hard seater? you mean "cattle class"!!!

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I promised you to put some pics up since my last blog, but the computer I am on at the moment cannot download my photos so I will leave it till next time. Unfortunately the internet in Sapa was exceedingly slow, and I could not be bothered correcting my spelling mistakes, but I hope you were still able to read it without too much difficulty. Since Sapa I had the mispleasure of spending the whole day on a hard seater train. They call it hard seat for a reason, and even though my bum is more than well insulated, I was very sore. Hard seater is also known as "cattle class", and it sure does live up to its reputation. We ended up being six people on a four people bench, and people would sit in the middle aisles and in the hallways. Quite an interesting experience indeed.

I made it to Hanoi and checked into a good hostel. I spent the next day sightseeing (although there's really not that much to see, so me and some guys from the hostel ended up spending a good 3hrs drinking beer by the lake). After that I went to Halong Bay, which is supposed to be very beautiful, but I just found it over crowded with tourists and less than average. I guess it all depends on different factors, such as weather, what boat you're on, what food you get and what kind of people you end up with. My boat had an older crowd (yet I ended up being one of the first people going to bed, haha!). I've noticed that Vietnam is very touristy, not only with backpackers but also with package tours. The crowd here is much younger than in China, and people drink and party more. Not exactly the crowd I was looking for, but it's hard to avoid.

The people here are friendly and proud. They've been through many wars and occupations, from the Chinese, the French and of course the American. But still they are not bitter, most people are hard working and thriving on the trade from the booming tourism. To be honest I am a bit surprised at how easy it is to backpack around the country, much easier than I expected. You can buy a bus pass that takes you from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City with stops on the way. It's only 20- 40 dollars and stop in the usual places along the coast, like Hoi An and Nha Trang. The good thing is that the bus drops you off at whatever hotel you want, and they pick you up there as well. It's a big differenct from Thailand and Laos where I've travelled before. The food here is also quite nice and the good thing is that they have excellent coffee and cakes/ bread here. You don't find much of that in China.

I made my way on the overnight sleeper to Hue and arrived this morning. I've spent the day with a Dutch guy, who's birthday it is. I try to celebrate him, as he's on his own and it's never fun to not do anything on your birthday. Tomorrow we will go to see the underground tunnels the Vietnamese used during the war. Wish me luck and hope I don't get stuck in one of those things, haha!

x

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Comments

[anonymous]

Beware of breakdowns and places selling 'tourist' buses, Bingo! you've bought a ticket on a 'local'. good times. Get to Hoi An. xo