So its been a while since I last updated you all... sorry for the delay, I've been too busy having fun:) So the journey continued from Loas and I took a flight from Vientiane to Hanoi. Having taken long hot bus journeys, I assure you the flight seemed like luxury travel! I arrived in Hanoi about 8pm and it was just crazy! Mopeds swerving everywhere, beeping, people trying to sell you things, kitchens in full swing on the pavements and us being pushed aside with heavy backpacks on our back. Anyway we (I met an Irish couple on the flight) managed to find a hotel and I stayed there for one night. The hotel staff were rude, aggressive and the minute they saw my british passport (having negotiated the price down) the first words were "england, ahhh rich country". So i moved the next day to my first hostel, Hanoi Backpackers Hostel. Nice place, run by 2 aussie guys and full of backpackers. Being in a dorm for the first time I have to admit, it takes time getting used to but was fine. The next day I took a trip to Halong Bay with an overnight stay on the boat. The guide was another dictatorial Vietnamese guy, giving instructions on when to eat, when to pay, when to sleep, what to do... the trip was good though. Amazing scenery despite the weather being misty and foggy. We went to some caves and had dinner back on the boat. In the morning, we were all up at 7am to do some kayaking in the bay.. great to see such scenery from from the cabin window when you wake up. All in all the trip was good despite our guide and the weather not being so great.
The next day I flew to Da Nang to reach Ha Noi in Central Vietnam. An absolute contrast to the impolite, hectic and cold capital in the North. The streets of Ha Noi look as though they have been taken from a theatre set.. quaint streets, a river flowing by and people riding bikes around the village. The place is full of tailors and shops offering to make made to measure clothes. I managed to get a few skirts and a lovely woolen coat which were made within a few hours. The weather was perfect too, a gentle breeze but much warmer than Hanoi. The people were also much friendlier, smiling and relaxed. A really nice place all in all and it didn;t take long for the locals to get to know you.
So next destination, Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon. I had been warned - if you find Hanoi busy, Saigon is 3 times as worse! So far its been the best place I've stayed in, I love it and could imagine myself living here. Yes there are mopeds everywhere but the streets are bigger and its fascinating to watch the mopeds swerve and manage to weave their way through the traffic. I managed to find a really nice hotel and also met an english girl along my route so decided to share a room with her. Air con, fridge, hair dryer and 2 massive drench showers - seems like luxury! My stomach wasnt too good the first 2 days but I visited some amazing hotels during the day sightseeing! We walked the city at night and took a day trip along the mekong delta the next day. A really good trip with a jam packed agenda from holding a python around my neck, tasting the tropical fruits out here and seeing how they make candy from coconuts. The Cu Chi tunnels was on the agenda for the next day.. amazing to believe the soldiers were able to spend as much as a year in the tunnels when you find it hard to crawl through 100m in the tunnel. We arrived back in the afternoon to a short period of heavy rain but it soon cleared up and I met Milli, a cousin living here with 2 cute boys 4 and 6 years old.
Ok, I have to get ready for bus, will continue asap!
Ok so I am continuing a few weeks after but will try to remember as much as poss! So the next day I continued my sightseeing around the city and visited the war museum and the reunification palace. On the way back i stopped along the corner near the famous statue of saigon and met 2 lovely guys who were visiting saigon on business. David, from san jose and kevin from taiwan. Spent the evening watching the mopeds, talking to the locals and watching night fall in the city. I met them later on for dinner and went to a bad with live music from a band from the philippines and also met another guy from Liverpool who is now livign in saigon teaching english. A highly amusing evening with a mixture of accents, poor kevin had a hard time keeping up with a slightly tipsy liverpudlian accent! I had such a good time with them that I decided to stay in Saigon another day and spent the next day on motorbikes with david and Kevin into the Viatnamese countryside. They bought me a mask to avoid the polution with a skeletons mouth, I think i got a few weird looks from the locals! I was really sad to leave saigon, the guys were great and really took good care of me. We're still in touch though so I'm sure we will meet again.
