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Published: February 9th 2009
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It was time to leave laid back Laos and head East to the capital of Vietnam.
I decided to break up the ridiculously long journey in two parts and took the less trodden route by local bus through Phonsavan, a small town with little appeal apart from the large collection of war scraps that were scattered around town.
I literally stayed here a few hours. Just long enough to visit a museum/project dedicated to the clearance of the thousands of unexploded bombs that were dropped by the Americans during the Secret War.
More than 10,000 people have been killed by these and sadly many try and salvage the bombs independently to sell the metal for money.
6.30am the following morning I was back on the rickety bus crammed with locals presumably heading to Hanoi for work.
The journey was an experience to say the least but fortunately there were a few other travellers on board to share the discomfort and mayhem with.
The Laos culture has very little acknowledgement of personal space. Before I knew it the local guy sitting beside me had snuggled in closely using me as a human pillow as he and his friends sat
in amazement around the western girl with crazy dreadlocked hair which they insisted on touching throughout the journey whilst listening to Michael Jackson on my ipod. All highly amusing and in good faith.
After 15 hours and one dodgy boarder crossing we reached a town 6 hours from Hanoi and so four of us felt we may as well hunt down the last bus of the night and finish off the ludicrously long journey so we arrive early that morning and could spend the day without travelling any further.
And so once again we hopped on board yet another local bus brining my total travel time to a gruelling 27 hours in the past 48 with the last stretch being one of the most bizarre journeys so far. We hung out at the back of the bus with a group of men smoking opium pipes and drinking rice whiskey as if it was water at 3am in the morning. We were so tired and out of it by this point that it all seemed so serial. I guess it was one of those moments where you just had to be there but a crazy journey all the same.
Phone number anyone
These were stencilled onto the wall everywhere. Humm...still not sure what they were for. Rather disorientated and worn out we checked into the popular Aussi hostel close to the old quarter of Hanoi town where we were warmly welcomed be streams of travellers from all over the world.
I haven't been in such a large town since Bangkok but you quickly adjust as your senses have to be on the ball to survive the crazy hustle and bustle of the busy streets.
The many shops are bursting onto the streets, markets sweep the floor and motorbikes rule the roads.
You soon master the technique of crossing the roads after a few hell raising experiences.
Once you start there's no going back, no hesitations allowed. Miraculously the hundreds of bikes hurtling towards you at every angle (there's no such thing as driving on one side of the road) swoop past with ease whilst somehow avoiding one another and yourself.
Everything is pretty much in walking distance so i spend two days soaking up the atmosphere as i visit various sights such as the War museum, Hanoi prison, lakes and local markets.
In the evening we'd gather for drinks and hunt down street vendors where we'd join the locals on their little street stalls
Stall owner
She was fast asleep on the sidewalk amongst the noise and pollution of the city. Not quite sure how she managed it. Nice work. on the sidewalk and tuck into traditional foods. We ate everything from crab noodle soup to frogs legs, eel, squid, vietnamese spring rolls, dumplings and many other mouth watering foods minus dog....i think!
Two days in and I was ready for something a little more relaxing so I book myself onto a 3 day boat trip to Halong Bay.
30 of us boarded a traditional junk boat as we set sail through the 300 islands rising from the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, a world heritage site and one of the countries natural marvels.
The weather can be pretty unpredictable around here and we weren't blessed with the clearest views at first but luckily it picked up on the second and last day.
The trip gave me time to chill out and take in the stunning views and also meet an amazingly friendly crowd of people. It wasn't long before the beers where cracked open and drinking games commenced!
I was quite hesitant of the trip at first. I definitely didn't want one of those '18-30's' type trips and I had a feeling Halong Bay could be completely ruined by the many tourists and boats
but I was pleasantly surprised.
Although there was a large crowd of us that definitely let loose and relaxed it wasn't tasteless and yes there were other boats around but not that it ruined the tranquil atmosphere.
We kayaked through caves, jumped off boats, nattered up on deck and I once again challenged my fear of heights by rock climbing.
It had to be one of the scariest activities I've done to date and I was ready to give up half way through my second climb but the instructor and group refused to let me down and egged me on to the top to take in the unbelievable views.
It was one of those breathtaking moments that you know is rare and not something you get to do on a daily bases.
By the time i'd abseiled down I was pumped with adrenaline and had a smile from ear to ear.
Thanks to the persistence of my fellow travellers and my yet again stubbornness I had achieved another awesome challenge!
After a couple of relaxing days and boozy evenings on the boat we were back on dry land where I joined a couple of mad Irish guys as
Hanoi's crazy traffic
One...two...three...GO! we began our journey down south to Hoi An.
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Justin
non-member comment
holy crap
I'm getting exhausted just reading about your adventures, I don't know how you're managing to live them! Hope all is magical and great for you out there :)