Ground Hog day - in Ha Noi

I was considering several names for this city - one was even Sin City... but sitting in a cafe today and watching the same thing happen over and over like a visual broken record day by day made me think of that classic Bill Murray movie.

It was quite a strange introduction for us when we arrived, as you can live very different lives here by the kind of budget you have. We met up with some friends and decided on going to the InterContinental Sunset Bar for some cocktails. We sat over the incredible water view and imagined trading our $20 rooms for these stunning stilted $400USD rooms over Westlake. A few drinks later and the bill was presented at $64USD.. which is mind blowing really when you are used to $1 beers. A taxi took us into the Old Quarter which had its daily peddlers replaced with drug lords trying to sell us black squares of opium and weed. Shrugging them to the side we entered some 'closed' but open bars for the remainder of the night. Heading back to our hotel on foot felt strangely sinister as there were dark dodgey peddlers and huge RATS scuttling down the street gutters.

The day is the complete opposite here. The deserted streets suddenly fill with life - it is like taking Ho Chi Minh's 6,000,000 (registered) people and vice gripping them into a district a quarter of the size - making manoeuvring a task on it's own. You learn to block out the insistent cries for moto taxi and beggars screeching for existence through your wallet.

Going back to the option on how you can live in different ways, well we have opted for the better half, and have found a large scale life for ex pats and their ritzy joints and high class lunches. Below is a pic of the Press Club -- an upscale bar where the higher class are known to hang out and smoke their cigars over a fine cognac. We drank a gin and tonic with a $15USD bill.


Once you leave the \Old Quarter, you can relax to some degree as personal space returns and you can take in the sites it has to deliver. We have been here in rain and overcast days so any pic I have is grey.. but I imagine it is fantastic on a summers day.

One thing you can do here is visit Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, where his body has been preserved since 1974 behind glass walls. Apparently it is shipped to Russia 2 months a year for retouching.. but as lonely planet suggests, that he may actually be a wax model and we are being eternally duped.. kind of interesting as his last request was to be cremated. Going by how pushy and disrespectful they are up here, I can see how his people would rebel against any wishes.
This was actually mind blowing for the shear volume of visitors (I imagine hundreds of thousands per day) which I've tried to capture in a photo.. you can see only one line at a time, but try to imagine 2 more lines at right angle to this one. It is very militant and you are told to be 2 abreast at all times. I was told off for talking, wearing sunglasses and having my hands in my pockets.. I was very obedient as they order you with rifle and bayonet in hand. No photos of the man himself though, as the flashes may melt his wax features ;)

There is a lot of culture to this city and some exquisite antique shops selling incredible vases and marble figures right down to old chess sets made of bone, ageing and cracking.. they know the value - but it is a bargain for the history you feel in hand.

In Vietnam you can get some pretty frugal housing - but never have I seen a whole house being built in what seems a fissure between 2 buildings. The next pics shows some condensed lifestyle options.

It seems to be a place you can get anything though.. this was quite random, A Flight of the Conchords flyer that has been printed onto a t shirt in the middle of the old quarter. I've always wanted to wear a flyer? Just a good example of the Asians catching onto a popular avenue quickly to make some more coin.

Well - off to spend some more of my western wallet now. Hope this hasn't seemed like a negative post.. but this definitely hasn't been our city of choice so far. We are city folk that have started to enjoy the sleepy towns and sandy beaches.

Desh and I earning some coin for lunch


This sign left me intrigued as to what the ... could possibly mean. Maybe it gets a little crazy under red lights at night

With 90 Million people sharing your country - space is not an option - so you come and play badminton on the streets.. I actually really liked this concept

It's pretty rare to see graffiti. So far on the way I saw a strange piece on a wall that said "easy riders are fucking cool" .. mmm and a few tags.. but Ha Noi has gangsters.. I even saw East side scrawled up today. They are trying their best to adopt cultures and you can see it happening more in the youth and their hip fashion .. refusing to wear helmets on their scooters too parade the new hair or hat..