My Baby Takes the Night Train...

Hanoi, Vietnam

June 12, 2007
N 21°01.811
E 105°51.082

We had tickets for the night train from Hanoi to Hue that departed at 7:00 PM, making it our last morning in Hanoi. Since the weather dipped to a balmy 95F we decided to head over to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. There were certain restrictions to get into the mausoleum including pants for the men, skirts for the women and shirts—no tank tops, making the trip impossible on the 105F days.

We arrived at the crypt just after 9:00AM where the line already stretched out for at least half a mile. A blue tarp stretched over the entire line providing a little protection from the harsh sun. After checking our bags and going through security, we lined up two by two and marched under the blue tarp to see Uncle Ho’s well preserved body.

There were guards every 20 meters, glaring, hushing and keeping everyone in two single file lines that constantly moved about 15 meters every minute. After about thirty minutes we walked into a dimly lit and frigid air-conditioned room holding Ho Chi Minh; the great hero of Vietnam. He looked very peaceful, under the golden lights illuminating his smooth skin, almost like he was taking a nap. He was enclosed in what appeared to be a bullet-proof glass case, four very stern looking armed guards at each corner. Our time with Uncle Ho was very short since the line kept moving and we weren’t allowed to stop.

After our time with Ho Chi Minh we figured we would attempt the full communist hero sweep and headed to the Lenin Monument, only a short distance from the Mausoleum. We cooled off in the park, under the scornful eye of Mr. Lenin, and enjoyed some local passion fruit. Feeling like we knew Hanoi and were more than ready to move onto a new city, but we still had several hours before our train left town.

After wandering around for a few more hours we decided the Bia Hoi beer garden was again calling our names. Sitting in miniature plastic chairs, enjoying 10 cent cool beers, can get you hungry so I asked the lady pumping the keg where we could get a sandwich. She looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, so Elise pulled out the Lonely Planet and we did our best to say the words—we got our point across and the lady pointed to a stand a half block down the street. I quickly got up and headed down there.

After some negotiations we settled on a price for the five sandwiches, 50,000 dong (roughly $3). The meat sizzled on the coal barbeque, killing any bacteria that could possibly be on there. She heated the bread, cut it open, and slid the meat from two of the skewers in between the bread topping it off with soy and chili sauces.

Finally completing my mission, I headed back to the gang anxiously waiting for their first real Banh Mi sandwich. Since it was time to catch the train we paid our tab and headed back to the Hanoi Queen Hotel munching on our sandwiches as we walked.

Arriving at the hotel we started to gather our gear from the massive pile of luggage in the lobby. It was at this point Elise realized her backpack was missing, no longer in the mountain of packs. We looked everywhere, but the bag was nowhere to be found. One of the guys at the hotel grabbed Elise and started running towards a group who just left the hotel. Teddy headed out the door to help. They searched the luggage in the taxi, no luck.

The group that owns the Hanoi Queen Hotel owns a total of six hotels and when one fills up they send people to one of the others. We hoped one of the groups going to another hotel grabbed the bag, not someone going to the airport or train station.

A few minutes later, one of the guys grabbed me and told me to come with him. I motioned to Elise to go outside and I followed. He could only take one of us on his motor scooter. Elise went, thank goodness since I am very afraid of motorcycles—they quickly zipped away. Yet another one of the guys grabbed me to head to a hotel two doors down.

We burst through the door of the hotel and headed for the stairs. The guy, really more of a kid, told me to hurry. I ran up the stairs after him as fast as possible. He stopped at a door on the fourth floor, knocked on the door and waited. A lady opened the door, speaking Vietnamese, but the kid went right by her. I waited at the door until he yelled at me to hurry and look. I came in, looked at their bags—nope, not what we are looking for. We ran out of that room and up another flight of stairs. When the kid knocked on the door of this room, a German lady, fresh out of the shower, answered the door. The kid didn’t care and stormed right by her. Nope, no luck.

I flew down the stairs as fast as possible with the kid yelling at me the entire time, “faster, quick, quick…” When we got to the bottom, he crossed the lobby and headed up another set of stairs. I stayed behind him as we climbed two more flights. I was sweating profusely at this point, my head pounded, ready to burst. We exploded through the door of our target room, only to find an empty room. Defeated, we headed back down the stairs and to the Hanoi Queen.

In the meantime, Elise raced through the Hanoi streets on the back of the scooter, running red lights and narrowly avoiding accidents from every direction. They went to the first hotel, ran through the door without saying a word to anyone there, and ran to the stack of bags stored under the stairwell. No luck.

As quickly as they came in, they left, back on the scooter and through the streets of Hanoi to another hotel. Same thing… break through the doors, but this time sitting towards the front of the pile, was Elise’s pack. She grabbed it, they left, jumped back on the scooter and flew back to the Hanoi Queen.

The four of us stood anxiously in the lobby, not sure what to do about our train if we can’t find the bag. Moments later we saw Elise zip up on the back of the scooter with a big smile on her face and a thumbs-up. Whew… things turned out for the best!

The rest of us grabbed our gear and we quickly made our way down the alley to the waiting taxi. We would make our overnight train after all. Two minutes after we arrived at the train station thunder clouds burst open and rain started coming down in buckets. We boarded the train, got in our sleeping compartment and prepared for our 13 hour journey to Hue.

Happy to be out of Hanoi, we will see what tomorrow brings…