The trip to Trung's home town began early. We left the Silver at 7:50 and cabbed it to the bus station. That in itself was a treat. Even though I have spent 9 weeks total in Vietnam, every day is still an adventure. We missed the VIP bus that was pulling away as we walked towards the bus station. The bus was very nice and it was difficult to hear anything over the constant blaring of the horn. I still have not discovered why these people have to bleep so much; the time they may lose following someone "slow" for a few minutes is more than made up as congestion subsides.
The trip took about 2.5 hours for a mere 50,000 VND each. We winded our way through very populated countryside. The terrain looked vaguely familiar then Trung reminded me this was the route we followed for 60% of our trip to Halong Bay. The bus stopped every 20 metres to pick up and discharge clientele. The road to Hai Phong and Halong Bay finally split and about 20 minutes later the thick of the city appeared. Just like every other voyage I have had in Vietnam, Hai Phong is a bustling metropolis in the midst of 6,000,000 small towns along the way. It is the 4th largest in Vietnam after HCMC, Hanoi and Da Nang. We hopped another bus for the 20 minute trek to the end of Hai Phong where the family lives. That was a much busier ride since the bus was urban rather than trans city.
We embarked from the bus and walked for about 10 minutes, arriving at Chez Trung. The house fronts on a not very busy road. I met the little sister, grandma, grandpa, the wife, and naturally the niece who is 1 and the princess who is 0. If I were not such a Carlin fan, I would say the niece is 18 months and the baby 3 months. George insisted that babies are only N years old ... there's nothing measured in months, thank-you very much. Then the festivities started. The food arrived and arrived and arrived ... it was a lovely seafood hot pot with yummy mackerel, squid, and shrimp chased with boiled greens. I stuffed myself. Trung told me how much his Mother likes to cook and I said that was good 'cause i really like to eat :).
The baby let me hold her but after a few minutes she freaked when she noticed who was holding her. We visited for some time after lunch then Trung and I departed on his Yamaha for a hotel hunt. We stopped at a monument in Ho Chi Minh bay on the Red Sea. The unknown boats would depart from here during the war probably to wreak havoc on the south. We went to the casino resort hotel that had actually 0 guests but the front desk lady insisted on 98++ anyways. We headed back a bit and just before the road pulls away from the sea, I grabbed a room for 40++ which is more my speed. Trung will pick me up here at 4 and to will go into the city. He mentioned how honored his family is to have the foreigner ever in their house ... I am the one who should be and is honoured. More to come ...
So I parked myself by the street where the driveway to the hotel starts and had a beer and a nap waiting for Trung. It was cool and just across the street from the Red Sea. The tide was on the way in; it's quite a distance here between low and high tide. I was picked up at 4 and the trek to Hai Phong began. It was about 25 km into the heart of the city where we were headed. I have never done that much traveling on the back of a 150cc Yamaha and it was long (and sore you know where). With time we started to travel through more urban landscape and the bikes got denser as did the people. We stopped at a pagoda for a bit then drove around the city for more than an hour.
We saw the opera house, as well as just about anything else one would want to see on a quick jaunt through Hai Phong. Just like Hanoi, it was motorbike everywhere. The streets of course in the old city were very narrow and only a handful of bikes could fit side by each. I guess the national unit of measurement in Vietnam is the MBW ... motor bike width. The street I live on is a good 35 mbw as are most large streets.
We grabbed a few beers at a street bar and it was Bia Hoi, a very nice draft and close relative of Bia Hanoi. We chowed down on some calamari sticks while downing the ales. The streets were very busy and we enjoyed watching the pulse of Hai Phong unfold before our eyes. Trung asked if I was hungry; I said "sort of" and he asked if I wanted to go to a well known street vendor for pho. Sure why not. They were closed or had gone out of business. Trung got some advice from a local and we stopped for pho at a joint right in front of the Catholic church just as we were told. The proprietor at the beer place and the lady at the noodle place had never had a foreigner in their establishments before. I was honoured.
Trung dropped me at the hotel abut 8, I watched some TV, tried to use the interNOT (did not go well), then crashed. The few times I was up to you know what, I loved hearing the sounds of the waves lapping onto the shore of the Red Sea across the street. I checked out and tried to use my Visa ... sorry, no visa before 7AM! No problem, I gave them 800,000 VND and just asked for a receipt. Sorry, no receipts before 7AM. We went to Trung's house for a lovely pho breakfast. They were already into the beer, and I was told you are supposed to drink at any time you want, no need to wait for late morning as I am used to. I gave them the gifts that I had picked up and they were a big hit.
We were in the cab by 7:30 and got to the train station with lots of time to spare. The plaza was a zoo; there was so much acitity. I could have sat there all day and just watched the show, People come, people go, on the most interesting transportation contraptions one could dream of. There was even a "Free Use WC" for my enjoyment. My ST would be proud of me using the WC just before we climb on the train. Trung did it perfectly ... we had a huge window right beside us. Not so fast ... just before the train leaves we get kicked ahead a row into our proper seats. I slept a third of the way and Trung almost all the way. His little monkey (a.k.a. sleep depriving apparatus) was up a lot overnight. The ride was 2.5 hours as promised on a train that was very crowded. We were in first class which included a nice sort-of-clean car. We headed back to Silver upon arrival.
I showered and headed off to the old quarter. I stopped at Pink Silk to check on the official Vitton purses ST wants and the proprietor wanted $100USD each. I called Dr. Vu who said we would go back tomorrow together. I walked, bought Ben some DVDs and looked for the shoe sector for my trainer. I did not find so I will ask Dr. Vu minyana if we can stop when we go to Pink Silk. I worked a wee bit this afternoon when I got back and am now watching AFF with Trung and Bien. Singapore and Mayanmae are on now then the main event is Vietnam and Phillipines at 7:30.
Two more days at the office then homeward bound Wednesday at 10:30AM.
No comments:
Post a Comment