Hanoi

At 8,092 miles CX841, the JFK to Hong Kong non-stop offered by Cathay Pacific is one of the longest flights there is. As I sat in the Hong Kong airport drinking Tiger Beer and eating Chicken Satay after more than 16 hours in the air I was fading fast. And still had another 6 hours to go before reaching my destination, Hanoi.

Luckily, Hong Kong's airport is pristine. Probably the nicest I've ever been in. They have great food and the fastest free wifi I've ever used. If I was stuck living there like Tom Hanks in that Terminal movie I could be pretty happy for a while. It accomplishes what airports so often can but usually fail to do - provides an environment where passengers can refresh after all those hours trying to sleep sitting up, have a decent meal, and catch up on life before the next leg of the journey.

Dragonair flight 295. Take off, fall asleep, awaken to eat dinner of surprisingly tasty airplane chinese food on Dragonair, doze again, touch down, clear immigration. Get my luggage. At this point I'm running on backup power. Walk into the waiting area. Not as many taxis vying for my business as I expected. No sign of the driver sent by the hotel who should be waiting for me either. Do another lap. Still nowhere. Get cash. The Vietnamese currency is the dong. How many dong is equivalent to $400? Try to do the math in my head. Get $200,000 dong.

Finally as I circle back through the waiting drivers a third time I see my name on a sign, point to the driver, since he's standing between two others holding signs. Is that considered rude here I suddenly wonder, knowing it's a large faux pas in Indian culture.

"Were you waiting long? I ask the driver?" Yes he responds briefly and spins on his heels saying only "with me." Outside still no sign of the army of taxi drivers I often expect to swarm upon exiting an unfamiliar airport in an Asian city. He walks me to the curb and goes to pull the car around. As soon as he's gone a police office approaches me and asks if I know him. Guess they're cracking down on taxi hard sells, another good sign.

The drive is surreal. I take the front seat and try to make conversation. "Are you from Hanoi?" "Yes" is all I get. My driver either doesn't speak English or still has it in for me for pointing at him. He puts on music which sounds like a Vietnamese version of Fleetwood Mac, and we listen to this in silence as we drive at an excruciatingly slow speed passed on all sides by motorbikes and large trucks, through the rundown outskirts of Hanoi into the condensed center, Hoan Kiem District or Old Quarter where I will spend the next 24 hours eating everything I can find.

After 20+ hours of travel without REM sleep there can be a nagging desire to shower, lie down on the bed and pass out. But you can't. You're in a new place and it's dinner time of Friday night. So I set off to get my bearings. There's something great about seeing a city first at night, and then letting the daylight fill in the gaps the next day.

First stop, Hoan Kiem Lake. Located in the center of Hanoi, it was the natural choice. A few wrong turns down winding side streets and eventually I came to it. Contrasted with the craze of Hanoi's dirty and compressed downtown where people and cars compete with motorbikes everywhere, Hoan Kiem Lake is an oasis of tranquility. It's one of those places which great cities almost always has that adds a balance to the madness. In most major cites you find this - Central Park (and others) in New York, the Mall in Washington DC, Fanieul Hall, Copley Square and The Esplinade in Boston) - areas that amplify the things that make that city unique. And immediately on visiting the pond you realize that this place, and this city are special.

Before I know it, it's 11pm. But despite my lack of sleep I have a second wind. Time to eat again. I take a random right down an alleyway and stop to buy what looks to be a hard boiled egg from a street vendor. Continuing on I pass my hotel, but I'm not ready to sleep yet. A few blocks further find a late night Pho vendor, exactly what I'd been waiting for. Along with a bottle of Bia Ha Noi it's the perfect end to one of the longest days of my life. But I've only been in Hanoi for 5 hours.