Vietnam - or 'why so cold?!'

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Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a fabulous Xmas and wore your hangovers with pride on New Year's Day!
We have spent the last 2 1/2 weeks in Vietnam, taking in the sights of Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa. Hanoi was a bit of a culture-shock after our time in Laos. Or more a return to reality i guess! A bustling city, loud even by Asian standards, its filled with mad motorbike drivers who will quite happily run u down on the pavement, or drive whichever way they please. They only introduced motorcycle helmets as law about a month ago, so they all showng off these brand new, brightly coloured helmets. Just too bad about the maniac driving! While in Hanoi we've checked out various monuments and done all the usual sight-seeing stuff. The water-puppet theatre was a fun experience, though partly coz of the random rat that ran across the stage mid-performance. That just sums up Hanoi really - random and filled with rats! But we like it despite all that! We've also eaten a few times in a restaurant run entirely by street kids, who are the chefs, waiters etc (think Jamie Oliver's efforts). It's a great place, and a great way of teaching kids stuck on the streets a profession and new skills. Plus the food is awesome!
Christmas was spent on Halong Bay on the island of Cat Ba. It was an 'experience'. Mostly just badly organised on the tour operators part, but what can u do! Xmas day was great - we met up with friends Becka and Carla from our previous tour and chilled out on the (grey!) beach, and in the evening had a fantastic meal of mussels, bbq chicken and fish etc etc on a secluded beach, with just the 8 of us, all watered down with pleanty of vodka and rice wine! It was then on to the kareoke bar (in case u didnt know, kareoke is HUGE here!) where we managed to clear the bar with our awful singing. Rock on!
After saying good bye to Carla and Becka, Rob and i spent Boxing day and night on a boat in the middle of Halong Bay. The bay is full of limestone karsts, like in southern Thailand, so is quite spectacular. It was a great sight to wake up to in the morning to say the least. After heading back to Hanoi for a day, it was then on to Sapa on the over-night train where we had decided to spend New Year. Here we spent 3 days trekking, spending one night in the house of a tribal family, which was amazing! They even cracked out the kareoke system for us - did i mention its huge here?! Lol. And again, pleanty of rice wine was consumed - entirely to keep away the cold, of course. Sapa is beautiful, tiers of rice plantations as far as you can see. While trekking those first few days in the mist it was kinda hard to see 20m ahead, but we were finally able to appreciate the scenery our last 2 days in the area. We ended up celebrating New Years eve with a load of Vietnamese hotel staff who managed to bring in the New Year in true Vietnamese style - wasted by 10pm on 'Sapa Mineral Water' (yeah that would again be rice wine). We were quite impressed considering their NY isnt until 6th Feb! God only knows what its like then. So it was one to remember!
We are now on our final day in Asia, before jetting off to OZ tomorrow. I think after two months of rice and noodles i'm ready for some pizza and pasta so it's come at just about the right time. Plus it'll be nice to get some sun again - Vietnam has been a little cold for out liking! But its certainly helped bring about the Xmas spirit, making it feel a bit more like home.

As always, take care, and keep me updated on all things 'home'!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!! Here is to a great 2008

PS. Tash was finally told "you look like Asian people" - wahoooo!! Made her day!!!

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Photos

Sapa locals
A local tribe cooking for us in their house, where we stayed that night

Halong Bay
Beautiful boats sailing on Halong Bay

Christmas in Halong Bay
Me, Carla, Rob and Becca on Christmas Day

Hanoi traffic
Yep, its mental!

New Years Eve
Invited to celebrate with our hotel staff in Sapa!