The Long Way Round

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There are two ways to get to Hanoi, Vietnam and fully adopting our roles as budget travellers we chose option B. With option A you can fly from Luang Prabang taking about an hour and a total cost 400US$.

Option B involved taking an 11 hour (should’ve been 9) bus journey with winding roads over epic valleys and local music full blast all the way back to Vientiane, one night in Vientiane, then a 29 hour bus journey (should’ve been 22) to Hanoi. Total cost 120US$ and about 4 years of our lives.

The last leg of the trip (the 29hr bit) was on a cramped sleeper coach, with about 30 almost horizontal seats/beds mostly taken up by western travellers, with locals sleeping in the aisles and a smelly toilet at the back. The journey was pretty arduous, with us packed in like live stock, a hot nights sleep waiting for the border to open, a confusing 2 hour border crossing and a 2 hour wait for a blown tire to be fixed (miraculously 100 metres from a garage). We arrived disoriented in some unknown Hanoi bus station and were driven to Hanoi's Old Quarter all squashed into a minivan for $1.50 each. We finally made it to our hostel 7 hours late at about 11pm, a real bed has never felt so good.

In Hanoi there are 7 million people and over 5 million motor bikes, some people have 2 and only the children don’t own one. They are EVERYWHERE and crossing the road is an adventure every time, walking at a steady consistent pace and praying the bikes go around you is the only way to the other side.

Hanoi seemed very much the working city for Vietnam and not really tailored for tourists. The Old Quarter was the tourist hub with absolutely loads of hotels and tour operators, however nice eateries and bars were few and far between. We did track down one of the best, the amusingly titled ‘Le Pub’. It was full of westerners and sold beer by the pint, we spent a merry evening there drinking and eating pizza.
On another brave trip into town we visited the Hanoi Lake, with its Temple isolated in the middle with a huge embalmed turtle, which as legend has it gave a magical sword to some past King of Hanoi, all very random.

So far we have found Vietnam not as friendly as Laos and very, very hectic, but that didn't matter as were single minded about our next adventure: Halong Bay...

Love a prematurely aged Jim and Carla
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Photos

Hanoi 1000 years celebrations
Which we just missed!