Due to kind of a weird schedule our flight back wasn’t until around 11:30 p.m., so we had lots of time to kill. We stashed our luggage with the hotel, and then met up with Hain one last time. She guided us through one more shopping trip at the grocery store to identify which hot sauces were the best to buy, and then we went to lunch at the Hanoi Hilton. Kuniko had heard that the Vietnamese restaurant there was really good, and it lived up to it’s reputation.

Over a pretty diverse and refreshing lunch we exchanged our farewell gifts. Lunch was relaxing and pretty leisurely (actually, the whole day was like that). We wandered from there to the original che place where we first had che and had “one for the road”. I had a slightly different version – one with green beans that was tasty. From there we said our final goodbyes to Hain and thanked her for all her help during the trip. I can’t imagine how the trip would have gone without her help and advice. She was one of the highlights of the whole trip.

So now we had lots of time to kill. Kuniko thought to avoid another taxi fiasco by making an appointment for an airport. This time we found the correct office after wading through a squad of taxi drivers. We picked a departure time, handed over $4, and it was done. Now just to make it back on time with our luggage.

We took a good long time to sit in the sun on a park bench overlooking the lake and tried to think about what we needed to get done when we arrived back home in Japan, and we talked about our highlights (and lowlights) from the trip. We drank one of my favorite Vietnamese sodas – “Twister”. We went for one last coffee at another branch of the touristy “Highlands” coffee shop, and we even tried some Vietnamese Thai food that met with our approval.

Knowing that we had a big night ahead of us at the airport, and an overnight flight back, we decided to have a couple of cocktails. The Hanoi Hilton had a nice bar that we had walked by earlier in the day, so we went back and settled in there. I stuck with beer but Kuniko had a variety of different drinks. Figuring it was about time to head out, we went back to our hotel, picked up our luggage and headed to the shuttle area.

Again the taxi drivers swarmed us, even more because we had suitcases with us. We fought through them and found the right minibus. I was a little alarmed because even though we were early we were the last two people there. They squeezed our luggage into the back, and Kuniko and I had to sit separately in the minibus, jammed together with a bunch of other passengers.

The ride to the airport was pretty crazy – the bus sped through town honking scooters out of the way, and everyone was squeezed in with each other so anytime you moved you pushed against someone else, and the night was full of interesting things to see. There were the barbers who worked outside by tying a mirror to the base of a streetlight and setting a chair in front of it, the old ladies selling bread on the side of the road inches away from speeding cars, and always the storefronts – everyone selling something.

It was a long drive but we made it more or less in one piece. The wait to check in for the plane was pretty long, and then afterwards we snacked at a cheesy airport restaurant called the “Lucky Cafe” that advertised things like “Hamburgers”, “Soup” and “Rice Office”. We never found out what “rice office” was. Once we cleared customs and security we were surrounded by even more shopping, trying to get the last minute shoppers. The prices were about ten times what they were on the streets, so there weren’t many takers.

The flight back was a piece of cake. It was a five hour flight, but I just closed my eyes right after take off and woke up when the wheels hit the ground in Osaka. I had vague dreams of flight attendants giving me strange looks, but that was it. We stepped out into the cold of Osaka in winter, cleared immigration and customs and we were back. We caught a bus back to Sannomiya, a train back to Okubo, and we were back in our house around 8 a.m.

The first thing we did was take a hot bath, and then we unpacked, heated up the house, and did odds and ends. I had to leave to teach three classes, but I wasn’t tired at all and they went well enough. Kuniko picked me up afterwards and took us to her parent’s house, and they welcomed us back and gave us our plants back (thanks for taking care of them!)

And that was it. It was a great trip – really an adventure. I’m so glad that we decided to go – the things we saw and did and ate will be great memories for a long time. During the trip we also got a chance to meet a lot of interesting people, and we could really feel how kind everyone was.

We’re already talking about our next trips, but with my job and school situation up in the air, nothing is solid yet but the destinations. Stay tuned!

We woke up refreshed at the Sofitel, and decided to forgo a froofy French hotel breakfast and instead go out for some local snacks at the grocery store down the street. Why pay too much money for a breakfast that you can get anytime at home when you could pay way too little for a new culinary experience. That put us sitting on a bench lakeside with a sandwich filled with chicken and chili sauce and a sweet bread that was partially fried with onions. We made the right choice.

Today we wanted to balance relaxation with shopping for souvenirs, and I think we did a good job. In the morning we went to the bigger grocery store that we had visited earlier and shopped like crazy. We filled our baskets with stuff to bring back, and couldn’t believe how inexpensive it was. I bought a can of “bird’s nest white fungus” drink to try out later as well. It turned out to be better than it sounds.

We shopped for some other goodies around the old quarter for a bit, and I was struck by how accustomed we had become to the swarming people and scooters. Now we walk across streets teeming with scooters and cars without even thinking. I still remember the night we arrived and thinking we would never even be able to cross the street.

We skipped lunch and instead went back to our hotel for high tea. We sat at a comfortable table in one of the restaurants and they started bringing fruits, breads, sandwiches, and of course, lots of tea. As part of the high tea they had a rather extensive chocolate buffet that was very well done. Kuniko and I hit that a few times, and I switched to wine after tea. It was fun to people watch. The other guests of the hotel still seemed a little stuffy, but our server was pleasant to talk with. She seemed like a genuinely nice person.

The afternoon and evening we spent taking some final pictures of places I wanted to document, and doing last minute shopping before our departure the next day. We decided to spend the evening at the bar of the hotel, and since we had received some free drink vouchers when we checked in we decided to put them to use. I was a little surprised that they were only for use on the terrace of the outermost restaurant, but it was comfortable enough out there. We ordered some drinks and a light dinner (still full from the high tea) – Kuniko had escargot and I stuck with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

One of the odd things about sitting out on the terrace was that we were very exposed to people walking by. I think maybe the hotel wanted their guests out there to kind of show off “the good life” to the locals and other tourists. It felt a little like we were on display, but after another glass of wine I was less concerned about it. After we finished up we did a couple more rounds of drinks at the poolside bar inside the hotel, and then called it quits.

We came back to our room to find yet another big plate of fruit and chocolates, and we snacked on those while packing all our gear away for the trip home. Now that the trip was ending, I didn’t want to leave the security of a comfortable bed and a toilet that worked.

