Believe it or not! On the mini-bus to Lao Cai (the train-station after Sapa) they played MODERN TALKING !!!!!! No kidding! Extremely loud and on extremely bad speakers. It was so horrible, that it was fun again. "Brother Loui, Loui, Loui.." Aaaaaaargh!
I tok the night-train back to Hanoi (somehow it seems like wherever you want to go in Vietnam, you have to pass Hanoi).
Riding the train on the compartment with the locals is fun. Everybody very excited about having a foreigner on board. Trying to please me with sweets and funny drinks. I tasted quiet a few strange things..
The plan was to hop on the next train south once I came to Hanoi. And there WAS actually one leaving just 2 hours later, but NO, I couldn't take that one! It was "too bad, too slow, not good". They really denied me buying a ticket for that train :)
I had to spent another day in Hanoi. Before I tok the night-train to Dong Hoi.
There I really liked me! Very few tourists, right at the ocean, with a beach and very cool hotel-staff. They convinced me that I should not believe the Lonely Planet, that live was much easier if I did just the way the locals do.
So I did. Rented a motorbike and drove a couple of hours (though it was only 45 kilometers, pretty hard driving- dust and zillions of cars, motorbikes and bicycles) to see Vietnams biggest cave. It's something like 55 kilometers long! But only the first kilometer is open to the public. I liked seeing the cave, especially because it included a boat trip.
Next day I tok the bicycle (an electric one, after device of my hotel-owners) and went to the One-Man-Museum. Not very exciting, but I like the attempt, one man buildig an open-air-museum with war relics, so it will not be forgotten.
And then (!), day 3 I really did a thing I don't do, cause I'm too scared (well, not now anymore since I tryed once ad it worked just fine): I took a remote bus south and at a road sign I jumped off (the conductour did not like that!) and "found" a motorbike to drive to the Vinh Moc Tunnels. After returning with the motorbike I just waved down another bus to take me on. No problem :)
The Vinh Moc Tunnels is where a whole village went underground during the American War. They lived on 3 levels under the earth! Their whole live tok place there, even children were born! That was scary! So deep down, cold, wet, up to 23 meters under the earth. BUT fascinating!
I then went to Hue. Everybody I met said what a nice town this is.. I don't know. Pretty ok. Lots of pagodas around and the citadel with the forbidden city in the middle. Everything destroyd due to the war. Because Hue is announced World heritage by the Unesco they try to build up a bit, but it's still a long way to go.
I kind of didn't like the people in Hue that much. Don't know why, may be because it was raining (he he- here you have the typical Ute logic).
From Hue straight to the border with Laos. Lao Bao.
