February 16 Hue to Hanoi

A total bust from start to finish.  Our flight to Hanoi was delayed for more than two hours due to fog.  I was, not surprisingly, charged for excess baggage since I had double the allowable limit of one bag and twenty kilograms.  No one else was charged but then no one else had as much over the limit as I did.  Then at the security check they thought I had a pocket knife in my backpack.  I knew that I didn't because I had made a point of taking it out and putting it in my suitcase this morning.  I think they mistakenly thought it was in my bag when it was in the one ahead of me.  They eventually confiscated two knives form other group members.  Once we finally got into the air the flight was smooth and uneventful.

Strangely I had had funny feelings of apprehension about the Hanoi hotel from the moment I saw the name of it many months ago (Viet Nam Trade Union Hotel).  As it turned out there was no need to fear but the hotel is definitely the worst in which we have stayed.  The atmosphere is somewhat depressing and the incompetence is blatantly evident.  The English level of the clerks is the lowest we have encountered by far.  The rooms, while adequate are missing basic amenities such as drinking glasses and Kleenex.  One of the group found that her sheets were bloody and another that the door would neither open nor close properly.  Four of the people have booked themselves into another hotel at five times the price for when we return from Halong Bay.  I will stick it out because it will only be for one night and I have already paid for the room.

We had a bit of a problem finding a restaurant open for lunch.  Because it was New Year's Eve most shops and businesses were closed.  The one we found turned out to be very good though slow.  I ordered fettuccini with scallops and it was quite good although they had to substitute spaghetti since they had no fettuccini noodles.

From there it was all downhill.  We visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and it was closed as was a temple which we visited.  Not that I care but now we will have to return to those tomorrow.  The one pagoda we visited was singularly unimpressive and not worth the stop in my opinion.

Dinner was the traditional Vietnamese New Year's Eve dinner.  If I was Vietnamese I would be going to the temple tomorrow thanking Buddha that it only comes once a year because the food was awful.  Most of the dinner was devoted to talking about pizza and McDonald's and eating the rice and vegetables that were at least palatable.  I sampled almost everything but other than the corn soup and the broth from a bamboo shoot dish I didn't find anything warranting a second taste.  At least at my end of the table no one ate much at all.  Good thing that we weren't charged some exorbitant price for it.

Tomorrow is more touring and a farewell dinner for the five who leave the tour here.  I'm not looking forward to either.