2025 Central Asia Adventure – Hanoi Vietnam
Today’s Huntington’s Disease report is about the brutal truth of the disease, and as this is my penultimate report, I’m not going to pull any punches. The last report will come full circle I promise. I’ve tried to explain things clinically for you in past reports, but this one is going to talk about what it’s like to live with it, despite decades of research for treatments and cures, so strap in and hold on. I’ve got the been-there-done-that T-shirt. It starts with little things you can hide: a twitch in a finger, cycling on and off the gas pedal, dropping things, injuring yourself, forgetting why you walked into a room, a mood swing that feels like someone else took the wheel. Then the chorea arrives with constant, uncontrollable writhing movements, the gait goes, swallowing becomes dangerous, weight loss, speech slurs, and dementia eventually erases who you were. Every system fails in its own order. If you have HD in the family, you can self-diagnose and confirm with a cheap blood test. If you are a spontaneous case, it can be a rollercoaster to get a diagnosis – Parkinson’s? Alzheimer’s? Lou Gehrig’s Disease? Mental illness? As of 2025 there is still no disease-modifying therapy. Tetrabenazine can reduce chorea by 30-40 % but cost $60,000 – $150,000 USD per year and come with depression & suicide risk. Everything else is treated symptomatically: SSRIs, antipsychotics, physiotherapy, speech therapy, feeding tubes, and eventually 24-hour care. The person loses independence, then identity, then life. The family becomes full-time caregivers while watching someone they love disappear in real time. Genetic guilt is brutal: every child has to decide whether to test and live with a death sentence hanging over them for decades. In most countries private insurance drops you the moment you test positive or become symptomatic. Employers can legally fire you. Government disability payments rarely cover the $150k – $300k annual cost of late-stage care. Families spend all savings, go into debt or go bankrupt to pay the enormous costs associated with daily care. The final years are usually spent in a nursing home because no one can physically lift or manage the patient at home anymore, feed them, clean them and hopefully try to give them some quality of life. Best case the person has detached enough from reality that they don’t realize what’s happening to them. Some see the future coming straight at them and decided to check out of this life on their own terms, others fight to the end. After the person is gone, because symptoms don’t usually start until after child-bearing years, there are likely children who have that 50/50 chance of inheriting the gene, and the relentless march of HD continues through the generations. This has to fucking stop! We need a cure!
Hello from Hanoi, the twenty-second stop on the trip. I was here back in 2017 so I can’t count this as a new country. It’s actually my last stop before heading home, and after 2 months on the road in very un-traveled areas, it’s good to have the finale of the trip in sight.
Your standard country summary:
– Cool Ranch Doritos: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
– Spain & Wise Debit Cards Work: Yes
– Airalo Worldwide Telephone/Data/SMS eSIM Works: Yes
– VPN Works: Yes
– Cost of Living: $
– Currency: USD $1 ~ 23,300 Dong, Euro â¬1 ~ 30,500 Dong. I’m a Dong millionaire at the ATM baby!
– English Language Issues: No issues at all
– Language: Vietnamese (Tiếng Viá»t) is the official language, with many other languages spoken by small ethnic groups
– Government: Vietnam is a one-party socialist republic, the Communist Party is the only political party allowed to lead, and follows a very Soviet system with a Politburo, National Assembly and figurehead President. Dissent, opposition parties, or significant political pluralism are heavily restricted under law and practice.
Your Short History Lesson:
As one of the earliest continuous cultures, Vietnam began as small kingdoms around the Red River Delta. Then Chinese rule came in for about 900 years, with independence in 938. Several dynasties ruled through 1858 when the French rolled in and colonized Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as French Indochina. Independence was declared in 1946 and the French were finally defeated in 1954, leaving North Vietnam as Communist and South Vietnam as aligned with the US. The Vietnam War from 1955-1975 forced out the Americans and the country was unified in 1976. There were 10 years of economic struggles and border wars with Cambodia and China, followed by a surge of growth in the 1990s, with manufacturing and exports bringing the country into the top players of the world.
In the afternoon in UB, Olivia pinged me that she was trying to pick me up for the airport but couldn’t get close to my building due to traffic, same problems every day! I rolled out and met her, and we headed out. She told me that almost every car and truck here is from Toyota because they stand up well to the brutal weather. Since we’re going to the airport in the daylight, I realized that the new airport was built behind one of the mountains surrounding the city, so we have to make a giant loop through a mountain pass to get there. The old original airport is much closer to the city but they decided to build an entirely new airport rather than expanding the old one. I wonder whose brother-in-law got the contract for that? They are talking about boring a tunnel to make the trip much shorter but that sounds like a moonshot project here. We passed literally a hundred new apartment buildings along the only 2 lane road going out of the city – abysmal traffic is what happens with uncontrolled growth, but we hit the road at the best time of the day, only took 1 hour to get there. Her worst airport ride was 5 hours due to a bad time of day and rain.
