Blogs from Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 282

Greetings from hot and humid Hanoi! Hanoi is one of the two largest cities in Vietnam but it has such a small town feel because most of the architecture is older and French style. Remember that Vietnam was occupied by the French, Chinese, Japanese, U.S. at one time or another although the French were here the longest which is why they have amazing french bread here. After being devoid of bread in China, Danielle and I are devouring bread like...well the French. I've learned all of this history from going to the museums here and it's a bit disconcerting to see the Vietnam war called the American war . But it makes sense that their museums are slanted to a more pro-Vietnam-Communism view. They have a right to be bitter after being invaded so many times. ... read more

Hanoi 03 December 2003 Solo First impression...the country's traffic...how is it logical that motorbikes, cars, beasts, anything that moves, do the swerving to avoid crashing into pedestrians instead of the other way round??? Truly first class…I was standing by this roadside near the Temple of Literature wanting to cross over to the other side and I stood there for the longest time...thinking real hard of the various ways I could employ to cross that damn road. Then, some kind soul popped from nowhere asking: "waiting for…?" Well, according to this man, he said, “just go”….indeed, just go. After a few days or so in Hanoi, I finally got the hang of how it works in this country...just go. Good advice. In my opinion, if you are in Hanoi, you simply can't miss Sapa. Sapa lies in ... read more

The flight to Hanoi took an hour we then boarded a packed bus into the city which took about an hour, one female passenger nearly fainted. Arriving in Hanoi’s old quarter a Vietnamese passenger on the bus pointed us to a guest house, the room cost USD10 per night unfortunately the bathroom wasn’t good, and Mark slept on a mattress on the floor. Next day we moved to the A-Z hotel then wandered the old town, we visited a rooftop restaurant at the top of some rickety stairs that served snake spring rolls which were full of little bones and drank snake wine. Unfortunately, a group of loud Canadians came in and destroyed the vibe, so we headed off. Not much to do in the old town at night except for the little home run Karaoke ... read more

I gaar finner jeg meg paa motorveien med en zilion andre mopeder, og en lastebil eller femti. Jeg haaper inderlig at sjaafoeren min vet hva han gjoer, der han zikk-zakker mellom de andre motoristene paa veien. Jeg klamrer meg fast saa best jeg kan bakpaa mopeden hans, og proever aa tenke fatalistisk - if it is time, it is time... Ti veldig eksosfyllte minutter senere befinner jeg meg i Le Mat (Snake Village), hvor jeg blir sjoet inn paa en av restaurantene. Jeg er den eneste der, og kelneren min veiver med armene, og faar frem at jeg kan sitte akkurat hvor jeg vil. Ikke foer har jeg satt meg ned, saa spretter to kelnere opp trappa, en med et brett med sprit, en annen med en svart sekk - en svart sekk som ser ut ... read more

13:05 - Hanoi Det er kaos i Hanoi!!!! Er det en vei saa kjoerer man paa den (og da snakker man ikke om samme maate som man kjoerer paa en vei i Norge), er det en doeraapning saa slenger man opp en disk, og saa har man en butikk der, er det en aapen plass saa parkerer man der, eller setter opp fire plastikk-krakker, og det er en restaurant. Det er fire zilioner mopeder, og alle som har en moped, og som ikke for oeyeblikket har mor, far, tante, bror, nevoe, onkel, venn, eller lignende bakpaa er plutselig moped-taxi. Alt er grisebillig her. Kjoepte nettopp en silkepose (til aa sove i) som kostet meg US$2 (15kr). Og ennaa saa tror jeg at jeg ble lurt - jeg kunne vel faatt det ennaa billigere. Men det er ... read more