After getting in so late, we thought we would shower and get to bed. Pent up energy and excitement kept that from happening though. We decided to unpack and decide where to put everything. There wasn't a lot of drawer space, so we used all the available cabinets. My clothes were in the living room, under the TV and food set-up, in neat piles!
I posted pictures of our hotel room yesterday, but I never said why we chose the Hong Ngoc. We chose it over The Somerset because we wanted to experience Vietnam. We wanted to be a part of it. We were right in the Old Quarter and when he exited the hotel, you were right on a local street. We received fresh fruit and water daily. The staff knew us. They would have our keys ready when we walked in. They would ask about when we were going to get our babies. They had worked with our agency before and they knew the process and were very helpful and made it go even smoother. We appreciated the personal attention. I agree that our 4" mattress, solid wood furniture, and wood/marble floors weren't as "comfortable" or kid friendly as the Somerset's soft beds, couches and chairs, and wall-to-wall carpet, but it was still very nice. We had our concerns with the bed, but in the end, we really did sleep very well on it. The 2 room suite was good for us as I was still the night owl. Online a lot and watching TV while Barry crashed a little earlier or watched his shows.
That first morning, we woke at a normal hour and went online to check if our family was on in the States. We figured not since we were fairly certain they were at my in-laws' house for the weekend. We decided to head down to breakfast. This was when the fun really started! We met others from our agency. First was Martha and her daughter, Rachel. Martha was (and still is) my hero for making the trip SOLO. She did so well as a first time mom, in a strange country, by herself. What was really great though was that everyone helped each other. Rachel soon learned to LOVE to be bounced on an exercise ball of a travel mate and Martha hung out in their room a lot. It was fun! 3 other families that adopted from their orphanage with Martha (and Donna) had begun their trip at our hotel, but moved to the Somerset before we arrived.
It was so nice to meet Martha, and later Donna, her mom, and her daughter, Lauren, after communicating with them online for weeks. Their girls were so tiny. Martha was telling us about all the good food that was available. Eggs, little sausages, potatoes, lots of fruit and pastries/breads. There was congee (Vietnamese rice cereal...VERY runny) and homemade yogurt and custard. Breakfast was always a good start to the day with its many options. I will always remember the cold orange "drink" that we had in the morning. We compared it to Tang. Not that it was something that I drank normally, I drank it a lot there. It was cold.
While eating, I noticed another American walk in and realized that it was Marie! She was the woman I had spoken to many times while we waiting to travel for our boys. Their son was with Jacob. They, like us and the Barnetts were delayed in traveling. We would be spending the next 2 weeks with them! I walked up to her and asked "Marie?". She said "You must be Dawn" and we hugged! It was amazing to finally be in Vietnam with her. The day had arrived and it was surreal! All of us ladies talked a lot...of course.
All we basically did that first day was hang out in the room and walk around the neighborhood to try to gain our bearings. We found a local shop that gave us a decent exchange rate for some money since it was Sunday. We would go to an actual bank the next day. We walked down the road and crossed the main street and found the church and a local pizza shop for lunch. In the afternoon, we took our first real excursion in Hanoi. We went to the Citimart. Think of a small, multi-level mall.
We had heard stories about the cabs in Hanoi. Your best bet was to let your hotel call Hanoi Taxi for you. They were fair when it came to the price and you knew you could trust them. It was Donna and her family, Marie and Brian, and Barry and I. We arrived and looked around a little. Basically, we were looking for diapers and some snack/comfort foods. We found what we were looking for, it wasn't too easy! Our first obstacle was that they wouldn't let Marie into the little grocery store with her purse! They said it was too big. Therefore, we shopped in shifts! In the end though, we found what we were looking for. Donna and her mom gave us some recommendations for crackers and cookies. We bought our first sodas. They had a little of everything. I was able to buy a SIM card for my phone in a different store and was stupid enough to try to use it right away. I didn't think that it was 11 hrs earlier in PA. Good thing it didn't work, I would have woken them all up!
The real experience though was the drive back to the hotel. When we exited the store, there were many taxis waiting, but none were Hanoi Taxi. The drivers were pushy. We decided to split up. Donna's family and I in 1 cab, Barry and the Hylands in the other. We chose the taxi driven by the only woman that Donna and her Mom had seen in Hanoi. It was a nice drive....until we got to the hotel. Donna's mom was up front and Donna was in the back. When we arrived, they asked the fare. The driver pointed to the meter. It said 18.5, but I didn't understand what it meant. Donna's mom took out some American $ and the driver took a bunch of bills from her hand! She quickly took them back and Donna tried to give her some Vietnamese $ (dung) and she said "No, not enough", and took some more $ from her Mom's hands in the front, and then....reached into the back seat and began to physically push Donna and I out the door! We already had the door open and just wanted out, but she wanted us out more!
As our stay went on, I realized that Donna was paying her more than enough for the taxi. The 18.5 meant 18,500 dung...just over $1 at the time and she was offering a generous tip also. I think we paid about $7 for the ride. High even for NYC standards! The rest of our group was overcharged as well. I think they ended up settling for 50,000 dung for the same ride. Us 4 newbies were a bit like deer caught in the headlights.
We would learn soon enough though.
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