'Nam

---

The 28 or so hours from Vang Vieng to Hanoi was uncomfortable in every sense of the word. There was first a connecting bus to Vietienne which was extremely cramped and had no air conditioning, followed by the 24 hour bus to Hanoi. While this had beds, after the first 8 or so hours it became pretty uncomfortable, made even worse that we were stuck at the back where three beds are put directly next to each other. I was stuck next to two girls, neither of them making any effort to talk so after about half an hour i gave up trying to make conversation and so we lay in pretty much silence for the rest of the trip but wedged in on the triple bed, not even able to sit up as the three beds above us were so close the beds couldn't be put up. Add to that the toilet being right next to my head on the other side, flapping open throughout the night whenever the bus turned as Vietnamese people seem incapable of shutting the door behind them, and the misery was almost complete. The worst part was the state of my left leg, ravaged my mosquitoes throughout the journey and which i only noticed when we got to our hotel that night. Just when I had thought that the pain of the bus was over it had come up with one last annoyance.

We got into Hanoi at night and so found a hotel and had some dinner before getting an early night. The next day we decided to sort out our "on off bus ticket" and trip to halong bay before seeing the sights of Hanoi. By the time this was done we realised that we had missed the opening time to see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, basically one of the only things to see. This was quite annoying to say the least but we still went and saw the Mauseleum from the outside and all the grounds and botanical gardens.
On the way there we had also stopped off at the "Hanoi Hilton" an ex french prison for Vietnamese civilians that was used in the Vietnam war to house American prisoners of war. It was amazing to see the Vietnamese side of the story to the war, apparently taking excellent care of the vistors, with loads of photos of them smiling a lot (i'm sure it was all fun and games).
We decided to walk around Hanoi, something that apparently Vietnamese people never do. It is impossible to walk down the road without getting pestered to take a cab or a motorbike, leading us to think that they must be the laziest people in the world. Crossing the road is also an experience, you have to just cross over 6 lanes of traffic as it swerves around. This was pretty scary at first but by the time we reached Saigon we were basically just stepping out without looking, the bikes will always go around you.

The next day we headed off to Halong bay, about 3 hours from Hanoi, where we had one night and two days. While waiting for our boat we bumped into an Argentinian guy called Juan who we had been with in Laos. He however was doing two nights and three days and so we said we might see him at some other point in Vietnam. The first day we went into the bay and docked at one of the floating fishermans village. They took us through a cave on a boat to a closed off cove where we did some swimming. We then got back on the boat and sailed on a bit more. Our boat had a real mix of people, unlike Juans who all looked about our age. We had a big fat old swiss guy, a chinese man (who we talked in depth with about our cultural differences), some Vietnamese people, an italian girl (who had worked as a toilet cleaner in London among other jobs and yet still had the money to travel around huge amounts), a south african couple, and aussie and an american couple. we anchored down at a large bay along with about 20-30 other boats. We did some more swimming and jumping off the top of the boat which was pretty cool. That night we had some dinner on the boat and ended up all getting pretty drunk on vodka and fanta, a mixer which i hadn't really ever used before, with our tour guide trying feebly to get some karaoke going. All the boat staff were trying to sleep in the room (and failing) before we all called it a night.

The next morning we got up early to watch the sunrise, only to find that the sun was already up at the time our tour guide had told us. We jumped in off the top of the boat once, with Pill jumping in last. As he resurfaced he said that he touched the bottom (the tide had gone out) and we deided to stop. On our way back to Halong city we stopped off at the fishermans village and did some kayaking, including kayaking under one of the natural arches that appears on one the Vietnamese bank notes. We got back to Halong City and then went straight back to Hanoi and got on the sleeper bus down to Hue. Again we were at the back of the bus (this time I was on the top of the triple so the seat could at least un-recline). We mainly only got sleeper buses as this way we didn't waste time travelling and also saved money on accommodation.
Hue was mostly unremarkable. We hired a couple of motorcycle guides who drove us around town shwoing us some of the sights including: a Japanese covered bridge, a buddhist monastry, a pagoda, some american bunkers by the river and finally the Citadel. We had a couple of hours at the Citadel but by 4'oclock (on the first day) we had seen pretty much everything Hue had to offer. So we went to a bar and had some drinks. There we met a few girls who we had dinner with and then had some more drinks, and who were also off to Hoi An the next day.
As Hoi An was only a four hour bus ride we left early the next day and were there by around lunchtimeish. On the bus we were annoyed the whole way by a bunch of young girls who did not shut up the whole way and were classic gap year tradegies. Juan was also on their and had caught up with us after not having a day ion Hue. He was also not stopping in Hoi An but carrying straight on down. When we stopped half way he told us he had just spent 3 days on a boat with the same girls who were unbearable for me and Will after two hours and we fully understood why he was not stopping.
The first thing I did was go and get a suit measured out at one of the many tailors that are in Hoi An. A tailormade cashmere suit and two tailormade shirts cost me $145 which is about 90 quid. While i was being measured up a strange man entered who would not stop staring at Will. It happened for so long one of the girls who worked there asked if we knew him. She then spoke to him and it turned out he was in their words "a bit crazy" and thinks he knows Will and had come from Danang to meet him. Quite a strange situation to be in, and they asked him to leave but he stood waiting outside, still staring. I found it all quite funny, mainly because he was looking at Will and not me, i'm sure i would have beenmore worried had it been the other way round or even both of us "he knew". When we left he followed us for a block or two but then gave up, to a sigh of relief (and probably unclenching) from Will.

