Once we got back we all split up and rested for a bit, then D and I headed out to try and find a resturant Hai had recomended. We found it but they only had Bun Cho? (dry noodles with Pork) which D dosen't eat, so I at there and she wandered to a place across the street with European food. I sat down and the lady handed me a plate of rice noodles, a bowl with pork meatballs and slices swiming in broth, a HUGE plate of lettuce/basil/corriander/mint a bowl of pickled green papaya (I asked) and a bowl of chopped garlic and chilies. Mixed bits of things together, it was delicious, though not quite what I am used to, waaay too much food. After eating D and I wandered back to the hotel (with only one wrong turn) we made it just in time.
Headed out as a group to see the water puppets! Very cute, nice music. A bit silly and I was glad it only lasted 45 min, I was about maxed out when It ended. After the puppet show we all walked with Long to dinner (though most of us weren't hungry after our late lunches). I got a mixed fruit bowl with yogurt, Watermelon, pineaple, mango and banana, actually delicious. Though the Watermelon juice I got was way too sweet and had tons of bits of seeds in it. Back to the hotel (separated out) via window shopping and buying a couple custard apples for the morning to try. Bed. Noisy cats in heat, people and lots of honking.
Day 15, Hanoi, Vietnam - Didn't really sleep again, boo. Breakfast included, eh buffet. I had some fruit (the custard apple was tasty) and a few sips of coffee then we all met to go on the included tour stuff. Got on the bus and went to see the Ho Chi Minh, Mausoleum (really weird and cold, they have his body on display and you silently double file walk past it along the outside of the room, chivied silently by guards armed with bayonets not to linger. Then the Palace where he worked where we only got to see the outside, and the two houses he lived in where you got to see into a few windows at the simple furnishings, then past the one pillar pagoda and into the Museum. There were tourists EVERYWHERE, all the while from the point we arrived at the complex was crawling with people. I hated the feeling of being sheep lead about in lines, though Long wasn't really leading us, we got caught up in the crowds of everyone else going purposfully where we wanted to see. The Museum was very, very odd, blended of strange sites and displays, somewhat disturbing with some pretty aspects, but mainly disturbing.
Next we all piled back into the van and headed to KOTO (Know one, teach one) a restaurant that is part of a non profit for teaching orphans to have culinary careers that Intrepid supports. The menu was pretty and everything was prettily displayed, I liked my ginger and lemongrass tea with honey, but the fresh spring rolls and "rare" (oh so not) beef and impreial vegetable salad were both pretty horrid. The rolls were totally tasteless and small and the salad was actively unpleasant. Beef was severely overcooked and tough, veggies were slimy and bitter and tough. :( First unpleasant meal I have had yet. (Also very expensive, coming to over $11)
After lunch, which wasn't all that bad for anyone else, though I don't think anyone loved their food, we all split up to wander off. I went with Long and a few others to the prison but decided I didn't want to go inside so Long and I walked back to the Hotel where I decided to rest for a bit and try to get rid of my headache. Around 5 Julie came back and she and I decided to go out and try to find some food for the upcoming overnight train. I got Dry noodles with beef, (ok, noting spectacular) and she got a sandwitch. Also picket up a handful of mandarin oranges and a new fruit. Joy fruit according to the lady who did NOT speak english, according to the internet they are called Wax Jambu?, but anyway, very tasty, crisp with a light sweet flavor, somewhat pear like but crisp more like an apple in texture. And we also picked up a pancake each, hard fried rice flour? with sweet corn mixed into the batter. Very, tasty, even cold. Crunchy with just a hint of sweetness from the corn. At 5,000dong ($.25) a real bargain. I almost bought another but was pretty maxed out of fry oil.
At 5:45 we all met in the lobby, packed up to head to the train. Van to train station, crowded and dirty, and not what I was expecting from a big city. A series of smaller rooms lined up rather than a big area, stalls set up alongside the platform selling all the same stuff. It's weird here, you get 5 shops in a row, all selling the EXACT same thing, then another street has multiple shops all sellign something (the exact same) else. for example a clock of paint sotres, followed by a block of stores with t-shirts, then a block with jewelry, or scarves and hats. The sales ladys are really, really pushy here in Vietnam too, very unpleasant.
After Long bought our tickets we all piled onto the train, we had 2 cabins and Long had to share with someone else. We ended up splitting into girls and boys, splitting up Marina and Peter but they ended up on bunks on opposite sides of the wall from each other and some sillyness ensued. 4 bunks to a cabin, not really all that cramped, we could actually sit upright below the upper bunk. Pretty dirty, but cleaner than I was actually expecting, and well lit. People with carts came by occasionally selling beer and other things, and there were other intrepid trips, and a few GAP tours around us in the surrounding cabins so it was actually fun to hang out and talk to other people for a bit. Eventually everyone got tired and we closed the door, to read and sleep. I eventually gave up on reading, but the bunk was uncomfortable, I tossed and turned till about 6am.
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