"Single entry" to Vietnam

Day 117. Thursday the 27/10-05

I got up a little late so actually I was behind schedule getting to the airport but in a moment of weakness I still took the time for a breakfast at Mc Donalds.
Right after I was hastily heading for Hong Kong International Airport though!

When I got there and stood by the check-in counter it was time for the first big surprise of the day; at first glance they wouldn't let me fly to Vietnam because I had a single entry visa and no ticket back out of the country. Alas.
We talked back and fourth and I explained about my plans about travelling overland to Cambodia and from there head into Thailand... it ended up with her asking a manager who said if I signed a declaration stating I wouldn't hold the airline responsible if I got detained by the authorities in Vietham I would be allowed to fly with them anyways. So I did and just hoped it wouldn't be relevant.

After this I was up for yet a couple of surprises, and these not bad at all. Firstly I discovered my usual deodorant also was available in a spray, which I had been looking for as long as I had been using this brand. Naturally I immediately bought one, and later regreted not to have bought a couple of them.
Afterwards I saw a Burger King, yes, Burger King, which I otherwise hadn't been able to find throughout all of Russia, Mongolia, China and Tibet. Actually I wasn't hungry at all but still thought that the chance for a Whopper bacon cheese had to be exploited despite certain following abdominal pain.
It was worth it, yummy!

Later, when I without major problems stepped through the vietnamese customs to the promised land, I suddenly stood in the earlier wellknown situation not to have any clue about what to do and where to go.
The vietnamese people luckely turned out be nice and helpfull right away and shortly after I was sitting in a bus heading for Hanoi. There I even had more help from a young sweet girl who helped me with the ticket and where to get off.

When the bus dropped me of close to the center of Hanoi I got hijacked by some "motorcycle thugs". Okay, they weren't thugs but instead motorcycle taxies. Since I didn't know where to go I accepted their quite good offer on driving me downtown.
I carried my big backpack on the back and my small daypack in the front on my stomach... it was a funny, but nerve-racking trip, that took me directly to Gold Star Family Hotel. There I had a warm and welcoming reception by a great staff and at once I had a place to stay in Hanoi.

Subsequently I strolled about in Hanoi city, which I immediately fell in love with. It was alive, foreign in character and not least friendly.
Perhaps geographic bordering China but an entire world from it mentally. I felt positive that I would enjoy my stay in Vietnam.

A lot later, after a good and cheap dinner, I went to a cafe where I had a beer. It was strange; here I was on the other side of the earth, travelled here alone and still I hadn't gotten used to drinking a beer alone.

My last doing this day day, right before I went to bed, was to close the toilet seat in the room. I did it because so far I had already seen two rats and two commanders of the legions of hell, to be more specific two beetles in a highly unnatural large size.
After this I was able to sleep calm.