Hanna and Dan Adventures: Vietnam adventures

Well compared with cute little Laos, Vietnam is nuts! Everything here is just a lot louder, faster and more intense! We have found a nice place to stay near the Old Quarter with a balcony overlooking a semi-quiet street (by Hanoi standards). Today we spent the day just walking around the old city and taking it all in...and there is a lot to take in! There are motorcycles all over the sidewalks, along with ladies selling fruits, veggies, soup, nuts, and you name it from huge baskets that they carry around on bamboo poles. So basically there is no room on the sidewalk and pedestrians are forced to walk on the road, and in the case of tourists, this makes us the perfect target for "hello, you want motorbike?" or "hello you want to buy book?" or "hello you want cyclo?". "Hello shoeshine?" is a popular one too :>) And the people here are much pushier than is Laos! We have actually got some pretty dirty looks when we've politely declined products or services! I do like the ladies selling fresh pineapples though :>) They cut them up all nicely and take all the prickly parts out and wrap them up into a little bag for you...amazing.

So after one day of the intensity of Hanoi, we headed off to Halong Bay. I was a little worried when our bus was arriving there because it was starting to rain and it was kind of foggy, but it cleared up and the afternoon was a little cloudy but otherwise fine. Our boat took us to see a cave (pretty touristy...I mean let's face it, the whole area is pretty touristy), and then for a cruise through the bay. And it was very very beautiful, especially in the evening light. It actually reminded me of our ferry ride to the South Island in New Zealand, with all the little islands dotting the ocean. In Halong Bay, however the peaks were sharper and more dramatic. We slept on the boat that night, which was fun, although we were a little worried about doing it because one of the boats sank in Halong Bay about 2 months ago but luckily ours was just fine. We stayed the second night on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay, and went for a hike that day up to a viewpoint in Cat Ba National park. Cat Ba Island also has these "floating" restaurants just offshore, so we shared a beer on one of them which was pretty fun! Except the boat that carries people from the shore to the restaurant broke before we could get back so they had to row us back to the island in this dinky little boat which was a little sketchy!

Once we got back to Hanoi we headed off to Sapa in the north on the night train. We were deciding whether we should go on our own (usually by far our preference) or with a group. In the end we decided to go with a group because it seemed to make more sense financially and we wanted to do some trekking and we thought you needed a guide for this. But it was pretty hilarious when we got to the train station to take the overnight train to Sapa and this lady had us all gather around and was explaining how to get on the right train...it was like we were in Kindergarten! "Okay children, see where it says car number 12, that means you get on the train that has the number 12 on it." Funny. So needless to say we got to Sapa safe and sound and unfortunately our "trekking" turned into more of a light walk, but we still really enjoyed the countryside. The area is very mountainous (in fact the highest mountain in Vietnam is here) and there are these beautiful rice paddies carved into the mountains so it's just so so stunning. In the morning the clouds would hang deep into the valley and it was so picturesque! The area is also home to the Hmong people, who, I must say, are the most persistent salesmen I have ever met in my life! Actually I should say saleswomen, because it's the women who are in town (often with their newborns strapped to their backs...so cute) trying to sell handicrafts to the tourists while the men are back in the villages or working in the rice fields. Their English is actually very good, and they learn it all from tourists and they try to chat you up and then it always ends by "you buy something from me okay?" And they just keep hounding you until you buy something or they find someone else! Fortunately they all were selling little cloth bracelets for 50 cents each and were usually happy if you at least bought a bracelet! But then as soon as you bought something one one lady, another one would come over and say "you buy something from me too?" They were very nice to talk to however, and even though they are probably just chatting to you to make some money in the end, I found them to be very nice, outgoing people and you could learn a lot about their way of life while they were trying to make a sale :>)

Today we are back in Hanoi (after arriving at 5 am on the overnight train...ugg) just hanging out and will catch another overnight train to Hue this evening...are we crazy? Fortunately this one arrives at 8am in the morning...a much more decent hour. We went to the Ho Chih Minh museum this morning but didn't realize the mausoleum closed at 11am (who closes a tourist attraction at 11am?) so we won't see that but it may have been a little creepy to seem him embalmed anyways :>)

Well I guess that's it for now!

Love Hanna and Dan xoxo

Coffee break overlooking the city in Hanoi - Vietnamese coffee is great!