The airport is tiny, with 20 closed check-in desks don’t open for 30 minutes. I grabbed a tuna sandwich at the only restaurant and got on the Wifi. I went into the check-in queue at 6pm. I just got “special handling” by the agents when I handed them proof of my Vietnam tourist visa, because their computer said I don’t need a visa to enter Vietnam! I showed them Google search results saying it definitely was necessary, and pointed to the paper that was issued by the Vietnamese government. I told them about my travels and needing a visa to enter Azerbaijan and Tajikistan and now Vietnam. I would rather be safe with a visa i don’t really need than not have it. They were quite helpful and finally gave in. Even having completely empty pockets and no belt or shoes I still set off the metal detector. I got a patdown that I would have been happy with on a hot Saturday night date.
The Hunnu Airlines flight to Beijing Daxing airport was uneventful. This is a critical aspect of getting from UB to Hanoi – the only practical way was to change planes, and airlines, in Daxing and get a second flight onward to Hanoi. Luckily Daxing is only a single terminal so I should be considered a transit passenger and not have to exit security and then back in again for my flight on VietJet. I followed the Transfer signs, and entered the Transfer Service room, showed them my next flight papers and was told to sit for 1 HOUR! I am the ONLY traveler in this room. It’s 10:32 PM and my flight is at 1:20AM, so I have time but I’d rather be in a more comfortable place, or be able to eat or drink something. I tried to get on the Wifi, again it needs a phone number to send an SMS code, ugh. After 20 minutes the same guy walks back into the area, waving my VietJet boarding pass – Sweet! He points me to the health check area, I walk through slowly as I get scanned and the gate opens. After that a woman did my going-out immigration process, fast stampy-stamp. Then I had to wait for someone to unlock the door into the security area. I am now the only traveler in a giant security area, getting personal service from a man & woman team. They got me to empty my phone, laptop, power banks, liquids and passport into a bin, backpack in another bin, roller bag in another bin. I walked through the metal detector, I beeped again. I got an even more thorough search than back in UB, nothing left unturned or unjostled. They let my backpack come down the line, but sent my suitcase and separate items into the inspection area. She checked my two power banks carefully, and now I’m worried they’re too big or something and will be seized. She takes me to a poster and shows me that neither of them have the CCC stamp for China battery approval, well shit. Then she says they will be given to a gate agent and I can get them back just before I get on the plane. Wow. So I’m just not allowed to touch them while I’m in the airport… I opened the rollerbag and she took out the Tupperware container with my experimental circuit boards, bags of electronic ICs and other parts and put it through the x-ray again. This could be a big problem because my winter projects depend on me having these boards and parts. Then she brought it back down and then said I can pack everything up. Whew! She escorted me down a hallway to yet another desk where the very first dude was now sitting! He asked for my boarding pass for the UB-Beijing flight, literally the same one he handed to me, I get it out of my backpack. He’s happy, gives me back my passport and VietJet boarding pass and strangely handed me both power banks. I said nothing. He pointed me down the hallway and said to go to gate E92. I thanked everyone profusely and walked to my gate. The terminal is shaped like a starfish, a central hub with arms extending out to the gate areas. E92 was at the tippy tip of one of the arms. It’s now 11pm and even Starbucks is closed. For all of my planning, I did stay within the terminal but ended up going through health inspection, immigration and security. I’m happy I had a 4 hour layover. It took a while and was super thorough but the three were professional and courteous.
Inside the gate area I went to the currency exchange to try to get rid of all of my accumulated currency. First she said she has to convert everything to Yuan, then charge me 38 Yuan commission, then convert everything to Vietnamese Dong. But when she added everything up I only have 450,000 Dong equivalent and her minimum is 500,000 dong so she wouldn’t do the transaction. Ugh.
After a while my gate area filled up. The HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon) people at the next gate are queued up but not going through. Then someone starts shouting HANOI! I packed up and fought my way through the crowd to my gate where they were loading us up, I went straight through and into my seat 11F, window just ahead of the exit row. Note the silver tape peeling off the front nacelle of my side engine in the photos! We pulled out right on time, again I got the Embraer E190 Version 1. We landed, only 1 person ahead of me at immigration, a cranky agent stamped me in after showing my visa paper. I had arranged a pickup at 4am with my hotel, as recommended by my friend Ken, so I went to the pickup point, but my name not showing. I found the driver 30 seconds later walking in, says he’s surprised I’m here because plane just landed. It was drizzling on the ride to the hotel, arrived at 5am, I tried to get some sleep, but up at 10am with a headache.
