Crossing the street

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Hello!

We're now in Hanoi, capital city of Vietnam, and home to the most amazing traffic I have ever seen in my life.
Picture a motorbike. Times by 1million. Add some more. Then picture them surging forward en masse, with a few taxis interspersed and a bus or two, on both sides of the road going in both directions, horns blaring...

Then picture crossing the street. Aaaaaarggghhhhh!!!!!

Aside from fighting the instinct to run across the road (which you must never do!) here's what we've been up to since the rampant consumerism of Hoi An.

When we left on the 27th of July for Hue I had really bad food poisoning, which lets just say was not fun on a bus. Luckily the bus was full of really kind and sympathetic Americans, and luckily it was only 3 hours! So sadly the first night in Hue was not a nice one for me, but the hotel we staying in was really lovely. We spent our first day in Hue doing a walking tour, so saw the old Citadel and a crazy market full of fish and raw meat (worrying in 30degree heat). Hue was a bit of a shock compared to Hoi An as it is a lot busier and a lot more modern. You can't walk a metre without being hassled to take a moto (motorbike taxi) or a cyclo (rickshaw type contraption). Its not as pretty as Hoi An, although it does have a beautiful river and a gorgeous bridge which lights up at night.


The main reason we visited Hue was to take a tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and learn about the Vietnam war, or as it's unsurprisingly called here the American War. So we piled on the air con bus at 6am, and prepared ourselves for a 12 hour trip.

I have mixed views on this trip. On one hand our guide was exceptionally knowledgeable about not only the war but Vietnam in general, and as we drove north for miles she explained to us all about Vietnamese society in a really interesting way (and her English was perfect). She told us about Vietnamese farms which are run by a cooperative where farmers get given the land and the rice by the state (and also healthcare etc) in exchange for 30% of their crop - the other 70% is theirs to do with what they want.
She also explained that Vietnam has a 2 child policy in the cities, and that bonuses can be lost by families who have more than 2 children. She told us plenty about the war which I will not bore you with now, and we came away feeling very informed.

The downside.... we hardly got off the bus and it was HOT and UNCOMFORTABLE. Air con was a VERY loose definition for what we had on that bus, and a jam packed bus of foreigners for 12 hours not only gets hot, but gets pretty stinky too. We saw a lot, but we saw everything twice as we drove there and back the same way, and we spent a lot of time sleeping.

The most eventful part was the tour of the tunnels where the Vietnamese citizens lived for 6 years (although not constantly). These tunnels were TINY, and I was really unhappy in them as there was no point we could stand up straight. A room for 4 people was literally a cave that 4 people could fit in, provided they were small, and they couldn't have wanted to move much. We were in the tunnels for about 20 mins, which was plenty long enough for me, but people stayed there for 5 days and nights at a time.

After Hue we flew to Hanoi (got the Vietnam Airways shuttle bus and almost missed the flight!) and checked into the Drift Backpackers Hostel. This is the first time we've stayed in a backpacker place so far, and let me tell you we have been spoiled!!!

In all fairness, as a hostel this place is awesome. The food is excellent (although it's all Western food), the beer is fairly cheap and the staff are all lovely and so helpful. There's a movie room and pool - by hostel standards its perfect. Our main problem is our bathroom, which is like a sauna, and although described as ensuite it is actually a floor down from our room. Which is a total pain in this heat, and the door is kind of transparent so anyone walking past knows if you are on the toilet or showering... However, even as I am writing this I am recognising how spoiled I am, so I will stop whinging!

We're off to see the Water Puppet Theatre tonight which is apparently a must-do in Vietnam, and we are hoping to do a 2 day/1 night tour of Ha Long Bay on Monday, so its all systems go for our last few days in Vietnam! Catch you later!

Rachel x

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Photos

Hue
A Vietnamese gun from the American war

Fish
In a pool in the Citadel in Hue. We fed them and they went crazy!

DMZ
David in bunker at an old US base

Temple of literature in Hanoi
Pretty building!