After a quite noisy evening - the US couple finally decided to leave because of the slow wireless network - we finally had some sleep. Because of the humidity our clothes were still moist. Next time we’re going to tumble dry them. However we left Hanoi at about 7.30 am.
The first two hours on the road were just to let Hanoi and its agglomeration behind us. We’re quite skilled now driving in the cities traffic. Let’s say we lost our fear but will never loose the respect.
Later on the roads became more and more narrow and curvy. Up the hills we’ve seen a few minority villages and huge tea plantations as well as veneer production. They dry the thin veneer panels directly on the street. In fact it hasn’t been raining today so the veneer had a chance to get dry.
Again we had to to give way to many honking buses and trucks again but as long as there is some space left everything is OK. Maybe you know the following situation. You are queuing in a traffic jam and one single dumb a**h*** starts overtaking one car after the other. The oncoming traffic has to slow down and everybody has to pull to the side. This is just what you see here all the time. Sometimes I wish I could tell one of these nice fellows what I’m thinking of their behaviour on the streets.
Long story short in the early afternoon we arrived in Nghia Lo which is the door to our north - west loop. Arriving at the hotel we booked yesterday we first had to wake up the receptionist. He seemed to have a deep nap in the bed behind the desk. With his arms crossed he tried to explain that there is no room available. My booking confirmation woke him up completely. Using the google translate app he told me he just gave the last room to another guest. We decided to keep him in suspense for a while.
Thanks to google maps we quickly found more hotels but the next one took the biscuit. Though we didn’t have to wake up somebody it took a few minutes before one of the five people in the lobby felt responsible to make the check in. Being in Vietnam since about three weeks now we understand a few written phrases in a hotel. As we realised this hotel offers rooms for hours (not only for whole nights) we wanted to see the room first. This was actually a great idea. In the same moment the receptionist opened the door to the room a mouldy sickening smell hit our noses. It just stank like a public restroom in Vietnam. The whole roof was green and grey from mould. Immediately we turned on one’s heels and left the hotel. Driving away we’ve seen the receptionist spraying a room deodorant inside the room. Now it smells more like a public restroom in Italy, I guess.
We finally found a hotel. It costs about the double we usually pay for one night (CHF 20.–) but it’s worth it.
Nghia Lo isn’t that interesting. There are a few coffee shops (of course we tested one of them) and a quite big and colorful market. Walking through the streets we bought two mango and had a spring roll as an appetiser. After a while in a byroad we found a small and simple restaurant. Ordering just Com (rice) we got a whole table full off different plates filled with pork spring rolls, pork belly, meatloaf, vegetables and rice. It was a challenge to even finish the meat. This was the moment I figured out Ste is corrupt. He wanted to capitulate and let me finish the rest alone. So I had to tell him I’m going to eat the next tomahawk steak without him… We finally finished our dinner together.
Tomorrow we’ll follow the QL32 to Than Uyen. I hope to use the words to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive will not let us end up in a similar hotel we’ve seen today. Though I’m really looking forward to our tomorrow’s trip.