My goal here is just to relax, as I’ve explored the city before, been on the sleeper train to Sapa and hiking in the mountains, and a 3 day cruise on a wooden ship in Ha Long Bay. I started planning the rest of my route home. I can go 1) on a 24 hour sleeper bus into Laos, then down to Vientiene and across the border into Thailand, then a bus and train to Bangkok and then home or 2) Head down the coast to central Vietnam, then cross west into Thailand, Bangkok and home. At this point in my travels #1 is just out – I can’t take 24 hours in a bus. #2 is also a no-go, but only because two typhoons just came through and that part of the country is mostly underwater. So I decided to fly direct to Bangkok and then the train home. I just locked in my final travel segment!
I had a full warm refreshing shower and plotted my day. I walked out the door of the hotel and wow – small crowded streets, tons of western tourists and backpackers – Toto, we’re back in Southeast Asia! It’s utter madness in the streets with cars, motorcycles and people trying to pass through. I see so many Vinfast cars, gas and EVs built here. I had a 30 min foot massage and a hot shave, and almost fell asleep. I walked to the lake, around and through many little streets through the Old City.
The next day I really caught up on my sleep and walked to Ken’s friend James’ motorcycle shop. We talked about me riding a bike around the city, or out into the countryside. He says no problem nearby without my motorcycle license – mine is in my safe in Thailand, but I could get caught if I go too far. We walked to a coffee shop with a balcony overlooking the city and talked about life. In the evening I walked to the Michelin Star restaurant called ‘Bun Cha Dac Kim’ to have literally the only thing they make and sell – Bun Cha, the signature dish of the area. It’s a bowl of broth with BBQ pork patties, vermicelli noodles, dipping sauce and greens. You dip the noodles and herbs into the broth and eat the pork. So yummy. This is the place that Anthony Bourdain took Barack Obama in 2016. I overheard a honeymooning American couple and a young German couple at the next table, and asked to joined them. We met up in the tiny chairs and tables in front of the Beer Balcony nearby. Lots of good talks about traveling.
The next day I took a very long walk, and a little electric tour golf cart thing around the Old City. Foot massage as my legs and hips are aching, followed by pizza and Saigon beer.
I booked a minibus tour for my last day there, was up with the alarm at 6:30. Ugh. It’s drizzling and cold, brought my jacket and wore jeans. I think I’ve only had 3 days of rain on the whole trip and two of those days were outdoor tours! Bad luck! I’m first on the minibus, a nice one with Luxurious 1-2 seating and Wifi. By 9:30 we were at the first stop, a side of the road place with touristy souvenirs and food. I’m sure every tour company gets paid to bring their customers here. Walking through the food area I spotted, and you’re not going to believe it, bags of COOL RANCH DORITOS for 220,000 each or $8.34. Hell yeah! I bought a bag, and now that I know it exists in the country, I’ll hunt some down back in the city! Next we stopped at an ancient temple area in Ninh Binh, then to a restaurant 5 minutes from the temple. Some of the people on my bus went on a 30 minutes bike ride in the rain – not today for me! We then went to a boat ride 10 minutes away in Trang An, I didn’t know what to expect, but wow. I mean just work. This place is epically beautiful with karst cliffs like southern Thailand and dense forests. The boats are wooden and about the size of a canoe, can fit 6 people and little old ladies row us around. I thought it would be a quick loop but it was nearly 2 hours! There were several cave-tunnels where we had to duck our heads to get through. One rower passed us in a tunnel, pushed us to the side, and I nearly hit my head when I couldn’t duck down enough. I gave my lady a good tip for her 2 hours of effort. In high season there can be up to 2000 boats on the water and some of the ladies can get 2 or 3 trips in one day. Nearby was a mountainside where you could go 500 steps up to a viewpoint, again not gonna do that with very slippery rocks, I’m relaxing at the bottom. I’m checked out baby!
Back at the hotel I showed the manager at the desk my new bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. He started searching and asked how many more bags I wanted, delivery would be best because the retail stores he found are a long way from the hotel. I quickly calculated I can get 2 more in my suitcases, he’s on it! I walked down the street and had a quite nice deep-dish double pepperoni, walked home and the two new perfect CRDs were waiting for me!
Bottom line: Hanoi is a bustling metropolis, don’t stand still or you’ll get run over. Plenty of great food, a great walking city plus good things to do via day excursions or the mandatory boat trip to Ha Long Bay.
Next stop: Hua Hin, Thailand
