I got up early today and packed up, excited to go to Halong Bay. I was to be picked up some time between 8:15 and 8:30. As 8:25 arrived and passed, I began to get nervous. I don't know why because I've lived so many years in countries that have a flexible perspective on time. But still I worry. I worried more at 8:35 and finally couldn't stand it any more by 8:38. A guy at the hostel called for me to see where my ride was and discovered that I'd been forgotten. The bus was on the way to Halong Bay without me. After several phone calls back and forth trying to get them to come back for me, a woman showed up. She apologized for forgetting me and said that they couldn't come back and still get there in time to get on the boat. So instead she got out her wallet and gave me all my money back. Annoyed, but greatly mollified by getting the money with no fussing, I went back inside, booked a tour to Sapa leaving that night and went and got Elodie.Elodie is a girl I'd met the night before. She figures prominently in my Facebook pictures, but last night we'd just talked for hours and then gone out for really cheap street food (deep fried turnovers with herbs and dipping sauce) and an
expensive dessert (a mediocre apple tart). I went into the room this morning and told her to get up so we could go to the mausoleum. Well, Elodie cannot be hurried. So after a while, we rented bicycles and ventured off into the crazy Hanoi traffic. Yes, we got lost. No, we didn't get run over, and oh how cool I felt as I merged into that melee!We ended up at the Temple of Literature, in which we both waited for the other and were bored; the Fine Arts Museum, in which they have done very interesting things with lacquer; and at the One Pillar Pagoda, which figure prominently despite its small size in many Hanoi post cards. We ate pho on the street sitting on tiny plastic stools. The mausoleum was hours closed by the time we got there, so we went to a lovely cafe under shady trees with fans blowing. We talked and drank coffee with ice and condensed milk and practiced looking lovely. It was a great day that more than made up for being left behind.
This evening I'm about to climb aboard the night train to Sapa.
2 comments:
Sounds like a fun day, I would be wore out after all of that riding.
Isn't it great that a skill like bike-riding that you learned as a child can be such a source of joy all your life?
Post a Comment