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Published: September 5th 2008
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.... Only it was the afternoon by the time i actually got to Vietnam. There's a little bit of a story behind this but it mostly involves me being stupid so only people who won't be too mean get to know...
Between hassle in actually getting to Vietnam and then later that day getting ripped off and slightly scared by a taxi driver i had had a pretty bad first day in Vietnam. Things improved once i found somewhere to stay (turned up right on time for happy hour). I meet a girl who had just finished volunteering with gvn vietnam (what i'm about to do). This was awesome, not just because she was enthusiastic and could answer lots of my questions but also because she could speak a bit of Vietnamese and could cross the roads in Hanoi (very daunting). I was very impressed.
Vietnam is crazy. It's somehow exactly how people describe it but completely different then I imagined. The traffic in Hanoi is amazing. Motorbikes everywhere. And horns all the time. Crazy. I'd be freaking out if everyone was honking like that at home. Everyone honks just to say "i'm here" rather then in a road-rage
sort of way like they do at home. I spent my first full day in Hanoi wondering round the old quarter and the Hoan Kiem Lake. The lakes awesome, its so super calm in comparison to the traffic and people around it. Went and watched water puppetry in the afternoon. Was interesting but didnt have a clue what was going on.
Headed up to Ha Long Bay the next morning. Was amazing. Beautiful and a lot of fun. Enough fun that i decided not to waste to much time sleeping and managed to sleep around 3 hours over the three days i was there...
It was a couple of hours in a bus from Hanoi to Ha Long City where we boarder a junk. Spent the first night on the junk and the second on Cat Ba Island. Spent the time kayaking, swimming (and avoiding jelly fish), singing Karaoke, drinking rice wine, and lounging around the junk.
After a crazy few days I felt it was about time to do something a bit cultural. Went and saw a doco about the Hanoi Hilton (Hoa lo prision) and the next morning went to visit the museum thats now
in its place. It's sort of crazy to stand there and think about all the horrible things that happened in the same place. John McCain was a POW here. By the look of it (muesueam and doco) the Vietnameese political prisinors had a much worse time then the american POW's did during the american war. Of course it must have still been awful for them but they were pretty much just waiting for the war to end so they could go home. The only real chance of them dieing was if the american bombers got their targets wrong.
I'd heard crazy things about a place called snake Village and had the chance to go that afternoon. After being vegaterian for pretty much 10 years i decided to make am exception for the day and eat some snake. I figuer the more i eat the less there are to try and eat me. First we watched the snakes being killed and having their hearts removed. I skipped the heart (there were only a limited number) but did a shot of snake blood, and one of bile, and a few to many of snake wine. Ate a whole lot of various
snake parts as well. Tasty. I'll be honest and admit to having a burger later on at the hostel (i needed something to soak up all the snake wine). I enjoyed it although overall the day probably remined me why i dont generally eat meat. Pretty sure i'll go back to being sans meat but i'll guess i'll see over the next few days.
This morning i struggled out of bed early (the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me) to go visit the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (aka-"uncle ho") Was sort of creapy. Not just for the dead body but the constant flow of people filling through quietly. Lots of guards reminding people to keep moving and making sure everyone is respectful. No hats,no hands in pockts etc.
I'm just killing time untill its time to get the bus to Da Nang this eveing. I've heard sleeper buses are super comfortable (not). I'm a bit sad to leave Hanoi. Seems i just get comfortable with a place and people and then i'm off somewhere else. Excited to start the programme though and staying in the same place for more then a few days
is starting to sound good.
Me and technology aren't being friends - I can't work out why I can't get photos of my main memory card... more photos to come!
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