Back in Hanoi

by laur3xplores

Back in Hanoi

Friday 20 January 2012:

We got back pretty late, a bit past dinnertime. We returned to Splendid Star Classic Hotel, where they booked us into room 403. I was hoping we’d get the same room, but that was booked already. What we got instead is a shoddy room. The walls were covered in mold, and the bathroom was not as nice, the TV cable was loosely plugged into the faulty outlet which created a bad connection to the channels. After the long bus ride, I was tired and cranky, also hungry. To get this sort of room was the last straw. I was unhappy, and went to ask for another room. Duy went to see the room, and tried to fix the TV, and insisted that is was not mold, but was something that usually happens when it rains. He apologised and asked us to have sympathy…all the rooms were booked and there was nothing else they could do. It was Tet Holiday and so they can’t call in people to come in and fix it. The hotel members have been kind and helpful before, so I did not make a bigger deal out of it. Their service continued to be great. Duy was really helpful for the remainder of our stay, especially when we had to go to the train station to Sapa.

We walked around looking for a place to eat, I ended up getting Banh Mi Pate, and Ryan got Nem Nuong from the street corner of our hotel. Most Restaurants were closed by the time we were on the hunt. Street food is delicious. We did not get sick from it at all from the trip, contrary to my mother’s warnings.

Saturday 21 January 2012

Ryan and I spent the day walking around the Old Quarter, and found 69 Cafe Restaurant for brunch. What I ordered was so-so. I ordered Hanoi Special Soup, and a Tofu dish. Ryan got duck with Rice.

There were lots of Tet preparations going on in the Old Quarter.

We hung out by Hoan Kiem Lake for awhile, checking out the Ngoc Son Temple that had an encased stuffed lake turtle that weighs 250 kg. Ryan took many pictures of the Thap Rua (Tortoise Tower) that stands in the middle of the lake.

We had dinner at our favorite place (even though Ryan got food poisoning from a dish there) Quan An Ngon. We lucked out because it was the last day for it to open before closing for several days for Tet holiday.