We have had torrential rain all night and right through this morning, with only short periods of respite. There is a break in the rain around lunch-time and finally we manage to get to the bank to change our travellers cheques. Now we are able to book our trips to Sapa and Halong Bay. We’re leaving Hanoi on the overnight train to Sapa on Sunday night. The rain starts up again with a vengeance while we are having lunch – but that’s not a problem we have our ponchos with us today. So we head off to find the exchange bookshop; we are going to swap our Insight guide to China for a Lonely Planet guide to Thailand. (The LP Vietnam Guide has already proved invaluable.) It continues to pour down all afternoon and we take refuge in several bars along the way. The rain is so heavy that there is flooding in some of the lower lying streets and we end up wading through water on our way back to the hotel.
The rain is so hard it must bounce back off the ground at least 6 inches- I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a prolonged downpour. We stop at a small Bia Hoi pavement bar to shelter. Perched on small (child-size) plastic chairs under the pavement awning we get chatting to Tom from Denmark who arrived in Hanoi yesterday. As we sit enjoying a beer or two (at 12p a glass) the water is steadily rising around us. Before we know it the water has risen about eight inches and is ankle deep on the pavement forcing us to sit with our feet on small stools to keep dry. One by one the shops are taking in their goods and pulling down the shutters. But the rapidly rising water doesn’t deter our lady bar owner who is eager to sell us more beer or the cars and mopeds which create a backwash that laps at the entrance to the bar and splashes up the backs of our chairs. And this is supposed to be the dry season!!
The rain seems to provide an excuse for people to chuck their rubbish into the water and soon we are watching debris float by. A bit short-sighted we think, because it is sure to block the drains when the water starts to subside. After a couple of beers, the rain is easing and the water recedes quite quickly once the rubbish is retrieved from the drain covers. We take the opportunity to head off for the book shop where we successfully change our guide book for just 75p – a bargain! It’s still raining heavily so we dive into another bar and start chatting to an American from Hawaii. It turns out that he is in Vietnam on an extended holiday involving three weeks teaching English in Hanoi. He’s waiting for the flooding further down the street to subside so he can reach his hotel. But he may have a long wait as the water continues to creep up the street while we talk. We push on through the rain and end up wading shin deep through water that has collected in a lower lying street. Once more on higher ground we make for another bar – the rain is proving a great excuse for a bar crawl! Not that Andy needs an excuse, as many of you will know.
By this time our ponchos are beginning to feel the strain and we are soaked. But it’s warm enough not to care, although Andy is bemoaning the state of his new(ish) trainers which are sodden. Our final stop is the Bia Hoi bar near our hotel which we discovered a couple of days ago. Today it is deserted, the locals no doubt having taken the sensible option and retreated indoors. The streets are eerily quiet; no sign of cars, bikes or peds now despite it being still relatively early.
We are beginning to wonder whether going to Sapa on Sunday is going to be such a good idea after all.