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Hello there!!
Joey left you just as we got back to Hanoi. Well what a week its been. We've been to Hanoi, Halong bay, Hue, along Hai Van Pass to Hoi An...... Next week we plan to visit towns begining with the letter "I".
On the Saturday morning we moved out of our hostel and headed to the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel. First impressions were disapointing. $18 a night, (inc breakfast), we had air con, which seems to be standard in Vietnam, but no fridge or TV or bathroom. (which is standard here also).
However, the people were really friendly and there was a real good atmosphere among the travellers there. So my advice would be don't stay there, but if you have time to meet people and drink, then stay in a cheaper, better, hostel near to it, and just pop in during happy hour and for the BBQs!
On the Saturday, we pottered. All day. Just readjusting to Hanoi, which was manic after the serenity (big word!) of Halong Bay.
On the Sunday, we booked the Open Tour Bus of Vietnam. Which is $45 or 28pounds. We stop at Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Dalat and HCMC (or Saigon) - bargin. Then we went to see Uncle Ho, as the Vietnamese call him, or Ho Chi Minhs body. We took a taxi to the Mausolium, and the taxi driver did a few loops of the city to drive the price up. Anyway, its free to go in and on the whole I'd say worth every penny. We inadvertently pushed in the queue, but no one minded. We got told off by a few armed guards just outside, because we were chatting. In the Mausolium you have to be silent, with your hands at your side and you get bumped round quickly. There were 4 guards around the body, and a few more, purely for intimidation, hurrying the crowd round. After we went into his garden and saw his house on stilts, it was very nice. Although I nearly hit a Vietnamese lady! (This isnt even the part the title refers to). She had a Sunbrella (a normal umbrella used as normal in the rain, but also to keep the sun off the faces, because being white is good over here. You can buy skin whitening creams. I think its quite funny that you get orange girls in the west and really pale ones out here! Anyway Im off on a tangent so back to the story). She had a Sunbrella up, and because she was 5 foot nothing, the spikey things kept hitting me in the head and her kid was standing on my flip flops and her mate was fanning herself and barging us. (I think the people out here are incredibly nice on the whole, but the rude ones are just unbelievable.)In the evening (well 3.30pm) we went to the rooftop bar for the free keg of beer and BBQ. Joey "accidently" got drunk. It was pretty funny. The reason was, we met an Aussie fella who shared his snake wine with us, made from snakes blood. It was actually pretty tasty and we went to Le Pub to watch the Geordies cry. (Joey stuck to water in here).
The next day we had a day to kill so we went to the book exchange and I swapped Angels and Demons for a Travel book about Thailand and China, and we spent the afternoon reading and waiting for our bus to come. At 6pm we got on the Open Tour Sleeper bus. There was a big crowd from the Hostel, so it was a laugh. When we got on the bus it was a joke, the music was so loud that you had to shout to make yourself heard. One lad went down to ask for the music to be turned down. The driver just turned round, pumped his fist into the air and shouted very loudly "VIETNAM!!" and then continued driving, with the volume unchanged. At about 9'oclock, just after a toilet stop, the bus broke down. So we were sat on the side of the road, for about 10 mins before it got too hot, as there were no windows or air con, we piled off the bus to see a crowd of 8 vietnamese men fixing the engine..... I say "8" and "fixing".... one was hitting it with a spanner one was kicking it and 6 were standing round smoking. But they knew what they were doing, and a short hour later we were back on the road. The beds were shocking, tiny in length and with. (I think from now on, unless otherwise stated every journey we tell you about, you can assume is pretty awful).
After a sleepless night we arrived in Hue. I was really disapointed with it, there was only one thing to do, and that was see the Forbidden City, which although pretty wasnt really worth it. (Its possible to visit the demiliterised zone and other things, but they are all out of town by 100km and very costly). So we hired bikes saw the forbidden city, which was surprisingly battered considering it was only 150 years old. Then we went back for a nap- the best thing we did in Hue. In the evening we went out for dinner and bumped into Liam and Michelle, a couple from Northern Ireland, who were on out Halong Bay tour. We had dinner and a few beers with them, and discovered they were also heading to Hoi An the next day. (Liams a big United fan, so I was glad of having someone to watch the game with. He's also ginger, very ginger, which is hilarious over here, because they all ask him if its dyed, and rub it and examine it...they love it.)
Anyway this is where I let myself down massively. We were in the pub (this is still tuesday night) and the usual load of kids come in trying to sell you tat. As usual we declined. Then as we left the pub about 10 eight to ten year olds mobbed Joey and I. This is how it went:
Kids: You Buy! You Buy!
Me(Smiling and laughing): No thank you
Kids to Joey: You Buy!You BUY!
Joey:No Thank You.
This is normally where they give up, but instead they form a semi circle around us, slowing our walking right down and generally getting in our faces, and touching us, to slow u further. Then:
Kids: You buY!
Me: No Thanks.
Kids:You Buy!
Joey ignores them and start chatting to me.
Kids: You Buy!
Me: No thank you, go away!
Kids You buy!
Joey: Go away!
Joey then yelps, then a kid yelps
Joey: One of them just tried to nick my bag.
I then feel a had sliding onto my camera, and another going to my wallet. Another on each of my wrists. I break the grip of the kids
Me: F- off!
Sorry Mum.
Not my finest hour as I say, but it worked. They did.
The next day we sleep in late, and then await the arrival of the bus. At 2pm we jump on, and settle in. At the toilet stop, (about 4pm), I'm still feeling guilty, so when a lady asks me to give her foriegn money because she collects it, I do. 1 baht and a 100 rupee note. About a pound altogether. She offers me a bracelet or something from her stall, I decline. I feel strangely better.
We arrive in Hoi An at 6pm and find a hostel. Its 3pounds each a night, Air con, huge room, fridge, bathroom, TV and Swimming pool. Mint. We eat with Liam and Michelle again, and then go on the hunt for a bar thats showing the football. We end up watching it on the beach, with a big screen, and lots of other people. Anyway. We got back home at 5am, and sleep till midday.
Thursday, Joeys hungover. So we go through the usual routing of me waiting about an hour for her to eat a piece of bread and an omlette for breakfast. Then we had a walk around the town. Its very old fashioned, with a heavy chinese influence. Very pretty, the main street is full of wooden shops mostly tailors. (Hoi An is meant to be one of the best places in the world to get a suit made). So we have. Mine is 100 pound for a made to fit suit, lined with silk, a shirt, 2 ties and cufflinks. I wouldnt like to disclose what Joey has spent. I'll be discreet and just describe it as "more".
Today its boiling so we are going to head to the beach. Tomorrow, we might go on a tour with some random fella, who offered to take us to his village! We have found, that we have been offered rather a lot of these. Usually they are better than the tours that agencies do and far cheaper. So we will probably do that.
All that remains is for me to give you a top 5 list of weird things that we have seen on the back seat of a moped.
1) 6 people
2) 3 dead pigs
3) A fridge
4) 3 huge cages with about 20 live ducks in each of them.
5) A coffin.
Until next take, take it easy......
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libby
non-member comment
white tan
annie used to have that. she loved the white skin. also you said 'sorryi'm going off on a tangent' i bet you're a rather 'tanned gent' right now. hohoho. gettit? tangent...tanned gent. and you were talking about tans. hohoh x