We took advantage of our hotel’s rooftop breakfast again, and then spent some leisure time in our room before the taxi came to pick us up for the trip back to Hue airport. The airport was pretty quiet. It was easy to find the right line because there was only one – maybe just one flight for the day. We sat around still trying to digest all the food and then we caught a bus out to the airplane and grabbed some seats.

Since it was a short trip we just got a little snack pack, and this time there were little sandwiches in our snack boxes. I couldn’t even comprehend eating one at this point, so I gave it to the rather large guy sitting in the same row as us. He was very happy and tore into like a starving bear.

Before we knew it we arrived in Hanoi, and we got off the place, grabbed our luggage, and headed out into the main terminal.

We did not arrange a car with our next hotel because it was freakishly expensive (why pay $40 US when we were able to make a deal for $10 last time?) so we decided to go the tricky route and negotiate a deal with the taxi drivers. Kuniko suggested we catch one from the departure level upstairs – those guys might be more inclined to take us back to the city because they just came from there. They also weren’t so organized – the arrivals level was surrounded with drivers waiting to screw you over. We wanted to be careful – my guidebook had dedicated three pages to how Hanoi taxi drivers will try to rip you off.

So we were not completely clueless when we talked with a guy up on the departures level. He was just walking by and asked us if we needed a cab, and so we negotiated a ride for $12 back to Hanoi, and he led us to a taxi. This is where things got weird. He wasn’t actually the driver, there was a driver and our guy sat in the passenger seat. The driver didn’t speak English – he was quiet the whole time. Right away I paid the $12 to the passenger guy, and he took the money and said thanks.

Once we were underway the passenger guy asked us if we had been to Hanoi before (and we lied and said it was our third time) and told us that he knew some really cheap hotels in town. The last thing we wanted to do was tell him that we were staying at the Sofitel (the most expensive hotel in town) so we told him we were going to meet a friend at the post office (which was down the street from the Sofitel). That threw him off – the usual tactic is to tell us that our hotel is closed or full, and to try to get us to go to another one. Sorry, buddy.

Next he told us that we had to pay a toll at the exit of the airport. This was our third time through this road, and before our driver had paid the toll. So we just refused. That threw him as well. He thought about it for a while, and then asked us to pay again (10,000 dong – about 70 cents). We refused again, and the car started to pull over to some old ladies selling tickets. This time the guy said that it was 10,000 dong each, and we just shook our heads. Something shady was going on, and it seemed best just to do everything slow and deliberately, so that the pressure would be on the driver and our “friend”. Cars started honking behind us, and our guys were starting to stress, so I handed over just 10,000 dong, and the driver paid some amount of money, and they let us through. The passenger at that point said that the driver would take us from there, and he jumped out and said goodbye, offering his hand. I didn’t shake it and we took off. It’s amazing what people will do just to make a little bit of money.

So we were a little pissed on the ride back, but finally we made it into town and the driver pulled up in front of the post office. We got our luggage out of the back, and said thanks, pulling our luggage behind. Then the driver is shocked – where’s the money? He’s making motions like we didn’t pay him, and he’s holding out his hand. And it all becomes clear. Either he’s not buddies with the passenger guy and he got screwed, or he is buddies with the passenger guy and he’s trying to double his fare. Either way, there was no way in hell we were going to pay. I explained that I paid his friend (using hand motions) and Kuniko looked up the Vietnamese word for “police” in her guidebook, motioning that we should all go have a chat. He didn’t want to go to the police, so after about ten minutes there was no point in staying so we left. What a hassle.

So from there we walked a block with our suitcase and checked into our next hotel – the Sofitel Metropole. I had made a reservation here as an anniversary gift for Kuniko, and I had figured ahead of time that we would need some relaxation in a nice hotel before heading home. The place is pretty historic, and our room was beautiful. Definitely the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Widescreen TV, huge comfortable bed, beautiful bathroom and a fully functioning toilet.

We lounged around the room, and after we had settled in we walked around the hotel a little bit to see what it was like. Everyone was really friendly, and it had the feeling that anything you could possibly want they could provide within a few minutes.

One little social observation – I noticed that the foreigners staying at this hotel were not so friendly. They were kind of caught up in their own status it seemed to me. A couple was having their picture taken getting out of a black BMW at the entrance – and the snooty feel was even stronger in the Gucci brand shops attached to the hotel. It was probably the only place in Hanoi that had real Gucci products.

But if you can let all of that kind of stuff go by and just enjoy the comfort of the place and the good service of the staff, then you could have a good time. And we did.

We waited as long as we could to get up an appetite, and then made a long walk to the north of town to an upscale buffet restaurant called “Brothers”. The buffet was nice because we could choose our own items without having to worry about whether we could read a menu or not. I liked everything I ate there, although everything did seem a little tamed – made safe for the tourists. The atmosphere was nice, too. We ate in the outdoor courtyard under a roof of palm trees. The desserts was where Brothers really shined, though. We hadn’t ordered much for dessert besides che, so it was nice to try some other traditional Vietnamese sweets.

On the way back to our hotel we did a little shopping at a grocery store we found, and then a short walk around the lake before coming back to our hotel room. They had turned down the covers, left chocolates on our pillow, and also left a big plate of fresh fruit and a smaller plate of chocolates for us as well. Nice service. When we finally climbed into bed I realized it was the most comfortable bed ever. We had come a long way from the Prince Hotel 1 in the old quarter.

Another perk of our nicer hotel was breakfast on the top floor with a beautiful view of the river and the walls of the palace in the distance. We ate a combination of western and Vietnamese foods, with fruit juice and super-coffee, and then hit the road.

We covered some of the same territory as yesterday until we crossed the wide river on a busy and very modern bridge. There were only two bridges in the area, so we picked the closest one and went across to the palace side of the river. From there we walked around the front and entered one of two tunnels that immediately followed bridges over a moat and then continued through thick walls.

Once we got inside the outer walls the terrain changed dramatically. There was a lot of open space, with ancient architecture and some remnants of the wars that had been fought here over the years. The weather was cloudy, and the ground was still wet from yesterday’s rain. We just kind of followed the wide pathways to the center point of the inner structure. We paid eight American dollars to get in, and then walked around the grounds of the inner palace.

Inside was a little more ornate than the outside. The gates were beautifully decorated with thousands of pieces of broken colored tile, and things kind of naturally led to the emperor’s sitting room. From his very ornate throne you could look out the front door and see through the outer gates all the way out to the huge flagpole at the very front of the fortress walls.

