This is our hotel in Hanoi, note the very narrow frontage, and the fact that there are no windows on the side until level 6. We were on level 7, so had glass blocks for a window, definitely not a room with a view.
Monday 21st
The tour officially finished last night, and we are starting to head off on our different ways, Matt left Sunday night, Jane left about 7am this morning. A few more this afternoon & evening, then the rest of us on Tuesday.
Today is a free day to do whatever we want in Hanoi, unfortunately museums and galleries are closed on Mondays, so that has ruled them out. So today is looking for those last minute bargains, and haggling with shopkeepers. And for something different Thai for lunch.
Tuesday 22nd
Very lazy morning, The plan is really to get rid of as much Dong as we can. I wanted to get a shirt that I saw yesterday. A nice Adidas one on that material that doesn't need ironing and lets you sweat without showing all the wet areas like cotton does, the guy wants 380,000VND ($18USD), I offered 200,000VND and he wouldn't budge. I can play this game so I walk out, and for once he didn't make a counter offer, unusual but I didn't like the shirt that much anyway. So looks like no shirt as I couldn't see a similar one, or any that I liked in the same material. We then passed a store selling shorts, I quite like these and get them for 250,000VND ($12USD). Then spotted a shirt I liked and these must be like gold, as this guy also wanted 380,000VND, the best I could get him down to was 330,000VND ($15USD). This is also Adidas but a much better style. Now we are getting somewhere, between Win & I, we don't have too much Dong left. Win spots a pair of earrings that will match a pendant/necklace whatever that she bought a few days earlier, and this starts at $15USD, we bargain it to $13, not much I know, but Win likes it, we pool all of our Dong and come up a tad short (we need about 300,000VND) and need $3 to make it up to $13. So I have ended up with 5,000VND (35 cents) enough to buy a 370ml of water if you haggle hard.
All like goods stores are next to one another, so you have Clothes St, Shoe St, Luggage St, Jewelry St, Spectacle St. and so on, maybe not a full street but they are all grouped together which makes the shopping and haggling easier I think.
On the way the the stores from our hotel we do pass some unusual sites, small vendors cooking on the street, and their patrons sit on little stools and eat on the footpath, so we weave our way thru them, you will also get people doing pedicures on the footpath, and these can be beside the food vendors.
And you also get the usual trades, like this bloke, who went onto to pull up thick electrical or data cables
The street wiring is something else again as well, this was opposite our hotel. Believe me there was worse around the place as well.
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