Hanoi

For our last night in China, Bonnie and I found a great hotel in Nanning--cheap price, nice showers, friendly staff, no odd surprises, and a luxurious air. This reminded me of earlier Chinese hotel/dorm experiences.

Chinese hotel officials used to lock tenants in at night. Around 9:00 or 10:00, they would chain the doors shut and there it was. If you were in, you were stuck. If you were out, you were stuck.

In 2000, I lived in building #5 at Beijing University. Luckily, they didn't lock the front door, only the gates to the university and the gates to my building sector. So, if returned after 10:00, I just climbed a 12-foot wall and then a 10-foot wall to go to bed. Other folks weren't so lucky. I hosted a friend once who missed his curfew. I knew some foreigners who got locked into a hotel at night and raised a holy fury until they woke the whole building and got out. Bonnie knew a Japanese fellow who stayed up late drinking and then had to climb through a window to get into his building. He fell and broke a glass table, injuring his body and ruining his reputation.

Thankfully, things have changed. (Or maybe Bonnie and I are older now and go to bed before they lock us in.)

Last night, we arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam. Neither of us knows this city. We arrived by bus and the station was buzzing. We followed a tout to her hotel, which neither of us had ever done before. The place seemed legit, however, after we talked to some other foreigners. It all seemed to check out.

In Missouri, you're residence is your castle. No one enters without permission. In fact, they just passed a law that allows a person to shoot an intruder with repurcussion. If I remember correctly, this law applies to hotels also. Apparently, the rule is different in Vietnam.

Around 9:00, while I was in the bathtub, someone jiggled the lock and then started entering our room. I dashed from the tub to the door, blocked it and sounded an unhospitable warning. A young hotel clerk was on the other side. He was just bringing us the remote-control for our air-con. When he met an angry, wet, naked, cussing, white man on the other side, he shrank away in apologies.

Bonnie and I didn't know who else might visit us in the night, so we put furniture in front of the door.

All went well in the night. This morning, however, after Bonnie went downstairs for email, I started to bathe again. I heard a fumbling at the door and thought it was Bonnie. I hid behind the door for sport. When I jumped out--naked--it was an elderly cleaning lady.

Either the Vietnamese have different door etiquette or they just like to see me naked.

Besides our rough beginning, Hanoi has been a great place. Coffee abounds, as does a French sensibility. It reminder Bonnie of a mix between Mexico City and Paris-- sophisticated, cramped, a little dirty, and hectic.

We like it so far.