel preparations that included leaving my neighbor's recently gifted shaggy-black toy poodle ("Molly") with the same neighbour (who gladly took back Molly for a weeklong stay.) Two-and-half flight hours later, 7:28am, it was touchdown on Vietnam's capital city, Hanoi. Hubby said, it'll be cooler in this northern part of Vietnam... but it was not in November's autumn notwithstanding it was a shy away to December's winter. Ironically, the week's weather forecast indicated a temperature drop, and of all days of the week, on the very day we are to leave Hanoi for another location, sigh.
Back to Check-in: #LaSiestaHangBe, this charming boutique hotel conveniently located in Hanoi's old city quarters. The hotel had arranged a shuttle car to pick us up from the airport; the drive to the hotel which included easing through motorcycle-ridden narrow streets of the old city quarters, after exiting the highway, took roughly 1 hour. It was 9:20am, check-in was 3pm. We left the luggage with concierge to find my first Hanoi traditional meal nearing lunch time. I was already in a floating disposition given a 24-hour lack of sleep, and being meal-deprived for not ordering a meal on the plane which the hubby said was not worth it. But first order of the day: money exchange; there were three money exchange counters at the airport, each offering low to high exchange rates, but I was sleep deprived, I could not make a decision I ended up not availing of any of it to the exasperation of the shuttle driver who was getting impatient by the minute of his waiting; I also told him I was waiting for the hubby who went searching for the counter to claim the wifi gadget he had gotten for use during our Vietnam trip at the airport and was nowhere in sight. The shuttle driver made many attempts to communicate with me through a Google translator to come follow him to the car, but I strongly glued myself to the spot where the hubby had left me with the luggage. LOL
(To be continued...)
