Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. It served also as a capital of French Indochina, until 1953. Hanoi means in Vietnamese, "The City in a Bend of the River". During the American War, some parts of Hanoi were destroyed by American bombings.

The heart of Hanoi is center on the Hoan Kiem Lake. Just north of the lake is the Old Quarter with its narrow streets that change their names every one or two blocks. Not very easy to find a street or place…

Many people, including Chung (who sold the bike for us), told us to be careful in the North of Vietnam and that people are not very nice there and try to scam you in every way possible. I noticed though that people in the South and North Vietnam are very different from each other and also the first scams started in the North for us. But still it wasn't that bad. You just have to be careful and think before doing anything or buying anything. Sometimes it's hard when the hustles push you to buy something you don't even want to…

Robyn and John were in Hanoi before us so we went to the same hotel as them, on the left side of the lake. It was a very nice hotel, the most expensive though we had been, 15 dollars, but it was really good room, and the staff were so nice. We all went to see a mechanic that Chung told us to see. There was some weird noise coming out of the engine, so we fixed it but it was expensive. And later we realized that the sound was still there!

John had to go back to Canada, and Robyn just waited so that he can sell her motorbike, a Honda Win, and then drive with John's bike to Laos. She finally sold the bike to a Finnish guy, who came from Laos directly to buy a bike in Vietnam.

After 4 days in Hanoi, John flew back home to Toronto, Robyn left by bike to Laos and we to Mai Chau

After few days we left Hanoi to go to the North of Vietnam. Our first stop was Mai Chau.

Mai Chau is situated in a valley, middle of the mountains. It is a very peaceful countryside, no traffic… We stayed in a village nearby called Lac village. Almost everybody who comes to Mai Chau stays in Thai stilt houses. The village is home to the White Thai people, distantly related to tribes in Thailand, Laos and China. Most no longer wear traditional dress, but the Thai women sell the traditional clothing and souvenirs to tourists.

We stayed 2 nights in a home stay, with a White Thai family. We had breakfast and dinner included. We were the only tourists in this house, but of course the village was full of other tourists staying with another family. We went for a walk in the rice fields and just enjoyed doing nothing. David even tried to teach my how to drive the motorbike but I couldn't pass the first gear because I was too afraid! It feels so heavy and I'm afraid the bike will fall when I start driving!

From Mai Chau we wanted to go to Moc Chau.

Road to Moc Chau was the worst ever!

There was a landslide so we couldn't take the highway, so we took a small dirt road…It was a huge mistake! We took 5 hours for 18 km long road! I had to get off the bike all the time, because there was too much mud on the road or the hill was so high and full of rocks and mud that even David alone on the bike had difficulty to move! I tried to push the bike, sometimes there were other people helping. It just didn't have an end! I thought we would have to stay the night in the middle of nowhere, with no water ( they didn't sell water anywhere). Finally, after 5 hours we arrived to the main highway and what a relief it was! It was a nice road; we saw a lot of the minorities on the road, the women with their beautiful and colorful dresses and their hair up. Finally we arrived to Moc Chau and spent the night safe and tired!

Next day we drove to Son La. The surrounding region is one of Vietnam's most ethnically diverse and home to more than 30 different minorities including Black Thai, Muong and White Thai. Again on the road to Son La was very interesting, we saw so many of these minorities working or on the motorbikes.

We spend 2 nights in Son La, because we left after 1 night but came back because we couldn't find the way to Than Uyen! We drove through a very mountainous road and the bike started to be very tired so in the middle of nowhere we had to stop and when we stopped and took the bags out the bike fell down. The clutch of the bike broke but David still managed to start the bike. So we decided that I would try to catch a ride with a car or a bus back to Son La. We didn't have to wait long time when a truck stopped and took me to Son LA and David followed us.

The next day we decided that I would take a bus to Than Uyen and David would drive the bike. We were too heavy for the bike to go up and down the hills.

It was an ok bus ride to Than Uyen and of course there was one Vietnamese lady aging feeling motion sickness.

David arrives an hour later than me, the road was very bad, and the worst ever and he took some small roads with construction work.

The next day I took a bus to Sa Pa and again David came by bike. On the bus there was a Vietnamese guy were very interested in me, wanted to talk the whole way to Sapa, and in the end he wanted that I come with him to Lao Cai! He was going there for cross the border to China for business. I had to say no!