After passing through the emperor’s room we entered the forbidden city. It had been heavily bombed during the war with America, and walking around was sometimes a little tricky. Even now there was debris laying around, and various structures were undergoing restoration. There was no particular route that was recommended, so we just walked all over the place. I enjoyed walking behind a building and discovering a reflection pond that had some fish jumping out of the water now and then.

We walked to the back gate and then walked back around the grounds just outside the inner walls. Some of the gardens out here between the two walls were really beautiful, and I went a little picture crazy here.

At one point I jumped over a small trench to get a picture, but when I jumped back my foot landed on the slippery ground and my other foot went into the trench and banged against the rocky wall. Ouch! I pulled myself up and looked at the damage, but it was just a scape a few inches below my knee. I had no problem walking, so we kept going. This little episode ended up coming back to haunt me later, though.

We finished up with the palace – I had taken a million pictures and we thought it might be fun to check out the rest of the city, so we went out into the outer city by crossing another bridge to the east. We picked up some local sweets to take back to Hain and her mother in Hanoi, and then eventually made our way to the restaurant that Kuniko had picked out for lunch.

The place was off the beaten path, but it was in a huge house surrounded by gardens and fountains made of limestone. We were only the second customers there – a pair of Japanese people were wrapping up their lunch as we arrived.

For Christmas my aunt and uncle had sent some money for us to use for a special meal in Vietnam, so we decided that today’s meal was on them. This seemed like an appropriate way to use the money. This place was recommended because of the creativity of the food. Apparently the former emperor of this area was a particularly picky eater, and because of this the food of the area was predominantly vegetarian, and usually spicier than other Vietnamese food. The cook at this restaurant was a local celebrity because of her adherence to that traditional style.

We ordered a course of dishes and some beers, and then settled back to enjoy the meal. Another pair of people came to eat, both westerners like me. They didn’t seem to friendly, however, and ignored my smile and nod as they walked by.

I took pictures of all the dishes, so it’s best to go check them out on page 4 of the picture gallery. The food was beautifully presented, and the host was nice enough to explain each dish and its significance as she brought them. There was a pineapple carved into the shape of a bird (a phoenix?) with spring rolls as feathers, a hollowed-out pineapple with spears that had different fried vegetables impaled on them, a dragon made out of papaya salad, a fried fish in the shape of an eye, and a tree that had specially spiced meatballs hanging from each branch.

While we ate and drank and ate some more I noticed that a lady and a guy with a TV camera had arrived and were walking around filming the garden and the exterior of the restaurant. Our server asked us if it would be OK if they filmed a scene or two of all of the customers eating, and we (like the other customers) said of course – no problem. Kuniko and I were giggling a little and enjoying our food while they filmed – just trying not to look too retarded. We were getting to the end of our meal, and we were stuffed.

Then the server came back and asked us another favor. She said she would serve us a dish that wasn’t on the menu, and if we would please try it on camera and give our reaction. We said sure, and they said that they were going to prepare and they’d bring the food shortly. The Japanese couple had left by then, and I think the other couple had been a little rude to the restaurant’s cat so they were out.

Kuniko and I were joking around and getting our TV faces ready when the food started arriving. The server had said “a dish”, but I guess the chef wanted the camera to see a table full of food, so they brought three dishes. One was a plate full of delicious translucent rice cakes that had meat and vegetables embedded inside and then wrapped in a thick green leaf. She also brought the Vietnamese version of gyoza – but you could actually see through the outer shell. Finally for the centerpiece they brought an elephant – the body of the elephant was made up of minced pork and garlic, and the ears, trunk and tail were all vegetables.

The cameraman showed up, and off camera the server showed us how to properly assemble the food. Then they started filming us eating. It was a lot of pressure to unwrap the rice cakes and then fold them up and eat them with chopsticks (Vietnamese chopsticks are much thicker than Japanese ones) and eat without spilling. I thought I did a good job. The TV lady asked me in English what I thought of the food, and I gave my opinion. They did two takes, and we had to keep eating the whole time – it was hard work.

They told us to enjoy the food compliments of the chef, who graced us with an appearance towards the end of our meal. She was a really sweet old lady, who said “Thank you, thank you” to us in heavily accented English. We both really liked the elephant-shaped meat, and ate a lot – giving us garlic breath for the rest of the day.

Finally after we could eat no more they brought us the bill (thanks Nancy and Lynn!) and we walked off to get some badly needed exercise. In the afternoon we walked all over a touristy part of town, stopping for another drip coffee with condensed milk, and then we finally took a break at our hotel.

Before our dinner we went back to the supermarket to buy a few interesting things to bring back to Hanoi, and when we paid in cash the only change we got was two pieces of candy. The value of the dong is so low that at some point they don’t have coins small enough to represent your change. Many stores just round up, but this store paid us in candy. Apparently one piece of candy is worth 200 dong.

It was dinner time, and we weren’t hungry, but here we were in the culinary capital of Vietnam on our last night. We had to go out there and eat. So we did. The restaurant was similar to the one we had been to last night, except that the food was a little more diverse. There was live traditional Vietnamese music, and as we ate and drank, more and more tourists came in. I enjoyed the dinner and the dessert really hit the spot – a three flavor ice cream sundae with coconut ice cream.

Finally we decided to call it a night, and we (once again) brought our swollen bellies back to the hotel to try to build some kind of sense of hunger again for the next day. My knee had swollen up a bit from walking around on it so much, so I iced it down and then we hit the hay.

Tomorrow it is back to Hanoi, a shady taxi ride, and our introduction to our last hotel of the trip, the Sofitel Metropole.

We woke up early, packed up our stuff, and said our final goodbyes to our hotel room. I wouldn’t recommend it for other people traveling to Hanoi so I will name it here – The Prince Hotel 1.

We went downstairs at around 6:30 in the morning, and when I got to the lobby I noticed that the lights were off and the door was locked. Not only locked, physically chained shut. I got a little worried until I noticed that an employee was sleeping on a cot right there in the lobby. We rousted him out of bed to unlock the door, and then we hit the streets with suitcases in tow.

By now Kuniko had pretty much mastered the streets of Hanoi, so we had no problem getting to the area to ride the airport shuttle. According to our guidebook there was an airport shuttle run by Vietnam Airlines, and it only cost $2 per person from Hanoi to the airport – a 40 minute ride. Pretty good deal, but apparently they only run a few times a day, and since we didn’t bother to make prior reservations there wasn’t any shuttle around. The place to catch the shuttle was a tiny door in the side of building, but it was closed and we didn’t even realize that was the right place until later. Instead there were about fifty taxi drivers descending on us, offering to take us to the airport. Some were sneaky – they had painted “Vietnam Airlines” on the side of their taxi or minibus and offered to take us. Others were more upfront – they had signs written in English offering shuttle service for as much as $24 per person.

