Part 12. Hanoi. Only the old city.
We were very few in Hanoi.
We had only one evening and one morning, so we did not see skyscrapers and parks, we lived in the old city and saw Hanoi just like that - old and trashy.
photo by Igor Titov
First, as you remember, we went looking for coffee with an egg and found it in a colorful alley
That is, this is the very center of tourist life
When I showed these photos to my friend, she said: "Everyone sees what they want to see. I saw Vietnam not like that. " I also saw Vietnam differently, but it was Hanoi that turned out like this for me. Perhaps I want to warn my readers against the euphoria with which I could unwittingly infect them. Vietnam is not a park of culture and recreation. This is an unusual, alien world, with its own problems and its own rules. It's dirty and poor here. At least in the very center of the capital of Vietnam, it was exactly like that.
I really wanted to sit in such an authentic place, but my fellow travelers did not consider such places safe. Therefore, we found a compromise - there will be small stools, but there will be no food) We went to drink beer at the Green Pepper Beer Corner on Ta Hien Street, 27.
There are a lot of tourists here and it's probably safe.
photo by Igor Titov
We ordered beer and nuts. Nuts are delivered sealed. Here I discovered, or rather summarized, an interesting feature of Vietnamese public catering - the Wi-Fi password almost always repeats the name of the network.
Girls in white are holding some kind of cigarette action. But they don't suit anyone. They stand, smile and write something down.
As soon as we sat down, the police drove up, some kind of movement began, several rows of guests were raised and quickly collected stools - once, once, once, immediately swept the asphalt and as if nothing had happened. The police left, the stools were set up again and again, the guests sat down and the festivities continued)
After sitting down with beer and nuts, we go to the night market.
The market is long, there are a lot of sweets and so, little by little - souvenirs, T-shirts, pajamas. Reminds me of Bangkok.
It's good that you don't have to rush anywhere. We pushed around the center more.
photo by Igor Titov
How do you like the vehicle? )
There, in the distance, is the Lake of the Returned Sword.
I'm impressed by the architecture of the old center. As if the houses were just built one on top of the other. Some buildings look very flimsy. But this is the north, here the temperature sometimes drops to 5 degrees Celsius.
The day is over, it's time for us to sleep, because dawn is scheduled for tomorrow at the Lake of the Returned Sword.
In the morning I woke up neither light nor dawn, and since Ira refused to go to the lake so early, I decided to wait for Igor in the hall. The elevator comes to the 2nd floor (or 1.5 floors), I confidently go down the stairs, and the staff is sleeping in the lobby. I quietly once-time and crept back to the elevator. I sat down on the steps and sat) And when we, five minutes later, the two of us went down, everything was cleaned and the administrator, smiling, wished us a pleasant walk. They are so cute in this hotel! )
Why did we go to meet the dawn on the lake? At first, we really hoped to see the dawn, since we were on the west coast. And secondly, many Hanoi people come to the Lake of the Returned Sword in the morning to... do exercises! We also really wanted to see them)
photo by Igor Titov
Pleasant music sounds from old tape recorders, people, in small groups, make synchronous, unhurried movements. It would be nice to sit here and watch. Or join them) But a nasty light rain was falling and visibility was very poor, and for some reason I wanted to get out of there.
And we never saw the dawn. It was foggy.
I go on alone, Igor goes to sleep, he will still have time to walk around the city. And Ira and I are flying to Phu Quoc Island at 12 o'clock, so at 9 o'clock I should already be at the hotel. There are about two hours to see the street, which I really wanted to see. Many tourists visiting Hanoi do not even know about it, and many are not actually interested in it. I'm talking about the street where the train goes.
I didn't manage to film the train itself, I got a little lost and walked back and forth along the railway line, so I only saw the train from the side. But on the other hand, I know for sure that trains run there) And people live. Food is prepared, as is customary in Hanoi, right on the street.
Children play here.
Cockerel tied by the leg.
Neighbors are sitting, talking)
Regular life in Hanoi.
photo by Igor Titov
This street is located here: https: / /www. google. com. ua/maps/dir/21.0301059, 105.8440331//@21.0301022, 105.8435825, 19z
The train left at about 7.10. I was told that there is still at 15.20.
photo from the Internet.
I was already in a hurry to go home, have breakfast and get ready. I am very sorry that we spent so little time in Hanoi. And that they didn’t see parks and skyscrapers)
But I am even more sorry that I cannot find and show you many photographs of a cat tied to a post, next to a girl who was squatting peeling green onions right on the sidewalk; office workers in formal suits eating Pho soup while sitting on small plastic chairs; a hen with chicks having fun in a pile of grass next to a dense wall of motorcycles; the manyusenky railway station and a picturesque road to it through the market, which, again, occupied the sidewalk. What a beautiful fish there was!
I have no idea where exactly these photos have gone.
I got to the railway station when I was looking for a street with a train. I showed the picture to everyone I met and they pointed me in the direction. While staggering around the station, I met seasoned tourists who immediately understood what I wanted and showed and told (oh, if I still understood them)) where to go and where to look. There, at the station, I forgot my camp windbreaker with the inscriptions Ukraine and Euro2012, found it halfway through and was terribly upset. Just a couple of days ago, in Hoi An, I so forgot the raincoat, which also served me faithfully for many years, such a good raincoat from the Singapore bird park... in general, I decided to return for a windbreaker) I approached a motorcyclist dozing on his motorcycle and offered him a ride to the railway station, showed me on the map exactly where I needed to go. He took me there with pleasure, that's just mine: "ah um comeback to minutes" did not understand or did not want to understand and left. I took my windbreaker (yes, no one touched it, I lay quietly on a bench, next to the station) and stomped again on foot. Probably it was possible to catch another motorcyclist, but now it was hard for me to show on the map where I needed to. I walk back, and "my" motorcyclist is already sweeping the sidewalk at the same place where we first met)
In general, the Vietnamese are busy all the time. It's amazing how dirty it is around here. After all, they are constantly cleaning something.
This is what the market looked like.
photo by Igor Titov
In the next episode, Phu Quoc Island is a Vietnamese bounty.
Whole cycle:
1. Preface to the story of my trip to Vietnam
2. Morning in the middle of the night or Hello Comrade Beijing!
3. Ho Chi Minh City is delicious.
4. Part 4. Ho Chi Minh City-Dalat.
5. Part 5. What would a day be like if it started in a madhouse?
6. Part 6. Da Nang. Marble mountains.
7. Part 7. The soulful city of Hoi An.
8. Part 8. Why did they destroy Michonne?
9. Part 9. By air, by sea, by land.
10. Part 10. Must see. Halong bay.
