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Sarah's Travels
Arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam this morning after almost 24 hours on various trains. It has been an interesting experience but at least I got to mix with the locals!
China was totally different from what I expected. I got the 'fast ferry' from HK to Shenzen, where I stayed for two days. On my one full day there I was taken out by a local who is a colleague of my dads in China. Alice took me to two mini culture parks in the middle of the city, one called Splendid China which has mini replicas of all the famous sights in China (its the nearest I'm going to get to the Great Wall this trip!) and the other was the China Folk Village. This was the more interesting of the two if only as you got to see some representatives from some of the 57 minorities that live in China.
The next day was the start of the journey to Hanoi. My train left at 4pm in the afternoon and arrived in Nanning (still in China) at 4.30am the following morning. I then had a 15 hr wait until my next train that evening. I took the chance to wonder around but the lack of sleep didn't allow me to take much in. The train across the boarder left at 9pm by 10 we were all asleep and at midnight we all got woken up by Chinese immigration to fill out departure cards 'quick' as we had reached the border already. At 3.30am we were woken again to get off the train to pass through Vietnam Customs and Immigration. It's the first time I have had to have a 'health check' which consisted of taking our temperature in our ear. For this pleasure we had to pay 2rmb and they even used the same thermometer on everyone...umm healthy!!
Anyway have finally arrive in Hanoi totally exhausted but with a couple of new friends both called Ian - one from Canada and the other from Ireland. Have found a nice hostel, expensive but after the way we all smelled when we got off the train we think we deserve it!
Keep well, will write more soon
Saz xx
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