I attempted to upload photos to my blog, but they didn't upload properly so you will just have to imagine what Vietnam looks like for now. I am using the FREE internet at the hotel I am staying at, so I could go somewhere else but that would mean I would have to pay...

Anyway, I am in Vietnam and out of China, finally! We spent two nights in Sapa, a village in the northern mountains of Vietnam. Even though it's only 45 minutes for the Chinese border, it was so different. There were westerners EVERYWHERE to start, which I am still not used to seeing. And with western people come...western food! After only having Chinese food for a month, it was nice to get some food like home. Especially the bread! In China, they only have sweet bread, even a loaf of sliced bread will taste slightly sweet. I had forgotten what normal bread was like, but since Vietnam was a french colony it has baguettes! And really good baguettes as well! Also, good french pastries and some of the signs are translated in french as well as english. Oh, that's another thing, english is everywhere and most people speak it as well. I had to get used to being able to speak to shopkeepers again, instead of just miming whatever I needed.

Sapa was pretty cool. It had some gorgeous views and some freaky fog. It will be crystal clear and warm and then you can see the fog just rolling in and it gets pretty chilly for about 5 minutes and you can't see 10 feet in front of you...then it's gone again! It was nice to just be able to stay in one place for two nights, especially since it took a 12 hour day bus ride to get there. After the two nights, we left our big packs at the hotel and went off on a trek to stay at a local village homestay for the night. The trek took about 5-6 hours and was absolutely gorgeous. The locals in Sapa are pretty insistent with their selling so our group just about doubled since each of us had a local women in full traditional dress following us and asking us to buy things from them, but they were really nice and helped us out on the slippery bits (of which there were plenty).

The homestay was awesome! We all slept in one room, which was basically the upper level of a barn, except it was all made out of bamboo so you could see through the floors and walls, thank god it wasn't cold out! There were just mattresses on the floors withmosquito nets, but it turned out to be one of the best nights sleep yet. They prepared us dinner..which was interesting. In the morning they made us crepes which were DELICIOUS. We had the option of paying to get a bus back up the mountain or walking it, so I walked with some people which was really nice even though it was just following a winding paved road for a couple hours.

We then went back to Sapa, took the fasteset bus ride down the curviest road in Vietnam (most of us were pale faced and ready to keel over by the time we stumbled out), and then an overnight train to Hanoi. The trains in Vitenam are much worse (and you feel a bit more protective of your belongings) then the ones in China. Hanoi was the last stop and usually they wake you up about 30 min before you arrive so you have time to gather your things, but on this train at 5:30 am one of the train employees came yelling down the hallway in Vietnamese and then our tour leader came by and was like "Okay guys, we should be in Hanoi soon" and about 20 seconds later we pulled into the station. We all had to rush to shove our stuff back in our bags and get off the train. No one was fully awake as we stood on the platform in the dark trying to figure out where to go. But we found our hotel and promptly went back to sleep with plans to meet at 10:30 am in the lobby. We all got up and went to lunch together and then went on a 2 hour motorbike ride around Hanoi.

The motorbike ride was insane! You sit on the back of a bike that a vietnamese man is riding, while he drives you around the city. In Hanoi, there are about 10 motorbikes to every car on the road yet the roads are still only about the size of a one-way street in the US. This means there is a lot of swerving and, I have come to believe, that most vietnamese bikers believe it is okay to use the horn instead of the brakes. Honking horns are definitely the soundtrack to the city here, but I have to admit I would love to rent a bike for myself and ride around...or maybe not.

During the bike ride we stopped at the Hilton Hanoi, which is the prison where American POWs (including John McCain) were kept during the War, and before that it was a french prison where Vietnamese political prisoners were held. It was a bit strange...their was a HUGE emphasis on the situation of the Vietnamese political prisoners and how they were tortured and mistreated by the French. They showed bottles that they used on the women and the guillotine (spelling?) that cut off many heads. They also showed tons of cells and detention spaces. But, when they talked about the American POW's they had all this information about how well they were treated, and there were all these photos of smiling americans eating christmas dinner together...going to christmas mass...opening christmas presents...singing songs together...yet wasn't John McCain tortured there?? There was even a pamphlet that was like "A day in the life of an American Prisoner..." and it was the strangest piece of propaganda (well that's what im guessing it is) that I have ever seen! It went along the lines of "Life for the American prisoner is unstressful and carefree...they eat breakfast together and chat before starting their day...they read letters and open packages from home, nothing makes an american soldier happier than getting something from home!...they enjoy a watching a movie picture without needing to worry about getting brainwashed! (i swear that is what it said!!)...after dinner they have time for musical entertainment or maybe just a chat to talk about their feelings with one another" and so on. But they weren't showing that as a piece of propaganda from the past, but more as trying to pass off like that was how life was. It was so strange!

After the bike ride we just rested for a bit and then met up for our last group dinner. So now my second group tour has ended...and I am in Hanoi for a week before starting my next tour. I am really happy about sending a week here, the past 12 days has been a lot of travelling and having a base for a week will be SO nice. Also, there is so much to do in Hanoi and I dont have to rush at all to see it all. Today I moved into my new hotel, which is very nice with FREE breakfast and FREE internet (a traveler's dream!), and then dropped off some laundry, then bumped into most of group that was just walking around, went with my roommate to get her tongue pierced (l;akjslfdkjadsf needles), then got some food and came bakc to use the free internet!

Oh, another interesting thing about Vietnam. The currency here is the Dong and you get about 18,000 dong to one dollar. Its pretty confusing at first since there are so many zeros. For example, my laundry cost 20,000 per kilogram. But, as with squat toilets, spitting in the street, and everyone smoking everywhere...you get used to it.