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June 16, 2005

Mad Props For Karma

In which the Gods balance the cosmic scales and smile fondly upon us in Hanoi

I wouldn't say that I was feeling terribly great about Hanoi the last time I posted. It was hot and loud and we had just been scammed by a bunch of uniformed officials at the airport. (I think it was the structural nature of the scam that was so unsettling; it wasn't like we got in the wrong cab. Anyhoo).

Things have really improved since then.

We did two-days-one-night tour with ODC Travel ("Small Groups, Big Adventure!") on Halong Bay. Complete touchdown. There were only ten of us on the boat (the aforementioned "small group"), and we had a blast (see above, "big adventure"). Met some fun folks, saw some gorgeous stuff, got to explore the bay on kayaks for a bit (which completely rocked), and generally had a great time. And, in an even more fortuitous turn of events, a gigantic thunderstorm started just as we reached the harbor on the second day (which effectively cancelled that day's tours).

So, we thought, karma was on our side.

Oh, but it gets even better.

We had decided after the debacle with the hotels on Monday that we would treat ourselves to a nicer hotel for what would be our final night of the trip. I mean, we didn't spend a fortune ($50/ person) but we figured that we would indulge ourselves. Why not.

We arrive at said nicer hotel and discover that they don't have any more of our chosen class of room (that being the "cheapest room" in the hotel) available. Errr, okay. As a result, they've taken the liberty of upgrading us to the executive suite.

Perhaps!

Wow, we think, karma is really hooking us up.

But oh, we aren't even done yet.

We had been trying to meet my travelling companion's cousin by marriage (who works in Vietnam, though he's Indonesian by birth and ethnically Chinese) for the past week, with limited success. Ships in the night and whatnot. We finally meet him last night, have dinner, and in his generosity (and through the largess of the multinational poultry concern at which he is employed) we have, ahem, a DRIVER for the day today.

Are you kidding me?

So yeah, we've been tooling around town with this guy who's shown us the sights, taken us to the touristy stuff, showed us the cool local place to get the pho noodles, and helped us through some shopping and souvenir acquisition. Pretty nifty.

And who said we were having bad luck in Hanoi?

In any case, we're off to the airport shortly for the 30-hour trip home. The next time you hear from me, it'll be back in the United States of Freedom.

It's been real.

Posted by thatkid at June 16, 2005 1:02 AM under ThatKid

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