I Get Lost
This afternoon I left my apartment about 2:30 and walked over to Ho Tay Lake. It’s a lovely park for walking if you can get past the short part where people try to sell you trinkets. Lots of trees, some large lake boats turned into expensive restaurants, swan paddle boats to rent, and an almost island with some traditional looking buildings.
Then I tried to get home, but couldn’t fine the left turn I needed to get back home. There are so many cafes and shops built along the lake road that it requires a lot of patience to find cross streets, at least on foot as I was. The left turns I did take usually turned into dead ends, one of which was fortunate because I found a large temple tucked away in one of Hanoi’s many hidden neighborhoods. When you are on the main roads, you see the businesses, but if you take the alleys you find these maze-like, low rent residential areas.
So I walk and walk and walk, following any street that slants at all to the left, until I found a sign: Lotte Mart 1.2 km. That’s the supermarket when I usually do my shopping because the bus back drops me off close to home. Later I had to get on google maps at home to figure out how I got all the way over there, but as long as I was there I used the bathroom and did a little grocery shopping, surely cutting a dashing figure with a t-shirt more sweaty than dry. When I was sitting at the bus stop to get home, I drank an entire bottle of water in two tries. By the time I got home I was too hydrated to even be hungry.
Then I tried to get home, but couldn’t fine the left turn I needed to get back home. There are so many cafes and shops built along the lake road that it requires a lot of patience to find cross streets, at least on foot as I was. The left turns I did take usually turned into dead ends, one of which was fortunate because I found a large temple tucked away in one of Hanoi’s many hidden neighborhoods. When you are on the main roads, you see the businesses, but if you take the alleys you find these maze-like, low rent residential areas.
So I walk and walk and walk, following any street that slants at all to the left, until I found a sign: Lotte Mart 1.2 km. That’s the supermarket when I usually do my shopping because the bus back drops me off close to home. Later I had to get on google maps at home to figure out how I got all the way over there, but as long as I was there I used the bathroom and did a little grocery shopping, surely cutting a dashing figure with a t-shirt more sweaty than dry. When I was sitting at the bus stop to get home, I drank an entire bottle of water in two tries. By the time I got home I was too hydrated to even be hungry.