When we got closer to Sa Pa it was getting colder and foggier. The last uphill to Sa Pa, about 30 km, was just fog, we couldn't see anything, maybe 5 meters ahead of us. It was very scary, because if the driver makes a mistake we will fell tens of meters down the hill..,

Sa Pa was a hill station for the French. It's a very touristic place, hotels and restaurant everywhere. Also its home to the Hmong people, a local tribe, and the women come from many villages nearby to sell their handicrafts and souvenirs to tourists. They are very persistent and don't take no for an answer. There were also many Red Zao, another minority tribe, with big red headdresses.

The Hill tribes of Vietnam:

The French called the ethnic minorities Montagnards (highlanders). The most colorful of these minorities live in the far north of Vietnam along the Chinese and Lao borders. Some hill-tribe groups have lived in Vietnam for thousands of years, while others migrated south from China in the past few hundred years. Each hill tribe has its own language, customs, mode if dress and spiritual beliefs. As in other parts of Asia, the traditional culture of the ethnic minorities is gradually giving way to outside influences. Many no longer dress in traditional clothing and those who do often found only in the remote villages of the far north. Often it is the women of the community who keep the costume alive, wearing the traditional costume and passing the knowledge on to their daughters.

The tourism has also influenced a lot, with growing numbers of people travelling to see the different ethnic minorities. It is a situation that could get worse before it gets better.

While there may be no official discrimination system, cultural prejudice against hill-tribe people helps ensure they remain at the bottom of the educational and economic ladder,. Despite improvements in the rural schooling and regional healthcare, many minority people marry young, have large families and die early.

We saw some minority groups called the Dzao (or Zao) and the H'mong in the North and the Thai in Mai Chau.

The Dzao are one of the largest and most colorful of Vietnam's ethnic groups and live in the northwestern provinces near China and Laos. The Dzao practice ancestor worship of spirits and hold rituals with sacrifices of pigs and chickens. The women's clothing typically features intricate weaving and silver -coloured beads and coins. Their long flowing hair, shaved above the forehead, is tied up into a large red or embroidered turban.

The H'mong migrated from China in the 19th century and are now one of the largest ethnic groups in Vietnam. The H'mong are animists and worship spirits. There are several groups within the H'mong, including Black, White, Red, Green and Flower, each of which has its own subtle dress code. One of the most recognisable are the Black H'mong, who wear indigo-dyed linen clothing, with women typically wearing skirts, aprons, retro leggings and cylindrical hats. Many H'mong women wear large silver necklaces, earrings and cluster of silver bracelets. The H'mong are also found in neighboring Laos and Thailand.

Thai

The Thai migrated from China and live now in the northwest. The Thai minority are usually categorized by color, including the Red, The White and Balck Thai. The Black Thai women wear colorful blouses and headgear.

There is a market called love market every Saturday in Sa Pa. It is a speed dating minority- style; tribal teenagers trek into town to find a mate.

The first 2 days were very foggy and cold, and then the rest of the week was sunny and nice.

We stayed 5 days in Sa Pa. We went for a small hike to the nearby village, Cat Cat village; it wasn't anything special, just souvenir shops.

In Sa Pa we put the bike on sale on internet, and almost immediately 2 persons contacted us. But they wanted the bike almost right away and we couldn't be in Hanoi and also they asked such a low price that we said no.

From Sa Pa we left to Cao Lai, where we had to wait all day so that we could take a night train to Hanoi. We could put the bike in the train too.

It was a very smelly trip; there was a Chinese man with very smelly feet! Also the train moved so much that it was hard to get some sleep. We arrived at 4 am in Hanoi, very tired . We had to wait until 6 o'clock that the hotel opened its doors.

We had one week to sell the bike before going to Thailand.

We visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex is an important place of pilgrimage. I the tradition of Lenin and Stalin, and Mao, the HCM Mausoleum is a monumental marble edifice. Contrary to his desire for a simple cremation, the mausoleum was constructed from materials gathered from all over Vietnam. In the center of the building in a glass sarcophagus is the pale body of Ho Chi Minh. We had to queue up a line, and walk slowly but steadily when passing the body. There were many guards, making sure that you don't have a camera or that you don't talk or smile. Also it was forbidden to put hands in the pockets.

After we went to see the HCM museum dedicated to the life of HCM. We saw also the One Pillar pagoda, built on wood on a single stone pillar, is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, the symbol of purity, rising out of a sea of sorrow.

Two days before leaving Hanoi, we started to be afraid that we would never sell the bike. But then a guy from our hotel called us and said he would buy the bike. He bought the bike for 250 dollars, which was less than we would want but we just wanted to get rid of the bike.

David's favorite places in Vietnam:

- HCM trail

- Sa Pa

Julia's favorite places in Vietnam:

- HCM trail, central highlights

- SaPa

- Mekong Delta

- Cat Ba