The plane was twin propped with leather seats, you even got a small snack and coffee for this one hour service to Hanoi, my sickness pills now kicking in.
Takeoff was smooth and soon we were heading north east. What awaited us when we dropped out of the clouds was disappointing - rain; the first we'd seen since leaving England. It was very humid though as we trooped down the stairs off the aircraft so the air conditioning was welcome as we entered the terminal off the shuttle bus. It was an ultra modern building and operation, the Vietnamese have obviously been busy these past few years.
There was a fairly long wait to go through immigration as we joined the queue for FOREIGNERS but no hassle once it was your turn. There wasn't a requirement to buy a visa but the 15 day stamp we were given in the passport meant we would have to reasses our agenda in Vietnam. Once through and baggage claimed (quickly) our next priority was money.
The ATM's in the arrival hall were a nightmare as some of them had run out of money. Others didn't work with one of my cards and, as we found out later, that bank stopped the card despite me informing them where I was. Eventually we found another set of machines and managed to draw out 2 million dong - we were rich! Well £62.75 rich. Next priority was a taxi but even though the airport was modern it looked like the usual scrum for transport outside.
It worked in our favour that we'd had to search for a cash machine as our little wander had taken us near to the official tourist information centre. Efficient women in traditional costumes guided us through the taxi booking process, reminding us it was safer booking through them because of the amount of scam taxis operating out of the airport. We then had a stroke of luck.
One of the advisors was being given a lift into Hanoi after her shift. Following her out we were guided into an air conditioned mini van with leather chairs, tv and mini bar. Our half hour drive into the city was much smoother and luxurious - thanks a lot to the tourist info staff.
The drive at first was incident free as we were whisked in on the motorway. Our first impressions were of the greenery from all the crops and rice paddies as water buffalo grazed and drank in the humid and damp fields. The so far smooth ride came to a halt when we drove off into the suburbs, suddenly we came to a halt.
It seemed every bus, car, taxi and motor scooter was heading in the same direction. Those that weren't were cutting across us making it impossible to attain any progress. Somehow though we did start to edge forward through the roads flanked by grey, damp, miserable looking houses and businesses. Hanoi looked at this stage, an ugly city.
Finally we entered the Old Quarter where the French influence of architecture and street design smacked you firmly in the face, as did the gridlocked traffic. How on earth would we get across those streets?
Our hotel was the Royal Palace on Hang Bong Rd, right on a busy intersection, first mission, get across the street with all our bags to the lobby. That achieved we were greeted by Mr Son the hotel manager. He welcomed us and within minutes we had a welcoming cup of coffee in our hands and somehow he had managed to book us two days on a Ha Long Bay cruise, arrange our train ticket for Da Nang three days later and issue us the all important wi-fi code, what a man! He escorted us to our sixth floor room and left us to our own devices.
The rooms and general look of the place can be described as tired and faded but the place makes up for it in the friendliness and efficiency of all the staff. The view down from our room to the almost carnage down below is worth the tariff but the windows remained closed to keep out the incessant noise of the tooting horns.
Our plans were flexible now that Mr Son had done all the donkey work regarding our cruise and train journey. The only priority we had now was lunch and the all important survival lesson on the streets of Hanoi.
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