First week in Vietnam

---

The first week of Vietnam has been interesting. The bus ride here through the Tay Trung Border was pretty terrible. We were squished into a small bus with tons of people and bags of watermelons and (oddly) acorns. The ride was long (6 hours or so) and we were pressed up against the roof of the bus for the entire ride.
Getting into Vietnam from Laos was really easy, only a few minutes at the border. We had all ready secured our visas ahead of time (which is mandatory), so it all went smoothly.
OUr first night was spent in Dien Bien Pho, which was pretty uneventful, except for a graphic food market. The killing of fowl turned my stomach. Birds slowly bled to death, then were plunged into boiling water and plucked. It was pretty gross. That, mixed with the outrageously strong Vietnamese coffee,left me feeling sick for hours.
I am not so sure I like Vietnam yet. Time will tell. We head to Hanoi soon. I hear it is nice...

---