I am going to do the rare thing and dedicate this journal entry to a friend. CeAnn was part of my Shands Rehab Family and on more than one occasion would find herself spewing coffee over something I said or did. As I was experiencing this particular adventure, all I could think was “CeAnn is going to lose it when she reads this.” Hopefully, my words can come close to doing the reality justice.
For Lee and me, Halong Bay has been a bucket list place to visit for a very long time. After much reading and viewing You Tube videos, I selected Mon Cherie Cruises for our 3 day/ 2 night cruise on Halong Bay. Mon Cherie Cruise line required a $100 deposit and the balance to be paid before the cruise. I made the reservation while still in the US, so I thought, “No problem, I will stop by the cruise office the first week I am in Hanoi and pay the balance.” I even said so in my response email to the cruise line after receiving the reservation confirmation.
The first inkling that I didn’t have something quite right should have been the difficulty in locating the office address to give to the taxi driver. After much searching, I finally found it and after work took off for central Hanoi. What should have been a 40-45 minute drive took almost 90 as you must cross a very long bridge which is the frequent site of wrecks, so we inched along, but… the taxi had air conditioning and I had a bottle of water, so no problem. But as the taxi burrowed deeper and deeper into the side streets of Hanoi, I began to wonder if I had something wrong. Afterall, if all customers had to pay the balance prior to the cruise, wouldn’t the office be more accessible? I had looked and there was nothing to indicate that you could pay the balance on line. My driver even looked a bit nervous as he inched along the last 2-3 blocks, looking for the address. He finally stopped in front of a bridal store that had underground parking and said, “Here!” And no sooner had I gotten out of the taxi when he took off.
I looked about and there was not another international in sight in either direction. A security guard came up to me and I said “Mon Cherie Cruises?” And he responded with a nod and pointed to a small, and I mean small, in terms of business signs along the opening of the underground parking. He pointed for me to go down in to the parking area. Now, I was wearing flat sandals but they had slick bottoms and the angle of the drive down was a sharp one. Again, I’m thinking- “This isn’t right. Hundreds of people come HERE to pay the balance of their cruises?” I then thought of CeAnn and figured this was just going to be one of those adventures that I needed to see through and she was going to lose it laughing….. as long as I came out of it whole on the other side of things!
So, hanging onto the wall, I side stepped my way down the entrance into the very dark parking garage that was designed only for motos, not cars. Most of the light came from the entrance as the overhead lights dully gleamed. The security guard was behind me, pointing for me to continue. Now, I am not naïve. While I realized that I had obviously misread the email, I had paid the taxi driver $13 and spent 90 minutes to get there. I was not turning around now! I walked to the back and all I could see was an open door to a toilet. But then notice a small elevator to my right. (Unfortunately, the pics were not clear, so nothing to share.) No information on the wall, just a button. It opened immediately to a coffin sized elevator car, which did not inspire me, and again- no information as to what business was on what floor. I had read that the cruise line was on the 4th and 5th floors, so I punched 4 and went straight up. I came out onto a floor with a large frosted door and again….. you got it, no information. So, I opened the door.
That is when I knew, without a doubt that I had made a mistake. I walked in and the young man sitting at the counter to my left just looked at me with a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and maybe a bit of fear. The room which had been filled with chatter, fell dead silent as the dozen or so workers at what was obviously the cruise call center, stopped what they were doing to look at me with slack jaws. I give full credit to the young man for the quick rebound and offering me water, fruit and a chair and getting a supervisor who confirmed what I already knew. I had misread the email and I was to pay the balance before the cruise at the marina prior to boarding! That said, who were they to turn down a customer who was paying a bill balance? Word quickly spread why I was there and everyone went back to their business while the supervisor took care of my payment.
She really was nice and asked if this was a special occasion and while I told her no, she told me that they are giving us a “complimentary honeymoon welcome package” with champagne and rose petals spread on our bed. I smiled and nodded my thanks, choking back the laughter. She also insisted that they pay for my return taxi. Hey, that I was NOT going to turn down.
So, I learned that the coffin sized elevator car was just a tad bit larger than I thought as the supervisor sent two employees with me to the front of the building to wait for the taxi. Yes, we had to walk through the dimly lit moto parking garage and up the steep ramp to the street. Why send two people? Either the neighborhood was way more sketchy than I thought or, and the more likely scenario, they figured any idiot passenger who showed up at their offices to pay the balance could not be trusted to get into a taxi. So, like I was a doddering old woman, they made polite conversation and opened the taxi door, spoke the driver (really??) and smiled and waved good-bye. I had a flash back to Miracle Max and Valerie of Princess Bride waving good-by though the young people were lovely and professional, you had to wonder what they were thinking!
Now, has this adventure ended? Hmmmm, not sure. Since we are staying in Ocean Park, Mon Cherie Cruise Lines will not pick us up and I’m still unclear on where we need to go to meet the bus for the marina! Who knows what's ahead?
Postcard from Hanoi May 19, 2023
Karen
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