Kinh Kỳ 2

Vis-à-vis A Visa

So the time had come for me to bite the bullet, swallow a particularly bitter pill, get my long finger out of my skinny butt and just bloody knuckle down. I couldn't procrarsetinate any longer.

In order to get a Chinese visa, I was required to provide proof that I'd paid for flights into and out of the country, booked all intercity transport within China, and booked every single night's accommodation for the whole 60 days of my requested visa period.

I had to provide photocopies of previous Chinese visas, none of which appear in my current passport, as well as answer all sorts of other questions, provide a lot of personal details, yada yada yada and yada.

Fucking hell, bureaucracy is one ravenous beast.

So off burrowing I went, into a deep dark cyber cave, only to reappear, wait for it, eight whole hours later, with everything pretty much ready to rock'n'roll.

Besides the actual document printing and getting passport photos done of course, which had specific requirements etc etc.

After that dizzying night I got all the remaining tasks done in the morning, and trundled off on my wheels to the China Visa Center, which processes applications on behalf of the Chinese embassy here.

There were a few minor hitches, one of which involved me needing to print out a few more docs, which the agent said I could do right away, and then return straight to his counter window, instead of having to again wait in the numbered queue.

So I did the printing and returned, but, lo and behold, he'd decided to go to lunch hadn't he, and was nowhere to be seen for the next hour. I couldn't progress any further until he returned, which he eventually did. He unapologetically took the required extra docs, and flicked me over to the next person and process.

Anyway, I got out of there eventually, and now have all of my digits and any extra flexible extremities crossed, hoping that my 60 day request will be granted. I need to return to the Visa Center in a few days to collect my passport.

I'm so so happy it's done.

It's all in the lap of the Goddesses now.

Time Is The Essence

It ain't just of the essence.

It's so very precious. And I, to my endless amazement and gratitude, am currently blessed with lots of it.

I could go somewhere else while I wait for the return of my passport. But it took me all of two minutes to feel into that idea before I realised that I just wanna be here.

With no program.

So I've been exploring the delectable streets of this amazing city.

Hanoi reminds me of Bangkok, but in a poorer-cousin kinda way. Don't get me wrong, there's bucketloads of Đong ricocheting all around this city, but the physical development isn't so homogenously big, modern and shiny, like much of newer Bangkok.

Hanoi was French remember, and the Froggies were here for over six decades, and built a huge number of French-style colonial buildings, from grand government and public edifices to apartments, villas, markets, railway stations, and all sorts of other colonial buildings.

The French also trained generations of architects, designers and builders in the European style, so even after they were booted out their architectural and aesthetic influences remained. And still do.

There's so many beautiful districts in this city, and I'm in one of them right now. I'm on the western edge of what's known as the Old Quarter, which is really a bit of a fuzzy term, because so many districts are old in this city, and look quite similar to this one.

Passport photo shop. And photoshop. Yes, he was actually airbrushing my messy hair out of my passport pic. Really. So bloody funny. And so sweet of him, trying to help me. Blog Hanoi 2

Sprat! (Vietnamese English pronunciation).

Bucketloads of bouquets

Fresh soya milk.

Imagine the boring conversations after a few cocktails

There's an infinite number of cafés in this city. And many of them are set up in the Parisienne way - with tables outside facing the pavement, so you can sit and people-watch all day.

Despite the cool weather at the moment, everyone still seems to hang outside all the time.

Across from the end of my street

Old Quarter night markets

Ta Hiện, the Khaosan Road of Hanoi

These guys were playing soft rock, Vietnamese style, complete with screaming melodic guitar solos and excruciatingly predictable chord progressions. And that's without me even understanding the what-must-be unbearably cheesey lyrics.

This is also the kinky part of this kinh kỳ. I've had numerous men come up to me and show me photos of semi or fully naked women on their phones, and ask me "you wanna girl?"

"Errr, no thanks mate. Hey, you wanna know about the real impacts of the industry you're in buddy?"

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights many roads around Ta Hiện, and those close to Hoàn Kiếm Lake are blocked to vehicles, and become major pedestrian hangout zones. It's generally really nice and chilled. More cities should do that sort of thing, it makes the place infinitely more liveable. Ta Hiện itself gets a bit crazy, but the other streets are much more relaxed.

Smoking tobacco through large wooden pipes is a thing in this country. Lots of people do it. I'll even have the occasional puff when someone kindly offers, cos, you know, it's nice to be cancerous together.

Loads of bubble tea stalls. You can actually get the exact Thai type, cha yen, which they call trà sữa here. It's basically an iced sweet milky tea, with a particularly delicious unique Thai tea flavour. Ues, there really is a Goddess.

Octopus seedlings

Colonial buildings

And modern colonials

These guys were absolutely fantastic, playing old rhythmically catchy droney Vietnamese folk songs on traditional instruments and an electric keyboard.

The blind keyboard player was amazing, simultaneously playing melody lines and deep bass lines, whilst also using certain keys for percussive sounds like cymbals and bells. He was a wonder. A Stevie Wonder even. It was an absolute treat to sit and watch the band for awhile.

I danced with these ladies for a bit, later on.

Amazing stringed instrument, called a đan nguyệt, it sounds a bit like an oud, with the upper string having quite a low-pitch and a super rich tone. It sounded beautiful. The dude frequently bent the strings too, as did both vocalists with their voices, and as the keyboard player did with his pitch modifier. So you get this amazing fluid pitch vibe all over the place, it sounds ancient and mysterious, but vibey at the same time.

The golden globes

Trains still run along this track, and an enterprising café owner realised a few years back that the novelty of trains running so close to cafe tables could potentially become a tourist drawcard.

He was right on track, because after his Insta promotion the whole place exploded with visitors, and now every Mon, Bec and Sally wants to get a selfie with themselves and one of the slowly moving passenger trains about to run them over.

It sorta makes me laugh, not the fact that it looks cool when the trains go past, (because it does), but the fact that people crowd there forever just for the perfect pic. And, in fact, getting a good pic sometimes becomes more important than the actual experience of sitting there and watching and feeling the train inch past.

I mean blah blah, I can talk. I take loads of pics.

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Go to Part 3