Beach, culture and chaos: from Hoi An to Hanoi

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Finally again a little time to update the blog. Although we are in the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, now it seems that the internet connections here are the worst we have experienced so far. We even changed hotels hoping to have better internet access - but no!

We have covered quite a few kilometres the last few weeks. From Nah Trang we went on a sleeper bus to Hoi An. The trip takes around 10hours but although we heard really bad stories from other travellers we were quite positively surprised. Even Ian (whose body height is definitely not comparable to the usual Vietnamese) found a nice little bed cuddled up with 5 other travellers. From there we went on another 5 hour bus trip to Hue (the old capital) and from there we went all the way up to Hanoi (12 hours) where we spend the last few days before we go on another long trip over the border into China (and I am sure we will cover quite a few more kilometres over there).

We really enjoyed Hoi An. A beautiful little town in the central part of Vietnam. Especially the Old Town with all its charming little houses and most importantly the limited traffic zones (you really learn to appreciate that here) made us fall in love with that place. Thus we ended up staying for over a week, although we only planned on spending a few nights here. We kept ourselves busy exploring the nice charming coffee shops, the beautiful beach with its delicious seafood restaurants, the busy market with all its fruit, clothes and souvenir stalls and of course all the tailors which make the dress, trouser, suit or jacket exactly as you have it in mind (well, at least that is what you hope for). We also enjoyed the friendliness of the people. No one seems to be too pushy and we also made some very lovely Vietnamese friends who didnt want our money. Yay!

After 7 days and only because we really had to get up to Hanoi as quickly as possible to apply for our Chinese visa we finally managed to say goodbye to Hoi An. At our next stop, Hue, we only stayed for one night (mainly out of time pressure). Hue is the old capital of Vietnam and has a lot of cultural sights to offer: pagodas, temples, tombs... you name it. With 300000 inhabitants it is still far more relaxed than Saigon. It does however get hotter and hotter the further North we go, which makes sightseeing very difficult and exhausting. We did manage to see the old citadel, built by Emperor Gia Long in the 19th century. Most of it was badly bombed and destroyed in the French and American Wars but there is also a lot of restauration going on and it is also worth visiting the ruins which make the place a little more mystic. Another very interesting place we visited is the tomb of Tu Duc who definitely didnt belong to the poor Vietnamese working class. There are even more tombs close by and it seems the whole family was buried in similar ways. Imagining everyone would have such a grave there would not be much space left for the living, I suppose.

As already mentioned we are now in the busy, chaotic and smoggy capital Hanoi. With 7 million people and it seems the same amount of motorbikes it makes every little stroll around town a serious concentration act. Crossing the street can only be done in a steady pace - dont stop, dont run.. walk slowly so that everyone can predict your next step and drive around you.
Unfortunately, we had a bit of trouble with the Chinese visa. Although we went to an agency which was doing all the paperwork for us and paying quite a bit of money for this we still had to wait 6 working days until we got our visa. Thus, we had enough time to explore in 38 degrees and around 90% humidity plus 100% pollution the city. The old quarter with all its little streets in which you can buy anything from coffins to childrens toys, the lake with the little pagoda on an island and the Ho Chi Minh museum, mausoleum, his former homes, his books, telephone, alarm clock... yes, there is definitely a lot to see when it comes to Mr Ho Chi Minh.
We also booked our trip to Halong Bay, this beutiful bay with loads of limestone formations around 4 hours away from Hanoi. There are so many horrific stories around about really crappy boats, boats which even sank and people getting ripped off that it is really hard to choose one. After days of research we finally settled for one tour: a 2 nights 3 days tour, spending 1 night on a boat and the other night in a beach bungalow. And although we did get ripped off (for one reason or another everyone else on the boat was paying 20 dollar less) we spend 3 very nice days exploring Halong Bay. Kayaking, cycling, playing shithead (yeah, we are almost professional shithead player right now) and just watching the scenery and the many boats out there (you are definitely not alone in Halong Bay) made it a lovely trip. However, we both agreed that we are not the biggest fan of organised tours when you have to swim or have lunch only because it needs to be according to the tours itinerary.

After spending 4 weeks now in Vietnam and with our visa expiring on the 16th it is time for us to leave. With bus and hotel in China being booked we are looking forward to another adventure. Ni hao, China!

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