Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

☰

Vietnam — 19, the last day and departure

2011-06-13

My story is coming to an end. The memory card was full, so towards the end I was shooting less and less. On our last day, Thuy drove us to a swanky mall so we could stock up on exotic grub at the supermarket there.

A bright orange lamp on an industrial ceiling casts a red glow on the surrounding thick red pipes and battered metal structures. 

In the parking lot, there's a light bulb above each spot indicating if it's free. Smart.

A very dark image of an underground parking lot or tunnel with bright fluorescent lights on the ceiling. In the dark, silhouettes of cars glowing with red taillights and a blue sign reading «DUONG LEN TTTM VINCOM 2» are barely visible.

This is how they shine

 Three plastic bottles of Pokka oolong tea with white caps stand in a row on a store shelf.

At the supermarket, they sell tea (oolong, no less) in one-and-a-half-liter bottles

As you know, I bought a bunch of edible crap, and those who live in Daugavpils even managed to try it. Corn, peas, shrimp chips (you have to fry them), drinks made from exotic plants. I didn't bring the toffees back, I ate them myself, got too hooked on them. I also brought some Vietnamese wine, white (Thuy suggested it at the last minute), but folks didn't like it.

 A narrow city street with railway tracks running down the middle, surrounded by residential buildings. On the left side, along the rails, a man is riding a white scooter, and in the foreground on the right, a bicycle is parked.

A railway runs right through the middle of Hanoi too

A person in a blue raincoat and helmet rides a motor scooter down a narrow street in Hanoi right across railway tracks laid between residential buildings. Around them, you can see shops, locals, and densely intertwined wires over the road. 

Also wearing a mask. Why a mask? Dust in the air, that's why.

After the mall, we walked around Hanoi some more, gawked at the shopping arcades. Considering the heat, dust, and humidity, this activity is not for everyone, and it's definitely not worth spending several days on. But that's how it turned out.

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We popped into a "Lido"-style cafeteria, they sent us to the second floor

You have to load up your tray right at the entrance, and do it fast because there's a line. The selection is huge, prices are low, we hit the jackpot with this place. Paid practically less than for a steak, and gorged ourselves to the brim.

 A table covered with many small plates of various dishes. Meat dishes, stewed vegetables, roasted peanuts, sauces, and sliced chili peppers are visible on it, against a dark background of seated people.

Bringing the food

 A table laden with numerous plates of various Asian dishes, including rice, soup, meat, vegetables, and peanuts. In the background, a person in a yellow t-shirt and red shorts is sitting at the table holding chopsticks.

And bringing even more

Almost everything is tasty. Note the amount of rice - three huge plates. I especially liked the oil-roasted peanuts (in the center in the second row from the bottom, to the right of the soy sauce).

A cluttered, dirty room resembling a kitchen, with peeling walls and a barred window. In the foreground, a large black bag, a fragment of a person in a yellow t-shirt, and haphazardly placed dishes and containers.

The vibe in the kitchen

 A top-down view of an Asian street eatery, where a woman stands in front of numerous metal trays and bowls of various prepared dishes. On the left, a man in a striped t-shirt sits at a small table eating.

You choose from here

 On a metal counter, there are numerous trays of various hot dishes, including stewed chicken, fried vegetables, and omelets. Behind the counter, a woman in an apron can be seen looking away.

And from here

 The facade of the Sago Vietnamese restaurant with a large sign, a red awning, and the national flag of Vietnam on the second-floor balcony. Parked motorcycles and passersby are visible in front of the establishment.

The cafeteria is located right OPPOSITE this establishment

A man in jeans and a polo shirt is crouching on wet pavement, burning ritual paper money in a metal brazier with fire. Next to him are stacks of similar offerings and a fake hundred-dollar bill.

Stoking the stove with money

 A hand burns a green ritual «500» bill in a metal brazier with a bright orange flame against the background of a blurred street stall and an old wall.

 

After a hearty lunch, we headed to the Vietnam Military History Museum. The museum is quite big, lots of captured equipment, everything with  detailed descriptions along the lines of: "This tank was captured by partisans of such-and-such unit on such-and-such date. Then it was used to destroy 10 enemy tanks". Or "this wooden pistol was made by partisans, after which it was used to kill one,  and wound one enemy".

 A museum display shows homemade traps and weapons: a wooden structure with jagged blades, a spiked ball, a board with protruding nails, and explosive packages with a mine.

Homemade partisan traps, creepy stuff

 Close-up of a black traffic light pole with a red «X» symbol for transport and two pedestrian traffic lights, one of which shows a green walking figure. In the background — dense green tree foliage, a part of a building, and a blue road sign with Vietnamese text.

Lebedev-style, a traffic light with horizontally arranged pedestrian sections, seems to be LED

In the evening, there wasn't much time left before the airport, but I still made my dream come true and went for a massage. Morals in Asia are incredibly loose, which is why they forbade me from taking photos in the massage parlor. Don't get the wrong idea, I uphold morals and ethics (I have a girlfriend), so I only got a massage. But if you want, they'll give you a happy ending too (I think even to girls), it's not hard to catch the hints, even without knowing English. A massage (in what seemed to be a nice parlor) costs about $10-15 for an hour or an hour and a half. Not exactly pennies, but impressive if you've never been to an Asian parlor before.

I was in a hurry to get back, so I didn't walk, but took a jihad-mobile motorbike taxi instead. I gave them the wrong street, but still paid 10k, meaning 25 santims or 50 cents. Though the ride was only 1-2 km, I could have paid even less, but whatever.

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The taxi driver hands out helmets to clients

We flew out late at night, got to the airport early, but the slowpoke Vietnamese still took two hours to process our bikes, really frayed our nerves. We packed our things at the airport to weigh them: the boxes weighed almost the 30 kg maximum, and the bags were exactly 20. But at least our seats on the plane were by the emergency exit, where you can stretch your legs.

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