Anytime people with suitcases showed up there was a scramble to try to get them into a taxi, and it looked like we had no choice. Kuniko and I talked with a group of bold taxi drivers that were ready to make a deal. They asked when our flight was and we lied to make it sound urgent – we didn’t want to wait around for some other people to come along. I said we wanted to leave “now”, and the word “now” threw off most of the drivers. One particularly sharp guy knew what “now” meant and offered to take us both for a flat $10. After confirming that it was $5 each for a total of $10, we took his offer and jumped in his the taxi. The other guys looked disappointed and I think they were wondering why they lost out.

Our driver turned off his meter, called into headquarters and probably told them he was going to lunch, then we headed for the airport. The guy was really quiet and didn’t hassle us on price or paying airport tolls – he just took us right there. I paid him in cash as soon as we got in the taxi so everyone still remembered the price quoted, and he did such a good job I tipped him $2 when we got there. That made his day – he gave us a big smile and everyone felt good about the deal.

From there it was a short wait and then we boarded a Vietnam Airlines flight to Hue. Hue was only about an hour away by plane, so it was an easy trip. We arrived at a tiny airport, our plane was the only one in sight. It was raining pretty good, but this let up shortly thereafter, and was the only rain we saw the entire trip.

I had arranged with our hotel in Hue for a pickup from the airport, and a cheerful guy had our names written on a piece of paper to distinguish us from all the other tourists. We got in his car and he took us a short distance to our hotel.

Our hotel was a step up from the last one. I wanted the quality to ramp up as we traveled rather than decreasing. The effect worked out nicely, and we checked into a big room with lots of amenities, right on the bank of the Perfume River that runs through Hue. It was a short walk from downtown, so the location was pretty good.

We had decided to travel to Hue rather than Ho Chi Minh city because it was a famous for two things – the Imperial palace and forbidden city, and also the food. Hue is supposedly the culinary capital of Vietnam, and we wanted to eat it all. We decided to save the Imperial palace for the next day and instead went to get the local version of pho. The Hue version, called Bún bò Huế is much spicier than your usual noodles in Vietnam, and ours was served with vegetables and beef. It was really good, and definitely our favorite soup in Vietnam. For dessert we had some homemade black rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves and stuffed with sweetened sesame powder.

The afternoon was spent walking around town. We visited an interesting supermarket near the Hue sports stadium. It was the newest market we had seen yet, and they had an excellent selection of goods. We bought some juices to drink, as well as some goodies to take back to the room. The place also had a cafe inside with some delicious looking fried foods, but we were too full to order anything. My kingdom for a bigger stomach.

We walked through a street market covered in tarps to protect it from the rain, and some street vendors just laughed when I tried to find a pair of flip flops in my size. One look at my big boots and they shook their heads. Everywhere we went in Hue we could tell that it was a much more popular destination in summer – the way the restaurants and shops were designed and the open air quality of the markets and cafes seemed to lend themselves to hot weather. It didn’t bother us with the clouds because it was still fairly warm.

Once we had walked around enough to reasonably expect to be able to eat something we stopped in at a restaurant for dinner. We were saving the traditional Hue food for the next day, and instead had a six course meal at a nice restaurant called Garden Club. We sat under palm fronds in comfortable chairs, and ate and drank by candlelight. The food was excellent – lots of variety and a pretty good spiciness level. We tried some local beer – Huda, that went well with the spicy dishes.

I paid the bill (six course meal for two with lots of beers = $18), and we walked on back to our hotel, once again stuffed to the gills with food. It was nice to return to a toilet that worked. It’s details like these that are usually taken for granted – now I appreciate a working toilet so much more.

We headed to bed excited and ready to tackle the Imperial palace and traditional Hue cooking the next day.

We slept in on New Year’s day and then decided to take it easy the whole day and relax a little for a change. The idea behind such a long stay in Hanoi was to spend some days just relaxing, eating and drinking, and watching the world go by. Today we put the plan into action.

The weather on New Year’s day was clear and sunny, a contrast from the cloudy but warm weather that we had grown accustomed to. We spent most of the day walking around the lake, buying the occasional fake pair of sunglasses, and sitting on one of the benches to take in the view. Around us Hanoi was alive with scooters, tourists (both foreign and domestic) and street peddlers trying to sell their wares. We decided to go to a touristy sandwich shop for a change of culinary pace, and enjoyed some pretty good sandwiches on baguettes. The bread in Vietnam was really good – one of the lasting influences of the French in this country.

We also spent a long time at a grocery store in the area. Hain had showed us a few when we first arrived, and today we spent a lot of time exploring the aisles and trying to figure out what everything might be, and what things would be fun to take home. Everything was cheap in the stores, so it was really more a matter of weight management than what we could afford.

We spent a long lazy couple of hours on the patio of a coffee shop overlooking one of the busiest intersections in Hanoi. The coffee place was a Starbucks clone called “Highlands Coffee” – and the menu was clearly aimed at foreigners, mostly it was in English, and the prices of coffee were about ten times what you would pay in a typical cafe on the street. The location couldn’t be better though, and ten times regular price was still much cheaper than what we would pay in Japan.

In the evening we found ourselves back at the street stalls eating dinner, and then at a Bia Hoi drinking cheap beer to wind up the day. There was kind of weird moment at the restaurant when one of the street vendors walked up and tried to sell us Vietnamese style donuts. These ladies were always trying to sell us donuts – for some reason foreigners were good customers, I guess. On impulse Kuniko said sure, we’ll eat them for dessert, and asked for a small bag of donuts. The lady passed them over, and then came the tricky part of trying to figure out what the price was. Usually in stores people would indicate the price by typing into a calculator and showing us, but street vendors (especially the mobile ones) didn’t have calculators. The lady told Kuniko the price, and she had a thick accent so it was tough to understand. I heard “15” and I figured it meant 15,000 dong (about $1). I’m not sure what Kuniko heard, but she looked through her purse and then handed over a 50,000 dong bill (about $3). The donut lady took the bill and walked away, and some other customers of the restaurant that had casually been observing started yelling at the donut lady. One lady managed to ask Kuniko in English if she was expecting money back, and Kuniko and I, sensing something was amiss said that we were fine. I guess $3 is a lot to pay for donuts in Hanoi, but Kuniko had a great attitude about it. Maybe we got ripped off, but the stakes were pretty low and it was all part of the adventure. Just another reason why I love traveling with Kuniko. I was also impressed that the people had jumped in to try to help us.

