Cyclo:

Do you ever have flashbacks to being a baby in a pram? No? Get in a cyclo and you will! Because being in a cyclo is like being pushed head first into chaotic traffic - if anybody on the cyclo is going to get killed by a teenager on a motorbike, it will be you because you are the first point of impact. That said, if you feel the urge to re-enact ye olde colonial times or go all "memoirs of a (albeit Vietnamese) Geisha" then jump on in! The cost of a cyclo varies considerably and it is not unheard of for tourists to be charged upward of 100,000VND. The best option is to ask your hotel to arrange a cyclo for you and ask them to discuss the price with the cyclo driver.

Xe Om:

A Xe Om is a motorbike taxi, which, is essentially, any bloke who has a motorbike. Therefore, the quality and the skill of a xe om driver is extremely variable. Generally speaking the xe oms near major tourist sites although more expensive are reliable and used to dealing with foreigners. For reasons that remain a mystery, Lonely Planet advises that you organize the price with the driver before you get on the bike. This is ridiculous! First, how many tourists do you know who are familiar with the current prices of Xe Oms? Second, the general rule is, if you have to ask then you obviously don't know. Bottom line: you will end up paying much more than you should if you ask first. The general prices are from the Temple of Lit or Uncle Ho's mausoleum to Hoan Kiem Lake should be about 20,000VND. From the old quarter to West Lake will cost you 20,000VND and from the old quarter to Ciputra will be 30,000-40,000VND. So, tell the driver where you are going/ show him the address and jump on. When you arrive, get off the motorbike hand the driver the money (as close to correct money as possible) and say "Cam on Anh!" (pron. "come ern ang"). If the driver tries to ask for more and you don't want to pay him any extra, simply smile and say "khong a! Het roi" (pron. "Kom ah! Het zoi"). If he says something bad, what do you care? You don't speak Vietnamese anyway!

The Helmet Law

It is now Vietnamese law that everybody must where a helmet when traveling on a motorbike. Real xe om drivers will have a spare helmet. If you're worried about head lice, then we would advise you to tie up those gorgeous locks in a hat or head scarf before putting your helmet on.

Traveling by xe om at night:

This is a very risky idea. Male tourists have been known to be robbed by drivers, and there are a lot of female travelers who have been raped or sexually assaulted. We strongly encourage you NOT to take a xe om at night - instead take a taxi with a group of friends. However, if you MUST take a xe om, we recommend that you stop in at Red Mask on Ta Hien and have a drink or a cheese toastie and ask Hien (the owner) if one of her brothers will be a xe om driver. These guys are safe and reliable. Just make sure that you repay the kindness (of not being attacked) by having at least one drink in the glorious dive that is Red Mask. Also, make sure that you have your mobile on you. Just in case.

Taxi:

There are a lot of incredibly dodgy taxi drivers and companies in Hanoi. Some have meters that increase too quickly, others have gropy molesters for drivers. Generally speaking the best companies are Van Xuan (8.222.888), CP or Hanoi. These are the more respectable companies (although the drivers can be rude) as their meters increase at a sensible speed. There is also a company in Hanoi that has all female drivers but the name escapes us at the moment. Regardless, good safety rules are always sit in the back seat and roll down the window. This is because often the back doors can only be opened from the outside, so at least if the window is open you will be able to reach out and open the door yourself to escape from grabby drivers.

voir le calendrier des sorties

On the first day there, Will stayed at the hotel to get some rest and I decided to spend the morning at the Women's Museum (he was SO so disappointed not to go with me haha).Vietnam has a long history of war and this museum (as it was described in my travel book paragraph) was dedicated to the women who served in combat throughout Vietnamese history.

I don't know what I was thinking.

Vietnam has a pair of ancient warrior queens (hai ba trung) who ruled somewhere in the 400s that I've been obsessed with for a while and I naively thought this museum would be dedicated to women in history like them. I arrived at the museum and the attendant had to run into the building and tell the curator to turn on the lights.

I was their only guest. That should have been a warning sign.
The museum honored women who fought for the communist/country against the "American Imperialist" in the most recent war, with a handful of exhibits on women who fought to break away from the French colonization. The images of combat were graphic and the stories were detailed and my American self was walking around in there feeling unsettled- to say the least.

There was no information on Hai Ba Trung or any other figures from the distant past. I walked the entire way back to the hotel scolding myself: "what was I thinking? I'm in Hanoi, the capital of communist Vietnam. I should have known better!"
This was before I realized my access to wordpress was denied.

