Xin Chao from Vietnam!

We've been in Vietnam over a week and there is lots to catch up on. After getting off the bus from Hell and being totally screwed over by a taxi and being made to pay way more than we should, as well as not even being taken to the hostel we had pre booked, the trip was not ending well! At least we learnt a valuable lesson - always find out the reliable taxi firms before entering a new country!

On the positive side our hostel in Ha Noi - Hanoi Backpackers - was brilliant, with plenty of computers to use, a pool and TV room upstairs with plenty of films to watch, and a cheap bar downstairs! Plus it was pretty new and scrupulously clean. Hooray. We deserved a good rest so had an early night to sleep off the bus journey, after a massively long shower of course.

The next day we were up and about relatively early - something almost unheard of so far on the trip, so after our complimentary breakfast,which included the most delicious pineapple chutney, we toddled off on a free walking tour of the old quarter, where our hostel is based and where most of the exciting things in Ha Noi are! There are different shopping streets in the old quarter - selling all different products, obviously sweet street was my favourite but there was also clothing, gold, food, electricals, mirrors and framing, pretty much most things you could imagine! It was very interesting and definitely helped us to find out way around later.

Now at this point I have to mention the Ha Noi traffic. In a word it is bedlam. I have never seen so many scooters weaving in and out of the cars, not to mention cyclists and people attempting to cross in the midst of the chaos. Do'nt forget the fact that traffic lights seem not to make a jot of difference to if the drivers go or not, and driving on the wrong side of the road is positively encouraged! Nina and I feared for our lives several times before getting the hang of shuffling across the road in and around all the vehicles. Mum would have a coronary! ALL of the drivers also feel it necessary to beep their horn really loudly every second, whether to just let you know they are coming up behind you or whether to tell you to get out of the way, I'm never sure since the pavements are full of parked scooters and street cafes and you're walking along the side of the road most of the time. It's pretty difficult not to take it personally when someone is blaring a horn madly in your ear, but you get used to it. AND it's better than being squashed.

Anyway in the afternoon we did some sightseeing with a German girl called Mica who was on the coach trip with us. Off to the Museum of Ethnology we wandered, to find out more about the tribes who originally peopled Vietnam and their customs and way of life. It was OK but there are so many that it's difficult to keep track. After that we went to the darkside and visited the Hoa Lo Prison, originally built by the French to imprison Vietnamese prisoners in the war for independence, and later appropriated by the Vietnamese to hold POWs from the US. It wasn't a very pleasant place- the conditions the Vietnames were held in in the 1800's was seemingly barbaric - the French were still big on beheadings and they lived off mouldy rice. However if I were to believe everything the signs said about the treatment of the American POWs during the War, I would assume that every day was a big party, with games of basketball and table tennis, and plenty of free time to while away. I smell something a little fishy about that - some propaganda in there perchance? One important factor I took away from the Prison visit was that I really need to brush up on my modern world history - I literally know nothing.

From the Prison we walked to Fanny's ice cream parlour and had amazing sundaes. I really need to start budgeting my food spend a little more! After an early start and lots of walking I was pretty knackered so had another early night - truly living the party lifestyle!

We had booked a trip to Halong Bay for Tuesday and had been told it was going to be chilly so went on a hunt for some thermals or something at the Dong Xuan market. Now this is not a market like any we would find at home. Oh no no no, much like the roads it is every man for himself. Not speaking the language doesn't help but the concept of a queue is totally lost on the Vietnamese, and everything is piled up on the stalls to rummage through. Insane, and not my idea of a pleasant shopping experience! People are also really rude - barging past, poking you in the back to make you move faster, I would not recommend a visit hahaha. We quickly tired of the market so walked over to the Hoan Kiem lake to get some super touristy photos of the pagoda, a national symbol which is on one of the bank notes. Along the way we were accosted by a group of schoolchildren yelling 'hello!', 'hi!', and going for high 5s and handshakes. We must be something of a novelty!

We had a couple of drinks and a free burger at the hostels 7th birthday party (7 is a lucky number) and went to bed early in preparation for our early alarm to go to Halong Bay.

Tuesday morning arrived bright and warm - a nice surprise after a few overcast and chilly days - and forecasting a better time on the boat than we anticipated! The minibus to Halong takes 4 hours and was pretty standard, if a little squashed. We got a boat transfer across the bay to our ship 'The Jolly Roger' (not a cliche at all!) then sailed out through the limestone crags to where we would be setting anchor for the night. Halong Bay is beautiful, and quite ethereal with the massive cliffs rising up from seemingly nowhere, when we were there it was sunny but quite hazy so they sort of appeared unexpectedly from the haze.

The afternoon was spent with the opportunity to jump off the boat, which we didn't bother with as it was not warm enough for that! Then we went kayaking through the cliffs over to a large cave which we got to explore, although Nina declined the offer! Going deep inside the cave with only a weak headlamp made for an interesting half hour or so, but as there was a large group of people it was right enough. So dark though, as the mouth of the cave is relatively narrow no light gets through to the back. Camera flashes showed a massively high ceiling covered in stalagtites - in some ways it was scary, if you got lost in such a place in the dark. Maybe I've seen the Descent too often.

Now the tour we had booked on was the 'Rock Hard, Rock Long' tour so we were expecting a fun evening with some drinking games and a bit of a laugh, but the ratio of boys to girls was about 4-1 so it got a bit rowdy - and the guides we had were just excessively mental, and I don't mean that in a good way. I stayed for the drinking games for a little while, learning an awesome new rule for Ring of Fire called Troll - basically whoever gets the card has to sit under the table until another is picked - but soon went upstairs to the top deck where it was more relaxed and friendly.

The next day we were unceremoniously booted out of our rooms at 7.30 for breakfast, slept a bit more on the topdeck and were back on the bus to be at the hostel in time for tea! So I can recommend Halong Bay but perhaps on a quieter tour next time!

Another bus journey awaited us on Thursday night, so we did our final bit of cultural sightseeing in the morning. The day started out quite macabre with a visit to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Because let's be honest, you can't go to Ha Noi and NOT visit the embalmed body of Uncle Ho now can you?! It was all very surreal, and really just looks like a Madam Tussaud waxwork, but the amount of security would suggest otherwise. You can't even have your hands in your pockets or sunglasses on your head. Respecting the leader I suppose. It's a pretty swift march through the room,although you wouldn't want to stay too long as it's freezing, and pretty strange. What is most bizarre though is that he requested to be cremated after his death - a request blatantly ignored by his supposed loyal followers.

The rest of the usual sightseeing spots followed - a walk around the gardens of Ho's house, the One Pillar Pagoda, which is meant to look like a lotus flower, Ho's house on stilts, which apparently shows his humility and modest nature as it is relatively small and simple, and then we went to the Museum. Now this was an experience not to be forgotten! Downstairs was lots of photos and information on why Ho Chi Minh was an angel, and how amazing Vietnam is now, fair enough, it's made by the department for education and propaganda (no lie). Upstairs is where it got interesting. It had relics and information on the fight of the Vietnamese people, but the craziest part was that it was mostly conceptual art representing the struggle of the Vietnamese people. If I didn't know better I would have said most of the artists were on acid when they did the work.

After an hour of our brains struggling to work out what was going on we went to the Temple of Literature, to calm down a bit! This was Vietnam's first University and taught Confucianism, which sounded a lot more involved than a BA! Despite all we had seen that day there were still several hours until our sleeper bus back to the hostel we wandered and zombied out for a few hours watching Monty Python and Mastermind. An excellent end to the day before having to sleep on a bus...again!

Becca xxx