It was a relaxing day and our last day in Hanoi – finally we could check out of our hotel and fly out to Hue. As a precaution I settled up the bill tonight just to make sure there were no delays in the morning when we leave.

New Year’s Eve, and in turned out to be a busy day, but it started pretty slow. We were pretty tired from the day trip yesterday, so we slept in an extra hour or two. We had thought ahead and arranged to meet Hain for a party that evening, so we had the day to ourselves.

Kuniko mentioned that the toilet was broken, and when I went in there to look at it, I was expecting to just seat the valve and let the tank refill. But, the toilet was plugged up. I called down to the desk and asked them to fix it (again) and they said they would send someone up. We waited a while, and it was apparent that nobody was planning on coming up anytime soon. So, we decided to go walk around and hope that it was fixed when we got back.

Kuniko and I spent the day walking around some interesting local sights. With her trusty guidebook we made our way to a famous temple and enjoyed some time in the gardens. After looking around we got some che and then headed out to check out Ho Chi Minh’s tomb. It was Monday, and we knew it would be closed, but we weren’t really interested in checking out his waxy glass-encased body anyway. “Uncle Ho” as he is called by the locals is somewhat of a tourist attraction, and a pilgrimage for many Vietnamese all over the country. The tomb is a pretty dramatic building surrounded by several football fields of grass and open space. It was carefully guarded, and it reminded me a lot of the tomb of the unknown solider in Washington DC.

There were lots of interesting things to see in the area, so we kept on our feet and stopped occasionally for breaks to use public toilets. Pretty nasty, those. Since we were on our own and visiting a lot of pretty important sites we ran into a lot of government guards. These guys watched us carefully with a serious look on their face, but I liked that when I smiled or nodded at them in a friendly way, almost every one of them broke out into a smile. This really wasn’t limited to the guards – nearly everyone was watching us walk around and a big smile from me was often returned right away.

One of the reasons that we got a lot of attention – even more than in Japan – was that (according to my guidebook and also some personal testimony from my friend Carrie) white males accompanied by Asian women are assumed to be a customer and a prostitute. I guess I should make it clear here that the Asian woman is considered the prostitute. Kuniko and I had talked about it before and she just laughed about it and said she didn’t care, and although we did get a lot of attention it never seemed to bother her. I can say from personal experience that the attention we got walking around was even greater when Hain was with us. I don’t know what they were making of that situation. Luckily there were lots of other tourists to gawk at, so the attention we attracted didn’t last too long, and I never felt unsafe.

We started to head back for the hotel for a break, and grabbed some lunch on the way. We just walked into an interesting looking street restaurant and had fried rice with salted vegetables, and also a spicy chicken dish that was pretty good. We ate more than our fill, and then we headed back to the hotel.

We climbed up the steps to the room, and Kuniko laughed when she saw a toilet plunger sitting next to our door. I went inside and found the toilet was in the same state as when we left it. Apparently it was a plunge your own toilet hotel. I gave it a go, and in a weird coincidence of unfortunate occurrences, I started to break out in hives… likely from something I had just eaten. Anyway, it was all just too much, so Kuniko got right on the phone and started calling other hotels. I gave up on the toilet – no progress with the plunger – and laid down on the bed trying not to scratch all the itchy parts of my body.

This was probably the worst part of the trip, and still, despite how it sounds it wasn’t that bad. The hotels we called were all full for the night (it being New Year’s Eve) but our own hotel offered to give us another room. We took it right away, and it was a little smaller but the toilet worked perfectly. All was right with the world at that point. I took a nap after moving to the room, and by late afternoon I was feeling 100% better. We were on schedule to check out of our hotel in a couple of days anyway, so soon enough it would all be behind us.

The plan for the evening was to meet up with Hain and some of her friends from school and have some Vietnamese nabe soup at a restaurant that they liked. We went downstairs to leave for dinner and the staff had set up a table full of food and drinks for the guests to celebrate the new year. The manager of the hotel was there and he pushed drinks into our hands and offered us food. Part of it was probably because of our bad experiences with our room, but part of it was he wanted people to stick around for the party. We drank some (scary) wine and then apologized and headed off. I actually felt sorry for the guy because there were only a few lonely guests eating and standing around – not a very wild party.

Despite still being pretty full from lunch we headed out to a different part of town and found the nabe restaurant. Hain had invited four of her friends. Some of them were studying Japanese at school and some were studying English, so the idea was to provide them with some native speakers to practice with.

We went upstairs and grabbed a table, and the girls explained the process and when to put each item into the soup. Kuniko and I had beers while the girls had tea, and we chatted in various languages while we ate. One of the girls sitting across from me kind of adopted me and kept smiling and putting more food from the nabe pot right into my bowl. I wasn’t that hungry but the soup was delicious. Some interesting ingredients (intestines, wow) but nothing crazy. They had some super hot sauce to put in as well and I really liked that.

The students were really friendly and not as shy as the students I usually work with in Japan. I’m guessing they were more confident in English because Kuniko ended up spending most of her time speaking with them in English like me. They taught us how to say “excuse me” in Vietnamese (xin lá»—i!) and I got to practice shouting for our waiter from the table which felt really rude but got us the service we wanted.

After dinner we went to a che place and we ate even more while taking lots of pictures and talking. I’ve got to say that the attention that we got as a white guy with five Vietnamese high school girls and a Japanese woman was pretty intense. People from across the street were stopping and pointing, and the men around us looked me in the eyes in kind of a challenging way, but nobody ever said anything. For their part the girls were oblivious and caught up in eating che and talking about this and that.

After the che place we all walked out to the lake to walk off dinner, and Kuniko and said our goodbyes from there. We waved goodbye to everyone and also said goodbye to Hain for a while since we were leaving for Hue soon. Then we headed back into the old quarter to see what was happening. We stopped in at our hotel to drop off some stuff and we almost didn’t recognize it. The party was raging and music was blasting – the place was full of people and it was hard to get across the lobby to the staircase. I was glad that it was a hit. We didn’t stick around at the hotel long, and skipped the party with all the tourists to instead hit the streets and see what was going on and maybe have some drinks.

