We drove a long time and Chrisy got slowly suspicious and started to question the driver. He started to loose his ability to speak and we made clear to him we wanted to get to our destination the fastest way. After many right and left we finally arrived at our hotel. Whilst he was busy to get our bags out of the car, I ran into the hotel to ask how much the taxi fare usually is. They said it should be between 120.000 to 150.000 Dong. On the meter was an amount of 300.000. I took a pen and went back outside. I took the number plate details and the taxi name before approaching him again. Then I painted a nice little confusing line on a piece of a paper and showed it to him. He understood what I wanted to say and tried to explain me that he did not drive unnecessary circles on the way. He further tried to explain that he would get the police. I told him I would pay a maximum of 200.000 dong to him. After some back and forth he gave me some change and left annoyed. So we got a little city tour, but at least we arrived in Hanoi.
Later on we would realize that the change was another rip off of this taxi driver, as one of the bills was a fake bill. Chrisy's attempts to bring this matter up with the police were not more than another annoying experience to tell and lost time.
After an amazing lunch in a street restaurant with a wide variety of different food, which was probably one of our best experiences, Chrisy went to the police and mum and I went to the women's museum.
On the way we passed the lake and it's idyllic view in the middle of the city.
The museum was very interesting and we took our time to read and watch all the available information about the women in Vietnam and their special role during the wars and the revolution.
When we came out the sky was already black and a wind picked up. We managed to walk two blocks before it started raining. First a few drops and then cats and dogs. Within 15 min all the streets were already 5 cm under water. We found cover in a CD shop and the ladies were very kind and even offered us chairs to sit and wait for the end of the rain. After 45min I got a little nervous. I wanted to get a taxi and the ladies called a company. Another 15 min in, they tried to tell me that the taxi probably won't work because of the rain. As we had already tickets for the Water Puppet show, I decided that we would try to walk. We left the house after buying a rain poncho for my mum. Mums attempt to leave the house ended in a fall due to a slippery wooden board which is used to drive the motorbike into the house. Luckily it all looked a lot worse then it actually was. The 2 ladies and I helped her up again. As the poncho was damaged now, they gave her a new one and I got the broken one.
We started our walk and at the next corner already the roads were flooded almost up to the hips. A bus drove through the water and created a small tsunami through the streets. The shop keepers had the doors closed and cloths from the inside in the hope to keep the worst out. When I tried to cross the street some locals shouted at me and pointed towards the next block. So we went towards the next block and crossed the street carefully there. As we didn't see in the knee deep water were the sidewalk ended and the street started, we had to be extremely careful not to fall. Street by street we crossed and came closer to the theatre. As we came to a plaza, mums shoes started to slip and both of us flew up into the air and somehow managed to land without any harm. It was then that I finally realized that her shoes were slippery like an eel. It gave her mine and walked barefoot. I thought that everything lying on the street must have been washed away anyways and there shouldn't be anything sharp anymore. I just hoped that we wouldn't get electrocuted by one of the many cables hanging around.
I still don't know how, but mum and I managed to arrive arm in arm at the theatre without any serious harm. Chrisy was already there and waited for us as the show was about to start. Strangely mum and I were thirsty (after being wet from head to toe!?!) and we got a water for the show.
The show was very nice with live music and very colorful puppets and different stories about the Vietnamese culture. After the around 45 min show for 100.000 Dong we came out and all the water was gone. A few drops still fell, but we didn't even bother to put a rain cover on anymore. As we all were starving, we went into a Thai Restaurant to have dinner. We sampled some new dishes and enjoyed to dry up again.
After a warm shower we all enjoyed the warmth of the bed and slept well.
On the next day we were going to the Halong Bay.
Here are some pictures from Hanoi.
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