Vietnam - the journey so far..

Well.... so much has happened here in Vietnam it's difficult to know where to start. But as that awful song from The Sound of Music goes, "let's start at the very beginning - a very good place to start.." (Mum & Dad - I know you won't know the song, seeing as you still have managed to avoid seeing the movie!)

Hanoi
After a mamoth flight that went Venice-Frankfurt-Bangkok-Hanoi, with a stop in bangkok airport for several hours, I arrived in Hanoi. I'd rung from Bangkok and booked a place, but it seemed that everywhere was full and the place I'd booked was US$18 a night! (From now on all dollar prices are US - welcome to Vietnam's dual economy).

My first day outside, suffering jetlag and continent displacement I was taken for a rookie right away, and somehow managed to find myself going on a 1 hour cyclo tour of the city, with a driver whose English basically consisted of a few words and a lot of gesticulating, with me finally working out what he'd said about 2 blocks after we'd gone by. The ride did only cost 30,000 dong (about $2) which is actually not a badly bargained price from the 50,000 he first wanted, but at the time it seemed like a huge amount and I was too tired/exhausted/interested in seeing the city to take any photos from the cyclo. This turned out not to matter much really as the photos would have gone when my camera was stolen, but at the time it seemed like a wasted opportunity. I actually never went on a cyclo again in Hanoi, so probably just as well I did the tour on the first day, and the driver was really lovely despite communication difficulties.

I have ridden on dozens of motorbikes though. Everywhere you go, you are followed by cries of "moto? moto? motorbike?". They are actually a very quick way to get around, and if you know a general price for them, they can prove to be not that expensive.

So after the cyclo ride, and paying an exorbitant amount for some fruit, I retreated to my hotel room, had a nap, and felt very sorry for myself. When I woke up, I decided that I hadn't come all the way to Vietnam to sit in a room and feel bad, so I went out and made my way to a house in the old quarter which has been done up to look like it would have about 100 years ago. It was really interesting and afterwards i had tea with the guides, and they suggested that I go to the lake and visit the pavillion. So I did this, and that's when I met Tamara, who asked me to take a photo for her, and then I got her to take one for me.

We started chatting, and she had a much cheaper place to stay, so I went with her and arranged to move there. So from here, we hung out, her 3 irish friends she'd met in Laos turned up, and we all went travelling off to various places, including Halong Bay and Sapa.