Went out one morning and just had this funny feeling something was missing. Penny dropped: my hat! Yes, I’d left my beloved Panama on the bus back from Ha Long. When I’d stopped crying I spoke to the nice receptionist at our Hanoi hotel. She sympathised, then rang the bus company. They didn’t know, but she promised to follow it up.
After lunch, she said that she had got hold of somebody from the bus company and they had indeed found what they presumed was my hat. They could bring it back to the hotel tomorrow. Unfortunately, by that time we’d be in Tam Coc. The receptionist said: ‘My brother drives a coach from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, which isn’t far from Tam Coc – I’m sure I can get him to bring it down for you.’
Long story short, after arriving in Tam Coc arrangements were made by WhatsApp. I tried to finalise details over the phone, but couldn’t understand or be understood. So I explained the situation to our Tam Coc hotel lady, who rang again, and after talking for awhile assured me the driver would bring it to Tam Coc – actually about 20 minutes out of his way – at about three or four this afternoon and she would meet up with him.
And when we got back in the afternoon, there was my hat! And that was that. Our nice hotel lady had offered our other nice hotel lady’s brother money, as we’d asked, but our other nice hotel lady’s brother wouldn’t hear of it.