It was strange because the wildest parties were involving the tourists. The locals at around 11 p.m. started laying out tarps and sitting down on the sidewalks as families. I had expected lots of craziness, but things were getting quieter as we approached midnight. We found ourselves at a Bia Hoi place, and ordered up some cold beer. Bia Hoi is where the real drinking gets done in Hanoi. You sit on plastic stools or chairs right on the street, and the owner draws cold beer from a keg (usually leaning against a tree or building) and charges you between 2000 and 5000 dong for it. That’s around 20 cents a beer. Danger, danger!

While we sat watching the city slow down around us we noticed that many families were eating dried squid together, and when a street vendor came walking by selling it we decided to try it, too. She first toasted it in hot coals that she carried around in a metal pot, and then beat the hell out of it with a stick, and finally tore it into strips and served it on a piece of newspaper with some chili sauce. It hit the spot, and went well with the cheap beer.

That was pretty much the extent of our new year party – we went back to the hotel right before the countdown and were in bed by one o’clock. Downstairs the party was still raging, and at one point I heard what sounded like furniture being thrown around. I was just happy to have a toilet that flushed.

The only good thing about having a busted toilet today was that we had planned a day trip to Ha Long Bay and wouldn’t be around to not be able to use the malfunctioning porcelain.

We met up with Hain in the morning, and waited patiently for a tour bus to pick us up and take us to spend the day on Ha Long Bay. It was a popular tourist destination, and most people stay for a couple of days. We wanted to go and come back in one day, so Hain’s mom made arrangements for us with one of the millions of tour companies near our hotel. We were the last three on the little minibus when it arrived, and so we sat in the back and rode out of town.

Although I was the only native speaker of English on the bus, that was the language that seemed the most likely for everyone to understand, so our guide told us a little bit about the area as we left Hanoi. Actually, she told me – she looked straight at me the whole time while she talked – probably because she knew I would understand. I have to admit her accent was a little thick, but I nodded sagely in what I thought were the appropriate times, and once we got out of town there wasn’t much to describe.

Vietnam is not a rich country, and although it is a communist government, pretty much everyone in the country is trying to sell something. There are so many tour companies around trying to compete for tourist business, and some of them were pretty shady looking. This one turned out OK, but it wasn’t completely legit. We paid about $25 each for a ride there and back, a boat ride out on the bay, and lunch on the boat. We got all of that, but it was a little tricky.

The bus ride was pretty long – almost three hours. I can’t speak for the other people but I really enjoyed it. We got the chance to see the countryside and parts of Vietnam that are completely different from downtown Hanoi. It had a very rural feel out here, with lots of rice paddies and towns interspersed by distance. One common sight was ladies selling french bread on the side of the road. They would space themselves out and wave at passing cars trying to get them to stop for bread. I don’t know how the bread tasted after being on the side of the road for so long. The roads still had lots of scooters, and our driver didn’t hesitate to honk them out of the way to keep up his speed. Some scooters had strange cargo – I saw one loaded with chickens, others with large furniture, entire families, and even one had a full size cow strapped across the back.

We passed graves placed in inconvenient locations like right out in the middle of a rice field, and sometimes I saw people building the graves themselves with cement mixers. The towns we passed always had their doors open and display cases full of the same old items. Who buys all this stuff?

Halfway there we stopped at a pitstop that was full of items for sale, and we stood around for about thirty minutes until our driver and guide decided that nobody was going to buy anything or use the bathroom. Then we moved on. The pit stop had lots of other minibuses there full of tourists, so it must pay pretty well to stop there.

Finally we made it to the bay, and driving through the town on the way to the boats was pretty eye-opening. It was like a modernizing town that had stopped midstream. There would be a thirty story building being built, but you could only see two or three workers. Piles of cement blocks would be sitting in the middle of the road, and always there were houses selling stuff and people sitting outside waiting for a customer.

Almost at the harbor the road widened, huge sidewalks opened up on either side and it seemed like we were arriving at Disneyland. A closer inspection of the sidewalks revealed that weeds and grass were growing through in some places. It was probably built as a project twenty years ago. We were out in the middle of nowhere, and nobody was walking these sidewalks.

We got to the harbor, along with all the other tourists in different minibuses, and then we followed our guide like cattle to the gates. Then she told us to wait and we stood around with hundreds of other tourists for a while. Hain and Kuniko and I always spoke Japanese, so we usually had private conversations, but there were some Japanese tourists here as well, so we had to be a little more careful what we said. Eventually our guide returned with a shady looking guy who passed out boat tickets to us. It turned out that this guy was taking over guide duties for the bay trip.

He led us towards the boats. The harbor was crammed with them. It was no problem that they didn’t all fit – they just tied them to other boats and then you climbed from one boat to the next until your guide said stop. And still other tourists would keep on going, using your boat as a bridge. Our boat was pretty non-descript – it didn’t have the ornamental dragon head on the front like many of the others did. Eventually all the boats started to cast off and head across the bay, and so we all sat on comfortable seats inside and enjoyed the ride.

It was a cloudy day but not really cold. It made for some less than dramatic pictures, but I was just happy that it wasn’t raining. I bought a beer from one of the boat people and we headed out among the huge limestone rocks and deeper into the bay.

Around a few corners we came to a fishing village that was made up of boats and platforms, entirely on the water and cut off from everything except the hundreds of boats that came through on tours. Our lunch was late being prepared, so the guide pulled us over and we jumped off to check out one of the houses. The platform had an area where captured fish were kept in underwater cages, and we could look down and check out the different kinds. A lady that (maybe) lived there told us about them, and as soon as we stopped smaller boats approached full of fruit to sell to us. I didn’t buy any but some other tourists did. Eventually the people that lived on the platform went inside their house, and we got bored and got back on the boat to wait for lunch.

I was a little anxious to get out and see the bay. So far we had only traveled a short distance, and I wanted to scout around, maybe get some good pictures, and see some caves that are in the area. When we got info on the tour it said we would go inside, and I was looking forward to checking them out. Eventually lunch was served, and we shared our meal with a Chinese lady and a Japanese guy that were both traveling on their own through Asia. Lunch was OK – lots of fried stuff, but communication was tricky because the Chinese lady spoke English but not Japanese, and the Japanese guy only spoke Japanese. I tried to translate for the Chinese lady and we at least kept the conversation floating. Other tables were silent as they ate their food.

After lunch we set off from the flotilla of homes and saw a rock formation that resembled either kissing rocks or fighting cocks depending on whether I understood the guide or not. Then they turned the boat around and the guide told us that we were heading back.

