Northern Vietnam

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As soon as we got to Hanoi a man magically appeared on the bus and asked if we would like to stay at his hotel. We checked it out and ended up staying there for the next few nights while in Hanoi. we decided not to risk the vietnamese cuisine straight away and went in with a trusty cub sandwich. mikes got some fantastic drawings of it. basically it was was stale bread, rotten cheese, an inch of chicken and some burnt chips..mmmm.

'we both agreed strongly that it was easily the worst thing we've ever eaten. The woman who made them watched us from behind the counter as Dave rushed one down his neck so he didn't throw up thinking about it. I didn't want to offend the woman so just went for it. It still made us retch days after just thinking about it.'

anyhoo. we hit the irish bar soon after to get the taste out and got a free shirt each for drinking more than ten pints. (i had mine on yesterday becoz ive ran out of clothes). the traffic is horrendous is hanoi so we decided just to get a city tour.

'there's so many motorbikes in Hanoi that just fly around the streets like being at an ice rink. Dodging in and out of other bikes and people. They use their horns as common practice when riding around just to let people know their coming! Needless to say, after many invites, we haven't risked getting on a bike yet.'

Hom arrived about 8ish with his crew of other travellers (2 norwegians, 4 americans - 2 of which couldnt speak english, good luck getting back in california, 2 filipinos and a couple of vietnamese) was a well good group. tour was ok. our tour guide fell out with the driver and was like being on a school trip.

'at this point we just wanted to give him a quick cuddle.'

people getting lost and hungry etc. we then had vietnamese food which was superb. aubergines and beef and rice to sum it up. next day we went to halong bay and cat ba island....well, we got to halong bay before a hurricane struck and had to come back.

'We managed to get four hours out there though. We stopped on fish market jeti and had a seafood dinner on the boat. Dave had prawns, shrimp and squid that still had all the eyes, legs etc. I thought they were gonna stand up and walk of. ha. I stuck to Tofu and rice mmmmm.'

so instead of going there we headed to sapa for some hill trekking.

'The hills were so muddy from recent raining we had to have our two locals each to help us down the mud slides. I felt pretty bad though cos one of my guides had a 5 month old baby strapped to her back. I nearly pulled her over constantly. ha. They didnt put a foot wrong though. They didnt ever slip...Dave fell over twice and got all muddy. he he.'

we also got hustled at pool. lush little town with proper village locals. on the way back i had a mouse under my bed. most probably in my mattress. although theres also a chance hes hitched a ride in my backpack coz i aint unpacked it yet and he wasnt in the room when we left. ill keep you updated on that one. mikes gonna go in between my lines now and pack them out with details. sorry like.

'sorry bout the lines.'

ciao
dave and mike x

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Photos

Old lady
Woman getting battered outside our hostel.

Hanoi street
Carnage in the streets of Hanoi

Irish bar
Flaunting our new shirts

Mike and Dave
In a cave in Ha Long Bay.

Ha long bay
Ha long bay harbour out at sea

Sapa
The view from our room...sapa's famous for frequent mist in the hills.

Dave with villagers
Dave made plenty new friends out trekking.

lunchtime on the trek
well deserved meal halfway through our trek made by a family in the village. We ate in their home.

mikes assistant
The woman who held mikes hand helping him down the slippery slopes...with the baby on her back!

Dave getting help
Here's Dave moments before he slipped over.

Waterfall
Waterfall at end of trek

Mouse hunt
Dave, Jan and Riedsiech searching for the mouse...I was well outta there in the hall!

Comments

[emma]

woooo
hey u 2 - loving the adventure so far!! me and my work mate beth always look foward to reading the blog. its well funny how u describe what u done and we sit here chuckling at work, then the other people want to know and they all come read it. the pics look mint, and its so shan u used that women with the baby to hold u up!! what is she doing the crazy women. hope u gave her sum dosh!! look foward to the next entry and oh... sapa looks lush with the mist. i want to go there!!!! ema. love u dave!!! mike hope u like tofu!!! if u dont want to eat things with eyes and legs and fur i suggest u turn veggie. haha haha

[phil]

how nice
hey mike and dave, you seem to be having a nice time in vietnam guys which is cool, hope you find the mouse you can use it for your tea if your hungry one night! the view looks cool, glad you tried to assault some woman with child whilst falling down a hill! anyway enjoy rest of time there, phil

[Phil in Boston]

WOW
At the start of your blog you say 'basically it was was stale bread, rotten cheese, an inch of chicken and some burnt chips'. Did you go to MacDonalds? You guys should be use to the quality food there!! Sounds like you guys are having a blast, little to much fun now you have a PSP. Class idea though. Living the dream. Haa, im in stitches every time i read your blogs. Pure brilliance. Loving the old ganny getting high on the side of the street. She knows how to live, bet she was off to a club later on. keep in touch guys, loving the blogs. Phil x