Motorbikes, Mayhem and Mountains

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If there was still some 'Laos' in us, it was quickly shaken off as we swapped cockeral crows for motorcycle horns as our new form of alarm clock. In Hanoi, 2 wheels rule the road and there are motorcycles everywhere you look. It took us three days to perfect our 'crossing the road walk' (shutting your eyes, crossing your fingers and just stepping into the oncoming traffic!).

We spent a few days seeing the sights of Hanoi, although we found that the best way to experience the city was to just sit still in a cafe and watch the mayhem unfold around us. To give our ears a rest from the continuous motorcycle beeping we sought refuge in the moutains of North Vietnam and borded a night train to Sapa to do a three day trek.

Sapa was amazing and we really lucked out with the weather...glorious sunshine giving us stunning views of endless rice terraces and the mountains. We stayed the night in a village in the hills where we introduced drinking games to the locals whilst sampling enormous quantities of fairly vile, locally produced rice wine.

Back on the night train tonight and onwards to Halong Bay tomorrow(60km South of Hanoi) where we swap trains for a boat...

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Photos

Stop, look, listen
Crossing the roads in Hanoi took on a whole new meaning!

Local street seller
Adele gives the locals a run for their money in the selling stakes

Buffalo crossing
Water Buffalo always get the right of way in Vietnam!

"You buy from me"
No matter how remote we got, there was always someone around to sell something to us!

Impromptu English lesson
You can't keep Adele away from the classroom for long as she gives an impromptu English lesson to a local evening school

Sapa mist
We couldn't quite escape the English weather and found use for our waterproofs in the Sapa mist