We had a walk down the riverside and booked a fishing trip for the next day (which turned out to be a sitting trip holding a stick, needless to say we caught nothing). We then bumped into the girls from the previous night and had an afternoon playing some pool and chatting.

After the fishing trip the next day I had to go in for some readjustments to my suit where the woman told me I was very difficult to make a suits for because i am so thin and long and becuase of my hunched back, which is always something you want to hear. It did however make me feel like i had got my moneys worth a bit more. We then rented some bikes and cycled to the beach a couple of kilometers away where we met the girls again. We had a bit of a swim before being told to get out of the water as it was too rough. There were a few waves but i think it was a bit unnecessary to get us out the water. It reminded me a bit of when i went to Cuba with the family where the same thing happened, only this time the man was not on a horse. We then spent the rest of the time being pebbledashed by sand before conceeding and cycling home. We were swiftly overtaken twice by the girls (who were walking) as Pills chain came off twice and we struggled to get it back on. When we got back we had a swim in the hotels pool before bumping into the American couple from Halong bay who had just arrived. We went out with them that night and had some dinner and a few beers down by the river. They were the cheapest of anywhere we have found, one place doing 3000 dong beers (about 10p). It was also at this point where a Vietnamese person told us he thought Will looked like Wayne Rooney. Not something that i agree with but funny none the less. The final day in Hoi An we spent chilling out before getting on the evening bus down to Nah trang.

We arrived early in the morning and went to the beach until about midday when it became unbearable. We had some lunch and then went to the Hot mud springs. We were put in a small bath together, when next to us was a woman on her own in a bigger bath. This was quite annoying but it was quite fun floating around in the mud. We then went to a few other different pools, including a hot mineral water pool. It was beautiful for me as my eyes are normally quite sensitive to chlorine.

After we had done this we booked a boat trip for the next day and then found a bar to have a drink. Cue heavy rainfall. We were stuck in the bar from about half 3 until 9, while the street outside filled up about 8 inches or so of water before draining away completely again. We met an Aussie guy who after one round, just kept on buying the buckets for us all to share. He said we can stay with him when we get to Melbourne but whether or not this was serious or just drunken chat remains to be seen. This was the night of the champions league final and i decided that at half 1 (the match kicking off about 2) in the mrning that i was going to bed. I then went home and skyped Dad, something which I had forgotten about until today so sorry dad if i was talking rubbish, it was Ben the Aussies fault

The following day we were woken up by Mel, Fraser and Marcia, some people we had spent some time with in Laos. We knew they were coming but weren't sure if they'd be here in time for the boat trip. We spent the day going between several islands around Nah trang, visiting an aquarium, doing some more jumping off the boat and swimming and also being forced to endure the tour guide singing songs from our different countries, and forcing some of us to do it too (something which i thankfully avoided). Will did however do a strange duet of yellow submarine, while being laughed at by the Vietnamese because he had to crouch while on the table as he was to tall (something which im pretty sure would be unacceptable if it occured the other way around. Ha Ha look how small you all are.) That night we then got another sleeper bus down to Saigon.

The next day we spent a short while walking round in circles, with the local people seemingly as perplexed by a map of their own city as we were. Eventually we found our way and visited the Reunification palace, which north Vietnamese forces broke through the gates of at the end of the Vietnam War. We also went to the war remnants museum whoch had loads of photos and descriptions about the horrible things American troops did in the war. Pretty much the only things i knew about the Vietnam war was from films in which americans are made to look cool, but they did some pretty horiffic things.

The next day we went to the Cuchi tunnels which was one of the coolest things we have done. This included a guided tour around the place being shown all the different traps that they lay for american soldiers, firing an AK 47 which was awesome and going through one of their tunnels. The one we went through was only about 100 meteresor so and had been made wider for tourists but was still pretty claustrophobic and extremely hot. The tunnels they actually used must have been unbearable. We had a breif chance to experience this as we were aloud to climb into an actually opening and then place the cover back over the whole. We both just about managed to get in but any other movement would have been impossible.

Later that day we left Saigon on the bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. We had whistled through Vietnam had had some mixed experiences. Halong bay and Hoi An were particular highlights with the latter being one of the coolest places we have been. But there were serious downsides such as the relentless hassle we got especially in Hanoi and Saigon. Even when eating a meal you would be hassled three or four times to by sunglasses or photocopied books which sometimes you could just brush off but most the time would just grate on me. Vietnam was a pretty cool place but i don't think i'll ever feel the need to go back again, especially as the tailors in Hoi An keep your measurements, and all you have to do is email them.

---