So the journey begins..........

---

So it has been 10 days already but we have packed things in pretty tight! Got a feeling we need to take our foot off the accelerator a little bit but we have some less busy days lined up.
The flight from Heathrow was pretty good and i think we set off in the only non-frozen couple of days for a while judging by the weather at home now. The stopover in Bangkok is a hazy memory of jetlag and humidity but all was well and caught the short hop flight to Hanoi. It was a nice feeling to step out into the private arrivals hall with someone there with our name out to whisk us off to a basic but clean hotel in the old quarter (Alex has been a positive influence on me- I was all up for getting the local bus into town from the airport saving a few pence but arriving so whacked, the taxi just made sense!)
Hanoi- what a place! any one of about 5 million mopeds zipping about like an army of ants on speed could beep its horn and hit you at any point. "Walk on the pavement then" i hear you cry. The pavements here are not for walking on, they are for parking/riding mopeds, selling noodles or digging up! There was an amazing flower display to celebrate 1000 years of Hanoi sponsored by the dutch government so loads of tulips everywhere. The locals went wild for it, so much so that the police had to keep people back by blowing whistles. Fun was had seeing how close we could get without a shrill blast coming our way.
Next was Halong bay. After escaping the crowded jetty to board our boat, it was a peaceful misty place which photos cannot do justice. Although it is winter here, you only live once so i braved the cold (sorry guys 17 degrees!) stripped off and jumped in of the boat then performed an exquisite running bomb to the adulation of the assembled crowds. Alex sensibly sat reading occasionally muttering "stupid boy". A trek around Cat Ba island and then a night at Cat Ba town (now famous after the Top Gear programme) being sold pearls from every angle.
After a return to Hanoi, we caught the sleeper train down to Hue where we are now. Felt pretty luck with our bunk choices as the rest of the carriage was full of 40-50 year old Aussies necking whisky all night singing various Rolf Harris hits till the small hours. Train travel then threw up one of those characters whichit often does. An 80 year old Vietnamese man travelling on his own was opposite and we got talking. It turns out he has lived on California for the past 30 years after fleeing the war as the communists pushed south. I guess he helped the Americans. He was visiting his sisters who had laden him up with a banquet of sticky rice and fruit which he was very generous in sharing. His stories helped pass the time and we were pretty captivated for those few hours.
Took a trip round the DMZ and some of the sights of the most horrific battles in central Vietnam which was pretty moving and received a bit of a different version of events to the one familiar from the movies.....

To Hoi An tomorrow and still un-decided about whether to have a suit made or not. Maybe some shirts but definately need to stock up on t-shirts and undies as I am not quite as keen to be smelly as i thought i would be when packing!

---

Comments

[Rockman]

Good Start
Great start to your travels, Ben. I'm still in Hong Kong right now but flying back to Birmingham on Tues so its ashame that I won't be around to take you around my homelands. Stay safe but I wanna hear more crazy stories!