From Hội An to Hà Nội
By Lauren Gerzina and Justin Hayes
Tiny Elevators, Poke, and TMI
Our time in Hoi An has come to an end after 6 wonderful days exploring the city and spending WAY too much money.
We started the morning off with one more trip to Ellie’s Café so that Lauren could have their delicious oatmeal pancakes one last time and so we could also work on the blog before our driver picked us up to head to the airport. We also enjoyed some fresh watermelon juice with breakfast – we have really been enjoying the fresh juices here with no added sugar, which have all been very refreshing.
As we headed back to our Airbnb to finish packing, it started pouring, so we hung out a little longer at Ellie’s until the rain settled down a bit. We finished loading up all our stuff, settled with the front desk on all of our transportation and laundry, and then loaded our stuff into the car to head to Da Nang International Airport.
When we got to the airport, we learned that there wasn’t a priority pass lounge in our terminal, so we settled for grabbing some food at a Pho place in the airport before grabbing some waters and chilling until our flight to Ha Noi.
We lined up to get on the buses to head to our plane and it seemed as though we were going to have to join the plebes on the large bus until Lauren realized her ticket said Zone 1 (thanks Delta status) so we got on the business class bus again to head to our plane. Strangely, our plane was sitting right next to a jet bridge, so it was a little odd as to why we shuttled to the plane instead of boarding right from whatever gate that was.
Anyway, the flight was unremarkable and once we located our luggage, we called a Grab to take us to our place in the Old Quarter of Ha Noi. Ha Noi airport is much further from the city than Ho Chi Minh, so the drive took about 45-50 minutes. After our respite in Hoi An, it was a little overwhelming to be back in a big city with all of the chaos of motorbikes and cars swerving in and out of traffic. It is amazing how there are so few accidents given the lack of things like Stop signs at most intersections.
We finally arrived at our Airbnb and our experience getting inside was an adventure in itself. The entrance to Hotel Delicat was located at the back of a Creperie. We had to grab a key from the lockbox attached to the front gate so we could enter/exit when the shop was closed. We then squeezed our luggage past the crepe stand at the front of the shop, past the workers and towards a door at the back of the shop. We entered the code for that door and then called the “elevator” (or “lift” is a more apt way to describe this contraption) so that we could load part of our luggage up to the 4th floor. Justin made the first trip, got inside the room with yet another key code, then came back down to get the rest of our stuff and Lauren.
The room was quite narrow but spacious-ish given its location. It had a nice balcony that overlooked the Hoàn Kiếm Lake (large pond?), although the view was somewhat obstructed by a large tree. You could hear the sounds of motorbikes and cars honking and driving by – we were in the heart of the Old Quarter of Ha Noi, and it was lively.
We found a Poke place on the other side of the water and started heading that way on foot. It was actually a very lovely walk as we passed a lit up red bridge that took tourists to a temple on the water. We then found the Poke place, which required us to walk down a narrow alley and up about 3 flights of stairs. The restaurant was very nice. It looked like it was maybe a converted apartment with a large terrace. It was also nice because they were able to tell us what ingredients were gluten-free. So we decided to grab our food and sit out on the terrace to enjoy the much nicer weather in Ha Noi than we have experienced in the southern and central parts of the country.
This is where things get REAL interesting. After sitting down to start eating our poke, a couple sitting next to us started into a very lively conversation. We learned very quickly that they were not in fact a couple. And they both just really needed to unload on eachother. And therefore us as well. Man the deets got juicy. We learned that her boyfriend wanted an open relationship and that she agreed because she loved him…but didn’t want to date anyone else. RED FLAG. Then we learned that he has been single for years because his last girl friend really did an emotional number on him. But then he started talking about wanting to be a fuck boi OR that he could settle down with a nice girl that his mom could set up with him. Then he talked about some friends having a party and one of their girlfriends starting flirting with him because and a quote “he is so good with the ladies”….suffice it to say we sat and listened to all the drama (because it was so damn amusing) for about 20 minutes and said only about two sentences to each other out loud as we giggled sending texts about the drama unfolding next to us. What a dinner.
After dinner, we went to a nail salon so that Lauren could get a gel manicure to replace her wedding nails. The owner of the shop, who was very nice, said that she had contacts in the U.S. who would send her nail polish from the states. She also got her contacts to send her other things. For instance, Justin had the sniffles, so she offered him some Kirkland-brand Claritin that someone had sent her for allergies. We also detected a strange accent, and we learned that she went to university in Switzerland (on the French-speaking side) so she had a French-sounding accent when she spoke English.
Then, we headed to a Circle K to grab some waters, a cider, and a sake cocktail in a can to enjoy on our balcony. Lauren also grabbed some strawberry Pocky sticks for a snack. We consumed our stash while listening to the hustle and bustle of the busy street below us and then turned in for the night.
