Good Morning Vietnam!

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After a better night’s sleep than anticipated we arose as the sun was rising. Leaving morning chorus of cockerels crowing and pigs scuttling under the houses behind, I walked up through the village. A few girls were already out cooking, sifting rice, and preparing vegetables. Gradually, a mist came in, softening the surrounding forest and creating a magical serenity all around.

Yes, we are glad we did the homestay, it really gave us an opportunity to meet some wonderful people, see how and where they live and experience just a little part of that life ... but I have to confess - I would have loved a nice sit-down flush toilet!!!

Apparently there is a saying amongst the trendy set that ‘Laos is Now’, well for us it is so yesterday as we trundled across the border into Vietnam.

We are bidding a very fond farewell to Laos, a very peaceful, scenic country, wonderful food, and warm, welcoming people who are always smiling and friendly. In all the time we were there, we never heard a raised voice - or even the toot of a car horn (friends from Indian sub-continent should take note of that one!!)

Initially, the road in Vietnam was slow, winding through steep hills on either side with several beautiful waterfalls. As we dropped through the mountains we passed many sleepy villages and screeched to a halt as the odd cow or water buffalo crossed the road or we came to a police checkpoint.

As we moved to the lowlands, it was noticeable how many more people there are here than in Laos. Apparently, some 85 million in total (85% ethnic Vietnamese) and everyone seemingly owning a moped or a bike (cue Katie Melua). Whilst the major area for rice production is the Mekong Delta, there are miles and miles of rice paddies with the occasional field of vegetables. It is the time for planting the rice, so we were seeing lots of activity on the paddy fields, ploughing with water buffalo, and women wearing coolie hats planting straight rows of green shoots. There were more things set out for drying here too, mostly corn, and often on the main highway! Some heavier industries too especially brick making. Rice barges, gold prospectors and fishing on the river.

We stopped to lunch on the standard Vietnamese fast-food, a noodle soup called Pho which normally contains slices of beef which cook in the soup as its served. There are several jars on the table containing chilli sauce, chilli oil, garlic pieces, that you use to liven up your soup as you wish (John obviously went for extra hot!) Two wonderful old ladies obviously approved of our choice and promptly went for the same dish!

We were rather shocked to discover that they eat cats and dogs here, especially in the 2nd half of every month and now leading up to the end of their year, as it’s considered auspicious. Our driver says that it’s very tasty. We’ve seen several motorbikes go by with baskets of dogs or cats crammed in. Very upsetting.

We’ve also seen motorbikes carrying all sorts of really heavy objects - e.g. huge pigs - our guide tells us that often people will carry water buffalo or cows ... John is waiting with camera poised!

After a very long and tiring day, we arrived at Ninh Binh and our hotel. After a hot shower, a meal in the hotel restaurant and a couple of drinks in the bar on the roof, we turned in - thankful for the thick blanket on the bed, as it gets rather chilly at night ... mental note to take thick clothes for our boat trip tomorrow!

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