My first museum experience did not detour me from visiting the Museum of History and the Museum of Ethnology and both of these, were actually very good. Look how happy Will looks here standing next to a huge pile of baskets on a bicycle at the Museum of Ethnology:

We spent the rest of our time in Hanoi wandering around the Old Quarter, eating ice cream four times a day (they have some of the most delicious ice cream I've ever tasted there) and checking out the major landmarks around the city:

We had to ride at cyclo at least once. Yea, we both rode in that, at the same time. I think the man deserved the 50,000 ($3) he charged us even if it was above the standard fare.

Flower peddlers in the Old Quarter.

Además, quiero agradecer a quienes se han dado el tiempo de postear. No tenía idea lo importante que es el feedback. Incluso hice caso a sus sugerencias y corregí algunos errores que por ahí había. Y por último para mi querida y siempre asertiva tía Marisela, le posteo un link sobre el asuntillo este del Kitsch http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsch.

Ya, entonces, ahora sí... aquí vamos.... Salud!)

UN HOMBRE MUERTO EN EL RING

El Liguria es el Pub Restaurante más top de Chile. Así de simple. Puede comer un ejército de las tablitas para dos personas, Cuentan con una tremenda gama de Sandwichs, platos rápidos y una barra excepcional. No dejen de probar la mostaza. No se de dónde la traen, pero es muy rica. Tampoco pueden dejar pasar la oportunidad de probar las delicias del mar.

Mi primera visita a este ya mítico local fue en 2001 y cuando entre quedé maravilldo con todo, pero por sobre todo con la decoración y un piano donde un tipo comenzó a cantar -según yo- igualito a Álvaro Henriquez (líder del grupo Chileno Los Tr3s) una canción sobre un tipo que muere boxeando.

Días después, me enteré que sí era él y que tenía una nueva banda llamada Los Pettinellis, quienes en su primer disco homónimo, incluyeron dicha canción: "un hombre muerto en el ring".

Incluso, en ese mismo disco incluyeron una canción llamada "Himno Internacional del Liguria". Claro, si este artista, está dentro del inventario del local.

O sea, mucha, pero mucha onda. Lo más simpático es que es visitada por políticos, futbolistas, actores, cantantes, es como estar copeteando dentro de una tele.

EXTRA JÓVENES

Le Pub, Es considerado como uno de los mejores del sector. Si bien no es de los pioneros, sus dueños han sabido adaptarse rápidamente a las necesidades de los más selectos parroquianos. De hecho, jueves y viernes hay que llegar temprano, porque después de las 6.00 PM, es imposible encontrar una mesa desocupada.

Cuál es la clave de este éxito, lejos, lo mejor es la barra. Tragos generosos, bien preparados y servidos. La comida también es buena, siendo los snack su especialidad. Si pasan por este pub, recuerden probar las empanadas de camarón ecuatoriano con queso. una delicia.

Tiene una capacidad para unas 70 personas. cuentan con música en vivo después del happy hours y 5 pantallas LCD donde muestran videos musicales de los 80 y 90, los mismos que aparecían en el programa extra jóvenes.

LOS TRASNOCHADOS

Cyclos Pub, es el vivo ejemplo de lo que no se tiene que hacer ,cuando se ingresa a este rubro: quedarse dormido.

Hace unos años, este pub gozaba de muy buena reputación. Incluso, una vez invité a una amiga que venía del extranjero a degustar un margarita y quedó maravillada.

Sin embargo, sucumbió a la competencia. Bajaron la calidad de la materia prima, tanto de los licores como de la comida. Despidieron al personal y contrataron a dos meseras peruanas. No tengo nada contra ellos, pero son dos para antender 50 mesas.
Debes llegar por lo menos 45 antes, que es el tiempo de reacción mínimo que tienen, sólo para servir dos humildes combinados. Ni se les ocurra pedir la carta, puede amanecer esperando que lleguen 6 empanadas de queso medias tibias.

Es una pena. guardo buenos recuerdos en ese local. Pero no ingresaré a un baño que no tiene papel higiénico ni jabón.

Además, los precios son los mismos, o sea, cero respeto por el cliente.
Muchachos, despierten!! aún están a tiempo de salvar el buque que se está hundiendo.

Espero que no sean el punto de partida del mismo camino que llevó a la hecatombe a barrios bohemios tan tradicionales como Bellavista y Suecia.