City Life

The train rolled into Ha Noi around 6am. I grabbed a taxi with three Australian girls I'd met during the journey and we were carted to a cheap hotel in the Old Quarter. They had no free rooms, but assured us there would be some available by 8 when the first guests checked-out. We ate some limp breakfast and got more and more slouched in our chairs as we waited for a room. Eventually they led us to a drab room with four mattresses slung on the floor. Nobody thought much of the room so we headed out and looked elsewhere.

At the next hotel there was a three-bed room which was ideal for the girls. They took it and I went on to another hotel. There didn't seem to be many single rooms for a decent price so eventually I took a real dive of a room in some dingy hotel down a backalley.

I showered and hit the streets. First call was finding another room for anymore nights in Ha Noi. After that I caved in to my desire for music and bought a CD-player and loads of cheap albums. I'd wanted the travelling to be about immersion in foreign cultures and this excluded listening to familiar tunes. However, after weeks of tourist bars, crowded sights, and internet cafes who was I trying to kid? I stocked up on batteries and looked forward to some aural stimulation.

After some pho with odd things floating in the broth, I booked a trek up Vietnam's tallest mountain and then went to the cinema. 'The Quiet American' was playing. The place had some hygiene issues: rats scurried underfoot and a side door with a WC sign above led out to an alleyway. Luckily the film was good enough to forget about these things.