Human Hot Potato
When Your Birthday Becomes a Game of Pass-the-Parcel
📍Hanoi, Vietnam
The night before my birthday was particularly difficult. I couldn't fall asleep for hours, feeling excited - not because of my birthday, because despite how I sometimes act, I'm not a 5-year-old anymore. And not because tomorrow I'll be visiting one of the seven wonders of the world. I was excited because of where I am in my life.
During the night, there was a thunderstorm that woke me up frequently. There was one thunder so close it sounded like a gunshot. I wondered if tomorrow's cruise would even take place. Funny how it was one of the hottest days during the day, and in the evening a massive storm consumed the city.
I woke up at 6, because at 7:15 I need to be at the travel agency's office. I sent a message to the agent from whom I booked the cruise, to make sure the cruise is still happening in such weather. I got ready and while doing so I heard the rain calm down. I felt relieved.
I ordered a motorcycle taxi, and hurried down the five floors via stairs because the app showed he was just arriving. I reached the building's gate and realized it was still pouring outside, and I'm dressed in a swimsuit with beach clothes, flip flops, and a cloth bag with my equipment, in addition to a waterproof bag for my expensive gear.
What, am I crazy? I'm not riding a motorcycle like this when it's pouring!
I quickly canceled the motorcycle, paid the 60K dong (about $2.5) and ordered a regular taxi through the app. The rain intensified, and long minutes pass and I still haven't found any taxi in the app.
I tried to refresh the page every few minutes. I didn't care that each time the price jumped higher, as long as I arrived on time. The minutes went by and I realized I wouldn't make it on time, so I sent a message to the travel agency and my agent simultaneously.
I asked if they could possibly pick me up, and I understood how important it is to live in the central district. They told me they couldn't come to pick me up, and that I needed to find a way to get there. More minutes passed like this and I tried to understand if this was another message from the universe.
"What needs to happen?" I think to myself, as if stepping out of the situation, as if letting someone, or something, else decide my fate. I understood that maybe because of the rain it's better not to go on the tour, because it would ruin the experience, but I was sure they wouldn't refund my money. So it's better if I just arrive. Yes, better, but how? There's no bus here I can quickly catch, it's purely waiting for a taxi, and more than half an hour has passed and I still can't find one.
In conversation with the agent, there was a moment when he didn't believe me, and thought that because I asked him about the rain in the morning, I don't want to go and I'm making up the taxi excuse. So I flooded him with screenshots of the app, a picture of me with a pouting face, waiting at the gate, and lots of messages of "How can you say such a thing???" especially when he knows it's my birthday.
At what felt like the last moment, I found a taxi. And this was after calls to the agent and the agency, who told me my bus had already left, but that I should come to the office and let them talk to my taxi driver.
"What do you want to tell him?" I asked, to make sure they're not sending me now by taxi all the way I'm supposed to go by bus, because three hours in a taxi is not in my budget.
"To take you to the Opera House, it's the last pickup station in the district," the agent told me, and I agreed.
On the way, the agent updates me that I'm going on a different tour and not the one I booked. I'm going to Halong Bay, and not to Cat Ba, as I had planned.
It's the same area in general, just that Cat Ba is a less touristy area, and you see the same landscapes. But apparently all this was to bring me to Halong Bay, so I'm already eagerly waiting to see what awaits me there.
The taxi driver dropped me off at the Opera House, where I saw many tourists waiting for the tour. I was sure I'd get on the bus from here, but I heard a shout from the road: "Maya!" I turned around and saw a small Vietnamese guy on a small motorbike, telling me to come with him quickly.
He's without a helmet, I'm without a helmet (that line has already been crossed, apparently) and he's driving me to the area of the offices. What's going on here?? I feel like a human hot potato on my birthday!
When we arrived, the tour guide greeted me, introduced himself while we ran to the bus, and the moment I put my foot on it, it started moving. I moved to the back seat while passing by all the grumpy faces I had caused to wait. I wanted to apologize but I just smiled my apologetic smile at them and hoped they don't hold a grudge, because after all it's 8:30, and that's still a reasonable time to leave.
I sat in the back seat and not a minute passed until I realized there are four more Israelis here. I didn't introduce myself, because I still hadn't had coffee, or eaten anything, or processed the fact that I'm on my way to one of the seven wonders of the world. But after a few minutes the guide started asking us questions about our origin and my identity was revealed.
"Aha! She's one of us!" one of them shouted, and we exchanged a few words, but most of the ride was quiet.
On the way the guide told us that before they built the main road here, this journey would take 8 hours. Thanks to Hollywood filming movies here, they built the road, and as I saw when we arrived - a whole city that really looks like a movie. There's probably a certain standard for this title, or that's the reason many tourists come here and spend money, and the result is the development of the place in an exceptional way.
At the entrance we saw an impressive structure that looked like the impressive buildings of ancient Greece with concrete columns and large statues. I knew this day was going to be special, despite all the turbulence on the way to it. Sometimes when the journey is challenging, the destination is worth all the effort.
And so, exactly on my birthday, after being passed like a package from place to place, I arrived at Halong Bay - one of the most spectacular places in the world. But what did I see there? What was the cruise like? And what made this day so special? More on that in the next post...
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