24 July 2018, Tuesday
At 9:15am this morning, I went for breakfast at my hostel. I paid only US$8 for one night’s stay and breakfast was included, what a steal! It was typical Vietnamese fare of omelette, baguette, a banana and hot coffee. Simple but appetising. When in Vietnam, I simply love to eat the baguette because it is always so soft and fluffy.
I then collected my clean laundry, which was washed and dried overnight. The laundry was charged by weight and I paid about US$2 for my six pieces of garments, weighing 1.5kg altogether. I checked out of my room at 10:00am, deposited my big backpack at the reception and headed out. My overnight bus to Hoi An would only depart at 7:00pm this evening so I still had a full day free to explore Hanoi.
Upon opening my wallet, I discovered that I was running low on Vietnamese Dong so I walked to Hàng Bạc Street nearby to exchange some currency. It is useful to note that there are no traditional moneychangers in Hanoi. You will have to find one of those jewellery shops at Hàng Bạc Street in order to exchange your currency. I only learned about this when I asked the friendly staff at my hostel. For my US$50, I obtained VND 1,156,000, which works out to a rate of US$1 = VND 23,120. It’s so easy to be a millionaire in Vietnam!
After that, I walked around the Old Quarter, just to look around without any real intention to buy anything. I had already burst my shopping budget yesterday when I bought a “replica” The North Face duffel bag for VND 300,000 (S$18) and several pieces of the fruit apparels that were being sold everywhere. It was hard keeping to my daily expenditure budget of S$80.
To further curb my tendency to splurge on more shopping, I decided to look for a nice place to have coffee to pass time. I managed to find a no-frills café that was patronised by several locals – always a good sign. I paid VND 20,000 (S$1.20) for my cup of cà phê sữa đá and perched myself upon one of those red plastic low stools. This was the quintessential Vietnamese experience…to sip on strong, sweet, iced milk coffee while sitting on a plastic stool, watching the world go by outside.
After that, I thought I’d go for a swim since it had been some time since I last swam. I took a GrabBike to Bể bơi Bách Khoa (Back Khoa swimming pool) but it was closed at the time of my visit. I then walked to Vincom Center Ba Trieu, one of the larger and more modern shopping malls in Hanoi.
I went to the cinema to see what movies were playing. There happened to be a screening of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again starting in 10 minutes’ time so I quickly bought a ticket. It cost VND 100,000 (S$6.00), which was VND 35,000 more expensive than what I paid for The Incredibles II at the National Cinema Center yesterday.
I can’t say I enjoyed the movie tremendously. I had of course, watched the first Mamma Mia! movie and I wasn’t very impressed by the actors’ singing. The sequel was more of the same and it was just as uninspiring. It might be unfairly harsh to compare the actors’ singing to ABBA’s, but if you want to make a movie about ABBA’s incredible catalogue of music, then you gotta do it right. Nevertheless, watching the movie brought back sweet memories of my time in Stockholm when I visited the ABBA Museum. Bring me back to Sweden!
After that, I took to a GrabBike to another swimming pool, Bể Bơi Thái Hà. Thankfully, it was open. I paid VND 50,000 (S$3.00) for admission and another VND 10,000 for a basket to safekeep my valuables. There were no lockers but there was an attendant who took charge of guarding the baskets, somewhat like a concierge service. The pool was very old and run down but at least the water was clean. It felt good to clock up some laps. The little bit of exercise gave me an excuse to eat more good food!
At 4:30pm, I took another GrabBike back to the Old Quarter (I love GrabBike!). After some more last-minute shopping (I couldn’t resist buying more of the fruity apparels), I looked around for a place to have dinner. I was craving for beef pho but I just couldn’t find it. Contrary to popular belief, beef pho is not that common in Hanoi. I only managed to find a stall selling chicken pho so I settled for that instead. It was a small eatery and the bowl of chicken pho cost VND 40,000 (S$2.40). Food is very affordable in Hanoi, if you choose to eat where the locals eat at.
After dinner, I made my way back to my hostel. As it was going to be an overnight bus journey, I thought it best to stock up on some food supplies. I bought a bottle of 1-litre mineral water and some buns from the convenience store. At 6:43pm, a minibus arrived at my Cocoon Inn hostel to send me to the bus interchange. Along the way, we picked up a few travellers from other hostels.
We boarded the bus at Ngã 3 Trần Quang Khải at about 7:00pm. Before going on board, we had to remove our shoes and put them in the plastic bag provided, and carry it up the bus with us. This was so as not to dirty the bus, which I thought was a good idea.
It was a single-storeyed bus but I had never seen anything like it before. There were three columns of seats separated by two aisles. Each column had a lower deck and an upper deck, accessible by a short ladder. As it was meant to be a sleeper bus, the seats were cushioned and shaped like reclining beds.
I was assigned to a window seat on the lower deck, which was on the same level as the floor (that’s why they wanted us to keep our dirty shoes in plastic bags). The seat was heavily reclined and the default was a down lying position. You can bring the backrest up slightly but it won’t be 90 degrees upright, so it’s really more for sleeping. However, you can use the moveable cushion to prop against your lower back so that you can sit in a more comfortable upright position. There was also a blanket provided. The legroom was quite sufficient but taller people will probably find that it is not enough to stretch their legs fully.
We moved off at 7:13pm but soon made a stop at Trần Khát Chân at 7:25pm, where an attendant came on board to check our tickets. We moved off again at 7:36pm, but encountered a very bad traffic jam when we tried to get out of the city. I still prefer to take trains because you will never be stuck in traffic.
At 9:46pm, we made a stop at Ninh Bình province, where we had a 30-minute toilet and meal break. Strangely, I was hungry again so I bought another bowl of pho to last me through the night. I managed to find beef pho this time.
After moving off at 10:17pm, I soon fell asleep but was woken up again at 1:00am, when we stopped briefly along the roadside at Cửa Lò. Here, a few locals came on board. However, the bus was the already full and there were no more seats, so they slept on the floor along the aisles. It was probably an informal arrangement by the bus driver to earn some extra pocket money. I drifted back to sleep as the bus rolled on, slowly making our way towards Hoi An…