My Egg Noodles

Today’s Photo Friday is not about the image it’s self, but more about a healthy discussion I want to create about eating dog meat.

During our last day in Vietnam I and the missus went into a Vietnamese restaurant and while flicking through the menu I noticed they sold Dog Meat. I’ve wanted to try Dog Meat for a while now but had never seen it for sale. Basically I’m really open minded with food and strongly believe eating the local food is one of the best ways to learn the local culture while traveling around – even if you do find it a bit weird.

Not only was my girlfriend against trying Dog meat with me, but she made it very clear she really didn’t want me to eat it while I was with her. I respect her opinions and feelings so decided to wait for the next opportunity.

Let me ask you; is eating dog meat wrong?

Have you tried Dog meat?

If not… would you?

I have just arrived in Nanning in China via a 12 hour train journey from Hanoi. The whole process was made very easy due to a couple of friendly train guards who told us what to do and when.

No partying as I was hoping for. In fact, it was just me, my girlfriend and 8 or so other Vietnamese old age pensioners. There was more staff on duty (12) than paying customers!

A few days leading up to trip, I had started searching around for information on the Hanoi to China train journey, which only opened in January 2009. There was nothing to be found on the internet, so I thought I’d write a mini review and answer some questions I was hoping to find.

Hanoi to Nanning by Train

We bought the train ticket from a Travel Agency in Ma May Street… the train station, on the north part of town is a fair way out so it’s probably worth paying the extra service charge for them to sort the ticket out for you. There are 2 ticket options; hard sleeper or soft sleeper. A $10 fee separates the two seating classes. We opted for soft, which cost $34

The train departs at dead on 21.40, and our travel agent recommended we got to the train station 45 minutes prior to departure. We got a taxi from our hotel in the Old Quarter, which took around 20 minutes and cost 65,000 Dong.

The taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong terminal (the one on the right side of the road) so we were made to carry our bags 500 meters or so up a hill to the terminal on the left hand side of the road., called Ga Gia Lam. This could have easily been avoided if we had shown the taxi driver our tickets.

The terminal has 3 rooms. One room is dedicated to the Hanoi to Nanning journey around this time of day. There are a few shop houses opposite the terminal selling snacks, cans of pop, beer and water. It’s worth noting that there are no opportunities to buy any water or snakes along the 12 journey, so it’s worth stocking up here.

We boarded the train at around 21.20 and were lead to a different carriage to the rest of the travelers. I later figured out it was because one carriage was for hard sleeper and the other for soft sleeper. As we boarded the train and was taken to our room, I was surprised how small it was. It was just about right for the 2 of us, however if the other 2 beds would have been sold, I think the journey would have been very unpleasant. Luckily for us, we were the only customers in the whole carriage, let along a single room.

The first 20 minutes was fun. Listening to the roaring horn go off every 30 seconds or so, while looking at of the window at the passing traffic. After some beers, chit chat and a read, we tried to get some sleep. It soon came apparent that with the train horn going off every minute and the rough train tracks, a deep sleep was not on the cards.

At 2.30 we were woken up by a knock on the door by a guard letting us know we had arrived at the Vietnamese boarder. We were asked to take all our belongings over the train tracks, and into the Vietnamese immigration building. We gave them our passports, sat down for 10 minutes and were then given our passports back which had us stamped out of the country. We then boarded the train again, using the same room as we had before.

Around 20 minutes later, we arrived at the Chinese boarder. A Chinese immigration official came to our room, asked us to fill in an entry card and started to ask us some questions like where we were going and how long we were planning to stay in China.

She took our passports away and within a few minutes later we were instructed to take our belongings over to the immigration building. Our bags went through the x-ray machine and 5 minutes later we were back on the train. After waiting for 30 minutes or so, we were given our passports back which had us stamped into China. Easy peasy, lemon sqeezy.

A few hours later, after some much needed shut-eye, we arrived in Nangning, China. It was a pleasant surprise to see no touts or people offering to carry our bags for a fee as we jumped out of the train.

All in all, the whole process was extremely easy.

