Vietnam – Day 3 in Hanoi

Well, day 3 wasn’t intended to be in Hanoi. I was supposed to go to Halong Bay. But things didn’t unfold as I planned. So let me back up to yesterday.

Yesterday I picked up my motorcycle. I rode it in the crazy streets of Hanoi…but I should probably backup there too and explain how crazy the streets of Hanoi are.

In the Old Quarter of Hanoi, there are masses of buses trucks, cars, scooters, motorcycles, bikes and people. To the untrained American eye it may seem like complete random chaos. But I think not. In the US, there is a pecking order for right of way. Pedestrians first, bikes next and then motor vehicles. In Hanoi everyone has equal claim on a position on the street. There are no real lanes, traffic signals are suggestions, crosswalks are painted but they are suggestions too. I am not sure if jaywalking s a crime here, but 99% of the population would be ticketed. If you can fit a vehicle into a space, its OK. This goes for alleys and sidewalks too. Sidewalks aren’t for pedestrians, the gutters of the street are…sidewalks are for parking scooters.

The city is extremely noisy. Not only are there the noises of the numerous vehicles, but everyone uses their horn so others on the road know they are coming. This is a signal for pedestrians to not make sudden moves, the vehicle you may be passing or the traffic you may be weaving in and out of. It is as important as brakes or gas.

So, the first couple days as a pedestrian I learned to ignore the cross walk lights and to confidently walk through traffic. Yesterday when I go my motorcycle it was a bit of a rush trying to stay with the flow of traffic the mile back to my hostel. It was brake, gas, brake, gas, horn, brake, gas, brake, all while shifting. No incidents on the way. But it was interesting to observe that we were all like fish in a stream…including the pedestrians…like slow moving flotsam on the surface. The parked cars and buses in the middle of roads like rocks threatening to have me run aground.

So last evening I went to park my bike at a monitored lot about 2 blocks away. Just as I arrived the bike quit on me. I had gas, so I tried to start it up again. I choked it and it started and quickly died again. I tried a couple of more times but no luck. So, by now it was 5:45 and the place I bought it was closing in 15 minutes. I called the number and after figuring out where I was, they said they would send a mechanic in 10 minutes. In approximately that long a kid in his late teens or early twenties with a handful of screwdrivers and wrenches arrived on the back of another scooter. He looked at the bike, checked the gas, told me about the choke…and started it right up. Humph!!! I told him that I knew about the choke and it didn’t help start it before. He didn’t believe me. But the bike was running, so I pulled in the parking lot and parked it for the night. I thought maybe it was bad gas and that I needed to top it off with good gas.

The next morning around 5 am, in the dark hours of the morning I walked through the streets to get to the lot. This is a fascinating time to be awake in Hanoi. In the alleys I walked through people were delivering fresh fruit, vegetables and bread. The live chickens and roosters were in cages ready for the slaughter as an old man was squatting nearby sharpening his cleaver on a large flat stone. Whole sides of beef, or perhaps pig, were laid out for butchering. People were starting up their little stainless steel stoves to begin to cook.

When I got to my bike, it started right up. I was on my way to Halong Bay. About a mile down the road, the bike died. There I was, in the dark of Hanoi under a small bridge, next to a dark alley, stuck. So, it was a little after 5 am and I decided to text and then call the company. The shop wouldn’t open until 8. Shoot!! I have to get to Halong Bay today. So, I tried to start it again. It worked! So I rode to the closest gas station topped off the tank and proceeded out of town. It took some time to get out of town and get on the highway. I was in rush hour traffic.

Most people only have a scooter for transportation. Often you will see two adults and two children, as small as infants, riding on one scooter. Some older women ride side saddle too. As the stream of traffic went over a long wet bridge, I saw two little girls around 4 or 5 years old on the back of their mothers scooters giggle and laugh as they approached each other. The traffic on the bridge was so tight they high-fived as the two bikes got close. The drivers didn’t even seem to notice.

After about and 20 minutes out of the city I got on the highway. Ten minutes later just as I was nearing a toll booth, the bike died…AGAIN! I waited for a 5 minutes and was able to start it.  Clearly it wasn’t the gas. So my new plan was to get back to the shop and before they open and get it fixed. Perhaps I could still make it.

The toll road to Halong Bay has endless guard rails on both sides of the road. There is no turning around. The GPS told me I needed to drive another 14 km to an exit to turn around. As I grit my teeth and pulled up the toll booth, an attendant came out to tell me no motorcycles were allowed on the highway and I needed to drive through a narrow gate onto a side road to get off. Great, this just knocked 10 km off my trip back. I complied and started my trek back to Hanoi on the side streets of little towns adjacent to the city. It was a pretty cool ride. I was driving with the workers all dressed up for work. Many had small children they were bringing to school. There were also many uniformed children riding bikes along the streets.

I made it back to the shop by around 7:30 am. Around 7:45 the owner pulled up. We talked a bit and 10 minutes later his mechanic pulled up. He took the bike and said it would be ready in around an hour. That was fine with me but no Halong Bay today.

So, I took a walk to buy some necessities and came back 45 minutes later. The bike was ready about ten minutes later. The mechanic had replaced the gas filter just in case, but also replaced the control module that would shut down the bike if the engine overheated. It also appears that he adjusted the clutch cable and fixed an oil leak. So, at 9 am I wasn’t going to waste the day. Off to Ba Vi National Park about an hour and a half away.

Thirty minutes into the trip the bike died! Again!!! The turn around wasn’t as far as before, but the bike would only make it a couple of kilometers before dying. One time it took almost 15 minutes before it would restart. The last time it died I was around 30 minutes from the shop, but essentially in Hanoi. I was physically close, but slow speeds made it a more time consuming trip. As I drove in the traffic of Hanoi, I felt more at ease and this is where I realized that I was just another fish. Driving in the current of vehicles and people all of a sudden felt more natural and automatic. The motorcycle must have felt this too as it did not die on the way back to the shop. At around 11:30 I pulled in. My hopes for a road trip dashed? Not necessarily. All in all a rather exciting morning and excellent practice for Halong Bay tomorrow and Laos later.

The shop now has the bike and will be opening the crank case, replacing parts, etc to ensure they don’t get another 5 am phone call. Actually the owner is a very nice guy and is trying his best to get it ready for me before the end of the day…it may be tomorrow morning, but if I can make it to Halong Bay, I can make it in an out of Laos.

So, today is probably a much needed relaxing day. No pictures except some meals, the hostel room I stayed, and the street view from the balcony.