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The journey has commenced.
We are now in Hanoi, the bustling, crowded capital of Vietnam. I landed in Beijing four days ago - upon meeting Indie; we headed directly south towards the city of Nanning, near the Vietnamese border. Highlights of our 28-hour journey were remarkably plentiful - the Chinese ‘hard-sleeper’ trains may be crowded, but they are lively and comfortable. I found ‘the natives’ to be friendly. Indie taught me a few random words in Mandarin - in truth, I’ve been impressed by how much he has learned during his teaching year here. He can hold a conversation fairly fluently and even succeeded in asking for our aubergines to be cooked in a spicy sauce! This is just as well, as the Chinese layperson doesn’t speak much English.
My first time in Asia is a genuine assault on the senses, as they say. The train station in Beijing was home to the equivalent of a city-sized population, and it was LOUD! Remember the episode of the Simpsons where Bart gets lost and stumbles into the Russian quarter? Hearing raised voices, and witnessing wild gesticulations, he assumed they were angry, or at least that there was an argument. Hearing
Chinese people speak, I felt the same way. The border crossing into Vietnam was epic, involving much form-filling, pushing, shoving and funny looks as we were the only Westerners there.
Hanoi is a cacophony of sound. The city is noisy, vibrant and frenetically hectic. The heat and the street-vendors (who try to peddle anything from taxi rides to Lonely Planet guides to mangos) are unrelenting. It was 41C yesterday. Check this out - http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=2219 . I worked in Barranquilla, Colombia during a summer, and being in a tropical climate I thought it was swelteringly hot! Hanoi makes it feel like a fridge. I have never sweated as much as I do here - my back feels like a waterfall.
Vietnamese food is excellent - it has exceeded all my expectations. Imagine freshly-cooked spring rolls; fragrant salads of lettuce, rocket, basil, coriander, mint and bean sprouts; rice; noodles; and marinated vegetables. This food is then dipped in an array of sauces comprising vinegar; garlic, ginger, lime, lemon, coconut, mango, soy sauce, basil, coriander. And then there are the chillies! Our lunch today cost only 40p (12,000 dong). We felt absurdly rich walking out of the bank with 11 million
dong in our bags.
In spite of this impressive food, it feels like we are losing kilos in this impressive heat. We’ve been walking around a lot, and have made some friends. I got a haircut yesterday and one of the hairdressers asked Indie “can I love you?”. My hairdresser had a pretty basic grasp of English, extending to the following questions:
“How old are you?”
“Do you like Vietnam?”
“Do you have mobile phones in the UK?”
“Do you want to look like one of the Beatles?”
“Scotland?!?? England? Ahh, David Beckham!!”
She was v friendly though; as are most of ‘the natives’ we have met. We’re trying to steer clear of touristy haunts, which seems like the way forward.
Some random insights:
*The language is very tough to learn. We’ve picked up a few phrases along the way, such as “where is Hang Ga Street?” and “thank you, that was delicious!”.
*Indie has managed to piss off a few of the locals. He drove a particularly hard bargain when buying some blatantly photocopied Lonely Planet guides (Indie says ‘thank you!’ Vietnamese dude: ‘thank you??!?? F_ off!!)
*I’m having fundamental difficulties crossing
the roads. Much like Ben Stiller cannot turn left in Zoolander, I am very challenged by walking in a straight line. It has something to do with the Vietnamese’s decision to flagrantly sides of the street or zebra crossings!
I’d better run. We need to go pick up some tailor-made shirts - Hanoi is a hotbed for clothing. In spite of my tongue-in-cheek, non-PC observations, I am really enjoying Vietnam. Our attempt to learn the language and speak to local people is definitely worth it. We haven’t seen ay games of Russian roulette yet, and we haven’t referred to anyone as ‘Charlie’. I hope you are all well. It’s good to read your emails - keep them coming.
Tam biet (goodbye)
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Stuart L
non-member comment
Nice one
That's awesome. My friend alboy just got back from his round the world trap, and he said that in Japan groups of school girls kept walking past and mouthing "david beckham" at him. Not much happening back in Escocia. I've now been to more weddings in the past week than in my life up until now, but on the plus side I'm becming a very adept waiter/barman Day off today so we're having a BBQ for the World Cup final at Alans (Alan that was at Coldplay). Can't wait. FORZA ITALIA!