Vietnam Trip Report Part 1

[GregF]

Trip Report: Part 1
    I was suppose to arrive in Vietnam at 10:39 am on Monday the 2 of February but my plane was delayed for 4 hours due to fog. I finally landed at Hanoi’s Nobele airport at 2:45 and it was about 3:30 by the time I finally got my bags and cleared into the country. Though a bit time consuming the process of entering the country was very easy and went smoothly. I had been awake at this point for almost 30 hours and was really out of it.
  As I walk through the security gates into the waiting area and like a dream come true, this beautiful little Vietnamese girl in a green silk ao dais runs toward me and jumps right into my arms. At that moment I knew that I had made the right chose over a year ago, when I decided to answer an e-mail I got from half way around the world.  The instant we met everything just felt right, there was never any uneasy moments and it was as if we had been together for years. She handed me a single red rose she had gotten for me and I give her the chocolates I had brought for her as we catch a taxi to the hotel.
   On the taxi ride to the hotel we talk as if we are old friends that have been apart for awhile. Then we get to the Thang Loi Hotel. Trang has taken care of all of the arrangements before my arrival and everything was waiting for me when I got there. The Thang Loi is a nice quiet hotel located on the shore of Hanoi’s west lake. It is a little bit older but is in good shape and well cared for. We go to my room and I take a well needed shower. When I get done with my shower Trang suggests that I should take a nap. I am very tired from my trip, but I protest a bit saying that I did not travel all this way to go to sleep right after meeting her. She says that I should sleep and that she will stay there with me,. So I agree and immediately pass out. When I wake up about 2 hours later she is still sitting in the chair next to the bed with a very content smile on her face. I get up and we go to get some dinner.
  We eat at one of the hundreds of little family owned Vietnamese restraunts that are everywhere in the country. The Vietnamese have this incredible ability to cook hundreds of wonderful dishes in a very simple kitchen that is no bigger then the average American closet. We order about 7 or 8 different dishes and every single one is delicious. The hole meal including my 2 beers cost me the equivalent of $6. After dinner she takes me around on her motorbike and shows me the city of Hanoi. For those of you that have never experienced Asian city traffic, it is quite an exciting experience. I do not think anyone in Asia has ever heard of traffic laws, and if they have the openly ignore them. We return to the hotel about 11 PM where she leaves me with a kiss and a promise to be back as soon as she can the next morning. I sleep very well that night and do not get out of bed until around 9 am. Trang had to go to her morning classes ands expected to get to the hotel about 11 am. I took a shower and went to get breakfast. Trang arrives at 10:30 am and we go out to see the city, so I can take some pictures. Hanoi is a very interesting mix of so many different influences, it is a wonderful place for a shutterbug like me. We have a wonderful lunch and then go to visit a Friend of Trangs. Paula is an American woman from Washington D.C, who is working in Vietnam for the Vietnamese government. Trang is teaching her Vietnamese and they have become friends. We have a wonderful visit with her and a delicious dinner. After that we go back to the hotel get our stuff and go to the train station to catch our train south. We get on the train at 10:30 PM and as our train travels through the night, Trang curls up in my lap and falls into a very peaceful sleep. I just sit there and watch her sleep, wondering how I got so lucky.
   To be continued

[Jeff S]

... in response to Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by GregF on Feb 18, 2004

Great report Greg. Keep them coming. I'll be happy to post pictures for you like I did for Peter Lee, if you need help with it. Please send me one for the asian sweetie web site too: http://www.geocities.com/jeffsatpl/

- Jeff

[madmal]

... in response to Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by GregF on Feb 18, 2004

Sounds familiar Greg.
My circumstances were different in that I met Doan in the last few days of my first trip to Vietnam, and then we started corresponding. So I was returning to see her.
But, yes I received a rose from Doan on arrival.
There was no way she would have run up and jumped into my arms though. She was far too shy for that (and there were too many people she knew there)
You evoke the atmosphere of Ha Noi very well. I love Ha Noi, it is much quieter than Sai Gon.And the lake makes a great centre piece to the city. The city is at it's best in the early morning and evening, don't you think?
Doan on the other hand prefers Sai Gon because of the shopping.
I eagerly anticipate the rest of your trip report.

Mal

[GregF]

... in response to Re: Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by madmal on Feb 18, 2004

Hey Mal
 I agree with you in that I liked Hanoi much better then siagon but Trang liked felt more comoftabe with me in Siagon because it is less conservitive then in the North. In Hanoi the people still make coments at the girls who are in mixed couples. I am not much of a morning person but Hanoi in the early eavning is truely magical.
Greg F

[Dingo]

... in response to Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by GregF on Feb 18, 2004

Sounds like you had a blast so far Greg.
Hey check out the Video "The Quiet American"
with Michael Caine and Brendon Frasier.
A love story that takes place in Vietnam.
Also "Scent of the Green Papaya" and "Indochine"
I saw all three of them at various Film festivals over the years.

Waiting for your next report.
Cheers
Dingo

[madmal]

... in response to Re: Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by Dingo on Feb 18, 2004

Some other great movies are 'cyclo', though it's a very dark portrayal of Sai Gon, and 'The 3 seasons'.(both by the same director as 'Scent of green Papaya)
But by far my favorite is Oliver Stones adaptation of Le Ly Hislop's books, "Heaven and Earth".

Mal

[Stephen]

... in response to Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by GregF on Feb 18, 2004

Very good.  I enjoy hearing these stories.

And this saga has a different flavor to it....Viet Nam.  We need to get some more variety on the board.

Thanks for sharing.  Tess and I are eager to read more.

Stephen

PS...Be sure and post some pictures for Ray and me.

[Humabdos]

... in response to Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by GregF on Feb 18, 2004

Wow! Cool Greg. Sounds good so far kinda like a fairy tale.
Glad to hear you didn't get that bird flu.
Hum

[GregF]

... in response to Re: Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by Humabdos on Feb 18, 2004

Well Hum
 Really you would never even really know there was a bird flew problem over there except for the lack of any fowl for sale in the markets. The people were just going on with there lives and did not seam at all conserened about it.
Greg F

[Ray]

... in response to Vietnam Trip Report Part 1, posted by GregF on Feb 18, 2004

Wow Greg! I never got a rose :-)

Ray