The train arrived in Hanoi at 5:00am.  What?  No one should be awake at 5:00am.  I did not sleep well on the train.  The air conditioning didn’t work and I just sweated and wondered how often trains derail.  I slept a little, but I’m sick so I’m going to whine a little and call on your sympathy.

On the taxi ride to our hotel, we saw soooo many people running around the lake.  The city was already kicking at 5:00am.  They dropped me off first.  I can’t check in until 2:00pm, but at least I could leave my suitcase there.  I feel so sick I can barely move.  It’s misty and drippy, not quite raining out.  I walked the few blocks to the hostel where the rest were staying.  After my hostel experience in Sapa and because I feel so bad, I decided to book my own hotel in Hanoi.  The small streets were not too busy yet.  The hostel was busy with people trying to check in, people waiting for tours and people passed on the couches because they agree with me that 5:00am is just too early.  I was bored and not loving the hostel scene so I left to hunt for food.  In just a half hour the streets had gone from not too busy to mayhem.  There were motor bikes everywhere, people walking, people cooking food in the street, people carrying stuff, and store front’s opening.  I saw an entire street of just tape and packing materials stores.  There didn’t appear to be any restaurants, just random people cooking on the side of the street.  I walked a few blocks and went back to the hostel soaking wet, hungry and quite cranky.  A little while later I tried another food hunt with Louise and we found coffee and I got some bananas.

I decided to set out to see if I could find a place to fix my computer.  The lady working at the hostel suggested a place so I set out in the damp with a map to find it.  I found it and they said they didn’t cover hard ware problems.  They showed me a street not too far away that had computer stores so I headed in that direction.  The streets here are crazy.  There are more vehicles on the road than looks physically possible.  The motorbikes outnumber the cars and buses.  They pass each other with only an inch of room in between.  The motorbikes park on the sidewalk so you have no choice but to walk in traffic.  Crosswalks exist, but don’t mean anything.  You just have to walk in the street and hope no one hits you.  When you cross the street you just run or take a few steps while swarms of motorbikes go around you, take a few more steps and then a few more.  No one stops to let you cross, they just keep moving and weave in and out of each other and you.  Somehow it works.

The street with computer stores was 20 blocks or so with nothing but what looked like people selling electronics out of their garages.  It was kind of creepy.  I picked one and they tried real hard to fix it, but couldn’t figure it out.  I bought a usb drive and figured I could at least save all my files before I gave up on the computer.  I found a store a ways away that said “blah blah blah Microsoft” on google maps so I decided to try that before I reset my computer to factory settings I’d try that place.  My computer was made by Microsoft.  It was much farther than I thought and was the actual company Microsoft.  I figured they wouldn’t be able to help, but went up anyway.  The lady said the Surface was only made in America so they couldn’t help.  She suggested a place I could buy a new computer.

There was a restaurant in the building so I had lunch there.   They didn’t speak English, but after a bit, I managed to order stir fried veggies and rice.  I ran the thing on my computer that cleared it and took it back to factory settings.  It still didn’t fix the problem.  Half way through lunch I was overcome with the distinct feeling that I needed to stop eating now.  I felt ill and left without finishing my meal.  I’m exhausted, sick, damp, and upset by the loss of my computer.

I went to the store the Microsoft lady recommended which was waaaaay more walking.  I bought a new computer.  They said they could set it up in English.  Everything is so cheap here, except my computer.  It cost me $450.  They said it would take 2 hours to set up and I should come back.  It’s now 1:30 and I just want to check into my hotel and sleep, but I have to find something to do for 2 hours and I’m no longer anywhere near the hotel.  I find a coffee shop near by and sit in at a tiny table in a tiny chair on the sidewalk.  The guy who works there is nice and brings me coffee with a side of tea.  Strange, but ok.  Then when I’m done with my tiny coffee, he brings me more tea.  I took a chance and went back to the computer shop a half hour early and it was ready.  They helped me get a taxi back to my hotel and checked in around 5:00pm instead of 2:00.  By now I’m sure I have food poisoning.  It was either brushing my teeth on the train or the banana with the split in the side I had for breakfast.  It could have been lunch too since I had that distinct feeling or that may have been when it hit.

As is the case with most things, maybe all things, there is a spiritual component to this.  Process is coming up and things are moving and changing and I can’t control it, but just hold on tight and go with it.  I’ll post more about this in the next blog for those that are interested in these things.  For those that are not, I went to bed early.

(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore