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Published: October 29th 2009
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(photo uploader still not working, sorry)
Good day all
I sit here, on 29.10.09, typing away in an internet cafe in Vientiane: a city in which we have spent the last 2 days, mainly on the toilet.
Please attempt to ignore such fascinating information, and enjoy what is about to follow: a quick rundown of the last few weeks in Vietnam. Further to Laura's comments, the clothes all fitted perfectly and we boarded the bus to Hue without too much drama.
Hue was a fascinating place. It was the first urban area of Vietnam whereby the scars of war were still clearly visible. In our time in Hue (2 nights) we visited the crumbling Citadel - a shadow of its former self, left to rot by the Communist regime (until recently) by virtue of it being a symbol of Vietnam's colonial past - the feudal system was very much seen as a French play-thing. Furthermore, it would be in more of a fit state had the US not napalmed the whole area. It was, however, a hugely enjoyable wander - there were hardly any tourists and the eerie beauty of the place, with accompanying bullet holes, provided
a ripe ambiance for contemplation... blah blah
We did the DMZ tour, which took up a whole day, but it was definitely worth it. Our guide's views were somewhat interesting - a balanced overview was not how it could be described. He repeatedly would bemoan how terrible the war was and what a regrettable event in history it remains - but upon sighting a war monument he would leap excitedly and talk of how the US liked to massacre innocents. A fact I do not doubt, but he made little mention of the infamous Hue massacre so as to balance out such utterances.
After an unfortunate incident with a food-stealing postcard seller in Hue (Laura's spring roll!), a trip to the disappointing market, and some general wanderings, we were off on the night bus to Hanoi. This proved to be a 14 hour trip on the busiest bus of our trip so far. People spent the whole journey on the floor crammed between the rows of beds! If I could get this photo uploader thing to work I would be able to show you, alas I cannot.
I spent an intimate night on the backseat of the
bus between a middle aged Vietnamese man and scarier still, the Gillett.
On arrival in Hanoi we encountered the usual tribes of touts trying to sell us motorbike rides and accommodation - in reality we should have listened - where we spent our first night in Hanoi was nothing to shout about, except in anger.
We spent just one night in Hanoi prior to doing a 3 day, 2 night trip around Ha Long Bay. Our only day in Hanoi will be remembered for meeting a very sick Rachel Croker, and for me putting my hand in a fan. All is well now - although the owners of the fan were not best pleased that my brittle fingers had demolished their equally brittle fan. Re: Ha Long Bay, we were told that you get what you pay for, so we avoided the cheap nonsense and went upper class! It was worth it. The food was majestic: fresh crabs, prawn, tuna fish.... all ripe for a shelling and a stuffing. Unfortunately Laura had to assist me after the fan incident...
We spent the first night on the boat, drinking smuggled red wine on the top deck under the
stars. There were only 9 people on our little tour. Some tours had 60 people. We were lavvin' it! The second night was spent on an island in a beach hut, with similarly marvellous food.
All this rich food did for Laura eventually, and although we spent 2 more nights in Hanoi, Laura was pretty much confined to the guesthouse room. Her ill health meant that I had to abandon plans to go to a special event, that basically consisted of a big screen showing Liverpool v Man U, 5 thousand screaming Vietnamese people, all adorned in replica shirts, and live Vietnamese bands! I was not best pleased, and instead had to watch it with a farting Laura in a little room, with insane Vietnamese commentary. Even a throw in was met with a crazed yelp.
I forgot to say, before leaving Ha Long Bay, we found time to go see some water puppetry, which as great as it was, was overshadowed by the behaviour of the audience: you know how annoying it is when people leave their seats, arrive late, and generally are just plain muppets when you're trying to watch something, well times that by a
thousand. Absolute plonkers, but it had us both in hysterics when people turned up 20 minutes late for an hour show and walked past 10 empty seats in order to cause 20 people to stand up so they can get to their precious allotted seats. Anyway, I'm a-ramblin'
So not much to report on Hanoi, other than I enjoyed the cold noodle dish Bun Bo very much - I found a place the locals flocked to, which is always a sure fire way to a) look uber hip, brave and intellectual, and b) get some great food. The trouble in South East Asia is always the seating. Little plastic chairs like those you sat on at infant school just lead to embarrassing unbalancing acts. Hanoi is, despite what everyone was telling us, much better than Ho Chi Minh. It is older, quainter, crazier, tastier, and above all, the people we met were so much more accommodating.
Right then, we got a flight to Laos on the 27th October, and what followed/s in Laos (outside of the toilet trips) will be revealed in our next blog....
Much love
p.s. all your comments are read and appreciated. Get
messaging!
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non-member comment
nice...
A sweating, farting, red faced laura.... i am trying not to picture it. I am feeling for ya dude!! (sorry sis, i love ya really and hope your ok:) ). keep up the blogs they are ace!! I am still jealous..... Be safe Ad x