As I mentioned above, before I left I was searching for the answers to the following questions. I’ll answer them quickly just in case anyone finds the info useful.

1. Was the train station in Hanoi going to be hectic and disorganised?
No, other than the fact we were dropped off at the wrong terminal. The train station is extremely organised and had at least 2 members of staff that spoke reasonable English.

2. What were the seating/sleeping arrangements?
4 bunk beds to one room. I highly recommend buying a ticket for the bottom bunk, as you can also use it as a seat, whereas the top you couldn’t.

3. Is there a restaurant/bar on the train?
No – Stock up before you leave.

4. What happens when you go through immigration?
I had read online that the Chinese immigration were a pain in the arse, but that was not the case in my experience. The lady we dealt with was friendly and spoke very good English.

5. Do I change trains at all?
No, you stay on the same train, in the same bed/room from the beginning to the end.

If anyone has any other questions, feel free to add them into the comments and I’ll answer them as best as I can.

Tonight I will board a 12 hour night train to China – this will be my first experience of sleeping on a train, and I’m so excited! I’m not really sure what to expect, although I’m pretty sure it will be fun. I’ve bought a bottle of Malibu just in case we end up sharing our cabin with cool people, so check Google Maps to see if you can see disco lights coming out of the train in a few hours time

So it’s my last day in Hanoi, Vietnam. This is my third visit here this year and I’ve got to admit, the charm of the place has worn off. I was actually considering moving here for a year or so, but now that’s defiantly out of the window. The madness is great for a little while, and I think everyone should visit at least once in their life, but it just doesn’t compare to the likes of Bali and Thailand, where the great food and super friendly people are just on a different scale.

After China I will stop long term travel and find a home. Just the word home makes me feel warm inside. It’s just not practical building a business while on the road, although there are a few other reasons why long term travel is not really for me. I’ll publish my thoughts on this within a few days.

I’ll leave you with some images I have taken while spending countless of hours just roaming the streets of Hanoi, where everyday duties and the heart and soul is based here in Hanoi.

Breakfast time!

I was told Motorbikes replaced bicycles… I wonder how long it will be before cars replace motorbikes?

Rustic… lot’s of nice textures in this image.

Guys playing Chinese Chess. I want to learn how to play… I like to think I’m pretty good at strategic games.

The Vietnamese pile all kinds of shit on to their bikes. This guy has plastic chairs!

Can you see the ghosts?

Vietnamese tuk-tuk

Peace and quite…

I often wonder how these women can wear scarfs and gloves. It’s so bloody hot outside!

Good bye Hanoi.

This is just quick review but I wanted to write it as the Caesar Salad was one of the best I’ve had in a long, long time. And besides, I always write up on restaurants that are great to visit in the evenings, so here’s one for a quick spot of lunch!

I didn’t intentionally set out to eat at the newly opened Mercure Hotel in Hanoi, I just went in to ask for directions and saw the bright and clean restaurant out of the corner of my eye. I was feeling peckish, so I decided to give it a whirl.

My self and the missus opted to share a Ceaser salad and a beef burger – the 2 items I only order at nice hotels/restaurants as the quality of the ingredients tends to be high, which is important for these 2 dishes to work.

The caesar salad was spot on: crisp cos lettuce, salty bacon, moist grilled Cajun chicken, crisp croutons topped with some parmesan cheese shavings. No one could call this rabbit food!

The beef burger was huge, plump and juicy, made with real mince; how a burger should be made. Seasoned with onion and garlic and cooked to medium with a toasted burger bun, this was one hellava burger!

Check this. The total bill for the salad, burger, orange juice and a bottle of water was $13 – Worth every penny.

I highly recommend for visiting the Mercure Hotel in Hanoi a quick lunch. Décor was spot on, service friendly enough and the food was awesome.

The best way to explore Hanoi is by foot. When here I normally walk around for a couple of hours every day, checking out what everyone is up to and generally just soaking up the culture and atmosphere.

While walking around the other day, I decided to take 5 minutes out for myself and bought some freshly brewed tea from an old lady on the street. A ciggie + a strong cup of tea + 5 minutes to rest my feet = pure bliss.