Travel to Vietnam

This morning, I flew into Hanoi, Vietnam with a low cost carrier for official work. It was suppose to be a trip that my boss suppose to be here himself but some emergency had called him traveling back to his home country urgently on Friday. The flight is at 0630, hence, I had left home at 0400 with my regular cab.

The flight here was nothing much. Smooth ride, no delays. Arrived in Vietnam at approx 9am (Local Vietnam time +7 GMT). Upon arrival, the immigration process was smooth. It was a rather small airport, with only 2 sets of baggage collection belts. I waited for almost an hour before my luggage came to me.

Just after collecting my luggage, I went to the Hanoi Tourism Authorities to look for some maps and also book a taxi to the hotel. It cost me USD20 for the trip to the hotel my Vietnam colleague had booked for me - Hanoi Hotel. The ride was about 45 minutes. The roads are full with motorbikes everywhere. The traffic is similar to India minus the honking every 3 seconds.

Upon arrival in the hotel, after checking in, I went to take a walk around the hotel. The hotel is located near a lake - Giang Vo Lake. From my hotel room I can get a full view of this lake. The walk took about 1 hour, after which I sat down in one of the local outdoor cafes for a typical Vietnamese coffee which is something popular here in Vietnam.

Unfortunately, English is not commonly spoken here. Even the menu came in the local language. So I just tried my luck in telling the waiter I wanted some coffee, she opened the menu to a page which written there "cafe something"... so I just 'blindly' pick one - it cost me VND13,000 (USD1 = VND17650). Imagine paying $13,000 for a coffee??? This is a bit beyond my comprehension. Anyway, it works out to be less than USD1. So its ok.

Few minutes after that, my coffee came. It seems like I had picked an expresso. It was served with glass of plain water. I took a snap of the coffee as below.

It was nice and thick. Normally I drink my coffee with only creamer without sugar. But this time, the coffee is too bitter to be drank without sugar. The taste was so concentrated, it can wake a sleeping elephant with a shot! I have tasted Vietnamese coffee before, it came with a nice butter scent / after taste. Nice.

I tried to get some food there somewhere near the street, but then I thought myself again, I don't want to pick 'blindly' again. Hence, I make my way back to the hotel instead. I don't want after my food came with some 'exotic' meat e.g. dog, cat etc etc. Better be safe than sorry.

Now I am here in my room, using the free broadband checking my work mails and browsing the internet.

I will be here in Hanoi until Tuesday morning. Tomorrow will start early. It seems we need to leave the hotel at 0630 for a 2 hours drive to the customer's place for a full day customer visit. The plan is to cover about 4 to 5 customers. It will be a long day.

Stay tuned for more posting...