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Day 21

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Ha Giang → Ha Noi

I was up at 5 AM and started packing at 6 AM.

It was still sorta dark and the town had yet awakened. I walked to an ATM to get cash. Returning to the hostel, I ran into Tony and Matt. Perhaps Matt was paying off the loan. By now it was 6:35 AM. 

I found a kitchen worker at 6:50 and managed to order eggs and coffee across the language barrier. We had been told to catch a bus at 7:00 AM so I had a sense of urgency. I slapped the eggs between a couple of pieces of bread and despite his reluctance, managed to get the kitchen guy to accept a modest tip. I was happy after getting a new lease on life after yesterday’s challenges. Tips are apparently not common in Vietnam.

An English-speaking young couple came into the eating area as we were leaving. I gave them pointers about how to more quickly get coffee and breakfast and then I headed to the desk to check out.

The tour company offered our unplanned room lodging complimentary. Bonus! Happy again, I gave the young man an honorarium. Everyone was in a good mood.

Just then the luxury bus arrived. It was considerably after the planned 7:00 AM departure but the timing was perfect. First on, I again chose the seats behind the driver, and this time I took the one in the middle, the one with the best view out the giant windshield. Not the best choice because of the kamikaze driving and suicide turns, but hey, I had survived much worse.

The young couple from breakfast then got on behind us. Turns out they were Dutch so we were instant friends having lived in Eindhoven and Leiden, The Netherlands. He was also an engineer, in his case for a Dutch semiconductor manufacturing equipment company. We had plenty in common. Away we went toward Ha Noi.

Bathroom break

I had to tap the driver’s shoulder for an unplanned bathroom break and he complied when we got to a place that could accommodate. Primitive but better than the jungle.

Back on the road, we had a scheduled break at about 10:00 AM, three hours into the trip. I bought some chips. I have no idea what kind they were. The store was a section of the covered concrete slab, like so many others, that serve as rest stops. No English was spoken. When it came time to pay, the proprietor reached into the cardboard box that served as the cash register and fished out a bill to show me how much I owed. Perfect method.

My Dutch engineer friend was behind me, with a local Vietnamese man in between us. The Vietnamese man purchased a package of coconut cookies. My Dutch friend purchased the same cookies and was charged twice what the local man paid. He was upset. I just smiled. Vietnam is very good at entrepreneurial capitalism, even if they are new to it. Besides, the extra $1 equivalent would do no harm to the couple’s economic security.

Our luxury bus arrived in Hanoi about 1:10 PM. Our driver met a taxi, transferred our luggage, and paid the driver 150,000 Dong to take us the rest of the way. I got the feeling he was a friend or a brother-in-law or similar. He took us the final 45 minutes into Hanoi’s Old Quarter and to our new home away from home, the Hanoi Exclusive Hotel.

Back at home base in Ha Noi

Arriving at the Hanoi Exclusive Hotel, it was another happy reunion with our friends who manage the place, the fabulous Ms. Lien and Michael Hake. I apologized for missing the prior night’s reservation and was fully prepared to pay for it. I explained what happened with the jungle shortcut. I reassured Ms. Lien that the booking she had done for us was once again exactly as we had asked, perfect in every aspect, and that were were very happy. On their side, they upgraded our room for our final two nights in Vietnam. It was wonderful.

We unloaded and turned in a large pile of laundry. As mentioned before, laundry service is very common, excellent, and affordable in Vietnam.

I slept like a log that night. We were still in recovery mode after the Ha Giang adventure.

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