Kuniko was a little upset – she also wanted to see the caves, and it felt like we were getting ripped off a little here. Nobody else said anything, so I offered to go and complain a little. The guy apologized and said that we didn’t have time to see them, and I showed him the paper that we got from the agency saying that we would be seeing caves. He smiled and said he was sorry, and I went back without a victory.

Strangely, he came through the boat a few minutes later and said that we would indeed be going to see some caves, and Kuniko and I were stoked. I’m not sure what the other passengers thought, but at least our lunch companions seemed interested in seeing something new.

The caves were pretty cool. After an overly long introduction from our guide we were allowed inside – and they were suitably dramatic. They were lit by multi-colored lights that made things a little more beautiful or cheesy depending on your attitude. We spent about 30 minutes walking through some huge caverns, and then passed by the inevitable tourist stops on the way back to the boat. Lots of other boats were there too – it was a popular stop.

It was definitely time to head back, so we said goodbye to our shady tour guide and caught a different minibus back to Hanoi. The ride back was almost completely in the dark, so there wasn’t as much to see, but I thought it was significant how dark it was. Most houses had almost no lighting, and Hain explained that the cost of energy was prohibitive and so people used as little electricity as possible. Only the shops and restaurants had one or two lightbulbs going – almost every house was dark.

Our driver drove like a demon back to Hanoi, and luckily we skipped the tourist pit stop so that we made it back in fairly good time. We thanked Hain for all the help and sent her home in a taxi, and then went to go catch some dinner and beer.

Having walked all over the old quarter the past few days we had determined that one particular street restaurant smelled better than the others, and luckily for us they had an English menu. We pulled up a stool on the street, stepping on used napkins and broken chicken bones, and ordered up some steak, some fried noodles and vegetables, and a couple of cold beers. The workers (mainly high school aged boys) were really friendly, and the food was great. We ate some spare ribs as well, and then after a couple more beers headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Toilet update: Our toilet was OK when we got back to the hotel, although I had to manually reseat the valve inside the toilet tank after every flush. At this point I was just happy that it was flushing, and we called it a minor victory. However, it was a short-lived victory, as we shall see.

We woke up the next day to find that our toilet wasn’t exactly working correctly. Considering all the crazy food that we had eaten the night before, I wasn’t too pleased that our toilet wouldn’t flush. I called down to the desk and they said that they would fix it while we were out today, so Kuniko and I were both a little relieved.

Hain wasn’t due to meet up with us until just before lunch, so we went on our own to a giant enclosed market a few blocks away. The place was full of vendors, like a two story garage sale. The huge building was divided into sections, and we wandered through taking in all the strange goods, candies, electronic junk, fake brand merchandise, and dried shrimp. I had no idea there were that many varieties of dried shrimp.

In the back of the building, just outside, we stumbled on a meat market. I wasn’t too up for walking through that, so we kind of walked around it, but did happen to see cages full of mice, dogs and cats that weren’t destined for life as a pet. Sorry guys. Luckily we didn’t see anything else that would have disturbed the delicate state of my stomach.

Finally we headed back to the hotel and met up with Hain, and then all together we went to her favorite “upscale” pho restaurant, Pho 24. It was a fast food style quick noodle place, but the pho was great. Full of spice and vegetables, this pho might have been the best of the trip. The restaurant itself was a chain – we saw another branch later on in Hue.

After lunch we took a walk around part of the lake, and then caught a taxi to go see the cultural museum just out of town. Riding the taxi was another wild experience – more horn honking and narrow escapes. We traveled through some pretty poor parts of town, and it was interesting to see how differently people lived outside of the main section of Hanoi. After about a 30 minute ride we arrived at the museum. The taxi driver tried hard to covince Hain to pay him to wait around for our return trip, but she told him we weren’t interested. We paid the guy about $7 for the taxi ride, and he left. Then we paid around $2 each to get in the museum.

The museum was a really well designed building full of pretty interesting stuff. I’m not a big museum guy, but the guidebook and Hain both recommended it, and it turned out to be pretty good. No pictures allowed inside, but outside we could walk around the grounds.

The grounds were well maintained, and we observed lots of Vietnamese people taking pictures of themselves and each other. There were even some brides and grooms having wedding pictures done. Some of the poses were pretty funny, and one of the brides even flipped up her dress to show lots of leg and thigh for one picture. My camera wasn’t ready, though.

On the topic of cellphones – Japan has got cell phone use down to a science, and it was interesting for me to note that people in Vietnam were more prone to shouting and waving around their phones were as Japanese people only actually talk into their cellphones maybe 10% of the time. Through the whole trip we saw people taking pictures of themselves and sending them off to somebody – it seemed like a popular hobby there.

One of the exhibits outside the museum was a traditional home of one of the tribes in Northern Vietnam. They even let you climb up the logs and go inside, and I was a little worried about the floor supporting my weight. Luckily it held, but as a group of giant westerners started to come in I made my exit.

Next stop was a taxi ride back to Hanoi. We had no problem getting a taxi, and when we arrived back at where we started, the taxi fare was about $4 cheaper than the other guy. I felt during the first taxi ride that the guy might have been nervous or acting suspiciously – I think maybe the meter was rigged. It’s hard to get pissed off when the difference was only a couple of bucks.

Hain’s mother had made reservations at a restaurant that she had recommended, but we had time to kill so we went to a street cafe to sit and relax. I ordered beer and Kuniko had some coffee. It was our first experience with Vietnamese coffee. It is packed into a little tin filter and set on top of a glass, either with condensed milk already in it or to be added separately. Then the hot water is put in the top, and the whole contraption is delivered to you. Then you sit and wait for the hot water to slowly drip through the filter on top, and after about 10 minutes it’s ready to drink – just add as much condensed milk as you like. Anyway, it was powerful stuff – thick and black and intense. By the end of the trip I was drinking one or two cups a day. Yum.

For dinner we visited a restaurant that was know for variety. The menu was huge, and specialities from various regions of Vietnam were available. Hain’s mom was sick and couldn’t meet us there, but she wanted us to get to try foods from other parts of the country besides Hanoi. Our biggest problem was that we were still full from lunch and our cafe drinks, but we did our best. Hain helped us order and then showed us how to combine all the spices, vegetables and sauces to make our own spring rolls, as well as properly eat the other dishes. It was delicious, and I only wished I had more stomach capacity. We ate as much as we possibly could, and then hit the streets to walk it off.

