Anyway we got to the airport and got our tickets. There the luggage was immediately scanned and as Fabi had a pocket knife in his huge backpack we had to go to the luggage inspection to get everything checked. Fortunately everything turned out just fine, without any problems.
Some more hanging around on the airport and we could finally board the plane but it took us another hour until we could actually fly to Guanghzou do to the massive air traffic. Fabi got really pissed cause it seemed that we would not be able to catch our next flight, which would probably mean another night on the airport.......
Luckily we were able to catch our flight as it was as well delayed by 40 minutes :-) We had already booked a hostel and they highly advised us to use the shuttle they provide, as frequently taxi drivers just drop you at a hostel where they get commissions with made up explanations, like "your hostel got destroyed by an act of god". Fabi though did not want to use this service as it was about 14 USD. TOO EXPENSIVE. So we ended up paying 15 USD not knowing whether the driver would really drop us off the right place. Hurray!!!
Before we got in the taxi we had asked repeatedly the driver whether he actually knew where the hostel is. OF COURSE he knew!!!! Finally there was not only the driver and the two of us but another Viatnamese guy sitting next to the driver. Fabi was already preparing his mind to fight with 2 small Viatnamese guys in case they would rob us. But no need for that, as one guy is driving and the other is reading the map :-)!!!!!!
In the end they really managed to drop us off the right place. We were happy to finally arrive in our hostel in Hanoi (1 am )
The next day we just spend walking around Hanoi getting a feeling for the city. The air here is terrible... smogg!!!!! In the streets you can see lots of people wearing masks to protect themselves from breathing in to much of the awful air.
Moreover this seems to be the capital of scooters. EVERYONE is driving a scooter and their only weapon against other drivers (cars, byicles, other scooters) is their horn! Consequently traffic here is a huge load mess! People carry everything on their scooters. One guy obviously bought a huge flat screen which he attached to himself and the scooter with a thin piece of cord and off you go :-)
Hanoi is the best place to eat fresh food!!!! It is REALLY fresh. Next to our hostel there is a small back door kitchen where they keep half a dozen chickens. In the morning when we were heading out, we could see how one was strangled, cooked, displumed and roasted. In that case it could happen that your food had been alive an hour again = very fresh.
right bottom corner = chicken! didn t post a foto of slaughtering...
I have to say that the food is excellent here but it doesn t last very long. After a full meal it takes maximum 2 hours and you ll be hungry again. So there is a constant need for food, which can be satisfied cheaply at an street kitchen. Unfortunately those street kitchens are even less clean than those in China. You ll sit only tiny stools, trying not to touch too much, as really everything is quite dirty... once in a while a rat might pass by (yummyy) - well probably you need to relax about those issues, cause I am afraid that this might happen again on our trip.
Ahhh another cuisine issue that I ve come across is the scarcity of McDonalds or basically any type of western fastfood chain. EXCELLENT.... even though i quite enjoy once in a while a BigMac, I quite like the fact that McDonald has not conquered that market. I even asked my tour guide and he told me... "we don t like fat food... we don t eat.. no McDonald". At that point i got interested and i checked a couple of tables showing the BigMac Index.... I could not find Vietnam!!!!
You have to know that here they use 2 currencies: the vietnamese Dong (1 euro = around 26.699 Dong) or the USD. The US used to be their arch enimy and never the less they adoped the US Dollar as an official currency .... ridiculous. But the refusal of American food seems to be their sielent protest against the cultural assimilation to the "western (american) world" NICE!!!
Did I mention that we flew to Hanoi cause we were sick of being in freezing Shanghai and that we really needed some sun. Well maybe Hanoi isn t the best place either for sun in February. Yes it is warmer... around 15 degrees but still humid and cloudy... so we were quite disappointed and we are still freezing!! I don t know how we are going to handle Austria again but fortunately we ll come back in summer, so there is hope :-)
And of course another reason to leave Shanghai was the Chinese New Year cause it is just much more difficult to travell around that time, as everybody is traveling home! BUT guess what.. there is also a Vietnamese New Year NOW. So here the year of the cat starts, whereas in China it is the year of the rabbit. New Years eve: 2nd of February! It is not like in Europe where huge parties are going on ... here everybody spends the bank holidays with their families (it is more like Christmas). Yes there are fireworks but not music and no party. It was though the longest fireworks that I have ever seen in my whole life. It lasted for around 30 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first tree is a small orange tree. It is basically like our Christmas tree... everybody has it at their home-- mainly for good luck. The second tree is a peach tree. It is supposed to bring you love for the next year. Some girls write a message on a piece of paper and tie it around one of the branches... this is supposed to bring them a boyfriend or husband in the new year. And finally in front of most houses you ll find little tables with candles and food. This is a sacrifice ... to (?) to ensure a happy new year!
So this year we were actually able to start the new year twice!!!! hurray!!!!!!
Greetings from Hanoi without Big Mac!!!
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