Hain took us to another of her favorite places where she introduced us to a Vietnamese dessert called che. There’s many flavors but the most popular is a combination of fresh fruits cut up into chunks and then submerged in a combination of condensed milk and coconut milk. The result is thick and sweet, and so you use the provided crushed ice to dilute it down and make it more of an ice cream flavor. Instant hit. Kuniko and I were raving about it the rest of the trip – so good. The owner gave us her card and told Hain that if we want it again just call and she’d deliver it to our hotel. We never took her up on the offer, but we did come back once more before we left Vietnam. Hain said that there is a che store back in Japan, in Sannomiya, so we can get our fix even after we go back home.

We sent Hain home in a taxi again, and then made our own way back to the hotel. The toilet wasn’t fixed, but it was empty. The guy said to use water from the sink to flush the toilet, but I was having trouble comprehending what the hell he meant. He offered us another room, but there was no shower or curtain in the bathroom (just a hose coming out of the wall and a drain on the floor next to the toilet) so we just urged him to fix our toilet. He promised that the next day it would be completely fixed. And with that, we went to bed rubbing our stomachs because they were so full.

Despite the wild night Kuniko and I slept pretty well. We slept until about eight in the morning, and then got up and opened the window to check out the city.

Hanoi is quite a large city. Our hotel was located in the northern part of town, in an area called the “Old Quarter”. From the hotel window we could see a lot of old buildings. The architecture was interesting – kind of a jury-rigged French style. After getting dressed I went out the door to go see about the hotel room we had been promised. In the darkness of our arrival I hadn’t noticed that our room was surrounded by other rooms that looked like temporary structures that had become permanent. Judging by their condition, we had gotten the guy’s best room.

Luckily our room was ready early, and we moved our stuff in, climbing up five stories (no elevator) to get there. The room was much nicer with a bathtub and shower, running hot water and much cleaner. At first we couldn’t figure out the cold water – the housekeeper had turned it off for some reason. Once we got it figured out we both took a nice hot shower and then relaxed for a little while. With the sun out and the streets relatively quiet it felt like a completely different city that we saw last night. We took a short walk outside to kill some time, and it was culture shock time again.

The old quarter of Hanoi is full of narrow streets, and each street was made up of shops that sell a particular type of goods. A street would be lined with merchants selling just flowers, or another street would be just silk. On our short walk that morning we went through several streets that specialized in shoes, car parts, candy, and coffee. One thing about walking the streets is that the merchants everywhere in the old quarter were so tightly packed on the street that they also frequently appropriated the sidewalk in front of their shop. That meant that we had to walk in the street with everyone else.

The streets were full of scooters – I’ve never seen so many scooters. They were everywhere, zooming around and honking to warn other scooters or people walking. For every hundred scooters there would be a car, but vehicles had to move slowly through these streets because of the congestion, and I could see why scooters were so popular. Crossing a street at first seemed impossible – there were very few signals and almost no crosswalks, and even if there were signals cars and scooters tended to ignore them. The only way to cross was to just walk out there, watch the scooters and cars to make sure they had seen you, and move across at a slow consistent speed. The first time was pretty scary, walking through streets thick with scooters zooming past in front and behind you as you walked. By the end of the trip we were boasting of our skills in the “Hanoi cross” and didn’t think at all while plunging right into the middle of roads regardless of signals and traffic. The first day was pretty slow going – it took a really long time to cross a relatively narrow street.

Around noon we met up in the hotel lobby with Kuniko’s ex-student, Hain (pronounced Ha-ee-n). She is a Vietnamese girl that had come to Japan on an exchange program, and went back last year. This was my first time meeting her, and pretty much for the whole trip we all just spoke Japanese. Although she is studying English in school her real interest is in Japan and Japanese, and so this was a big opportunity for her to use Japan on a day to day basis. We decided to go catch up over some lunch, and Hain took us to a restaurant specializing in noodles. Once we started traveling with Hain things were completely different. She handled the communication so we could order things without a menu, she helped with the money, identified mysterious ingredients, and led us to local places that otherwise we’d never think of visiting.

The noodle place was good – I had two bowls of noodles with a spicy sauce, vegetables and pork. Kuniko had a soup version of the same thing, and we watched Hain to figure out the right table manners. It was an awesome lunch – I knew it was going to be a good trip when I tried authentic Vietnamese food.

We spent the rest of the day sightseeing and running errands. We changed some yen into dong, and got a really good exchange rate from an old lady working in a jewelry shop near our hotel. Hain took care of the negotiations so I think we got a much better deal than if we tried to go in there and do it ourselves.

One of the big geographical features in the area is Hoan Kiem Lake. The lake is good sized, taking about thirty minutes to walk around. Hain took us across a bright to a temple, and we took a look around the exhibits inside. One exhibit was a giant turtle that is said to be native to the lake. They had preserved one that had died, and it was pretty damn big. They are only rarely observed at the lake – it is said to be a blessing to be able to see one. No sightings for me this trip, though.

After seeing plenty of sights we sent Hain back home in a taxi, and then decided to go out on our own for some street food for dinner. Walking around the old quarter you can’t help but notice that people are always eating. Besides the restaurants that are housed inside buildings, people would set up their own restaurants right on the street, using portable burners and tables. They were everywhere, and despite the fact that Hain wasn’t around we thought we should go try one out. We picked one that had a few customers already on the principal that a busy stall was a safe one. It was a pho noodle place, and the old lady gave us the hint of a smile while we ordered by pointing at the other customer’s orders. We got two steaming bowls of noodles with chicken, and then a steamed rice dish that had some fried eggs cut up on top with some spicy sauce. Somehow we figured out how much to pay for the bill, and then we spent the rest of evening walking around and taking in the busy streets of the old quarter. We walked through a street market, which was pretty much the same goods as were available from the sidewalk, just without cars and scooters.

Walking around Hanoi you couldn’t help but feel just how foreign everything felt. The sights and smells were so different from what Kuniko and I have experienced in the past. We wanted to try all the foods, poke around in the shops and drink all the beers, and it was just a matter of pacing ourselves. Of course we weren’t the only foreigners around – often we would see groups of westerners clutching their copy of Lonely Planet and trying to navigate the streets. Kuniko did most of the guiding on this trip – and she did a damn good job of it. We never got lost, and the Japanese guidebook was surprisingly good.

After a while we went on back to the hotel, and called it a night. We already felt 100% better about the trip and walking around, largely thanks to Hain. Around then, however, some more hotel problems started to crop up.