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Good morning Vietnam!
I'm writing this from the capital city, Hanoi - a crazy place where there seem to be as many motorbikes as people and crossing the road requires an iron will.
Having flown from the rural and sedate Luang Prabang in Laos, Hanoi came as quite a shock. We'd been warned about the transport scams at the airport, so after an hour of negotiations (I'm getting good at haggling) we managed to get onto a bus to our hostel and arrived safely un-scammed. The hostel had mucked up the booking so our first night was spent in a dorm, with 30 snoring neighbours it was quite a step down from the private en suite luxury we've become accustomed to! I'm happily stretched out on a king size bed in our new private room in a gorgeous new hostel just over the road... flashpacking is the way forwards. It's great here, really friendly and there's free breakfast and beer. What more could a traveller want?!
We've spent the past two days exploring; taking in the Old Quarter (where we're staying, its lovely), the Water Puppet Show (bonkers) and a host of museums and state buildings. Made a new friend today, one of the guards at the Presidential Palace took a shine to me, saying if he ever visits England he will love me. Bless! Blonde hair and white skin seems to be very alluring here, even the women compliment us on the streets. Skin whitening treatments are very popular; even the deodorant has it in. Yesterday we saw a shoot for a bridal magazine and the models had unnaturally pale faces. All seems a bit odd for us as we're trying to get brown!
Hanoi is a beautiful city; lots of lakes and greenery clashes with the congested streets. The buildings are crammed together, tall and narrow they have a shabby-chic charm which I love. Vietnam is Socialist, although it seems to have developed its own take - Hanoi seems to me about as Capitalist as you can get! Big-name brands jostle for space on the high street, everyone wears brash (fake) labels with their bling, and the motorbike companies must be making a killing. That said, the influence of Ho Chi Ming is everywhere; statues of him are all over the city, his face adorns posters and postcards, and propagandist recordings are played out on the streets. I've posted up some photos of the propagandist posters we keep seeing.
The food so far in Asia has been quite a mixed bag; Hanoi is bringing a few challenges! Everyone seems to eat on tiny plastic chairs on the roadsides (pavements, it would seem, are for either setting up shop or parking your scooter on - this is not a city for pedestrians). In 2 days I've seen brain, intestines and all sorts of nameless meat. Went to Kangaroo cafe yesterday which lots of people recommended - the food was disgusting! Hopefully better luck tonight.
Early tomorrow morning I'm embarking on a 3 day trip to Halong Bay, a picturesque area about 2 hours North of Hanoi. I'll be staying on a boat for one night (I'm assured that no swimming is involved!) and another night on 'Monkey Island' - although have heard tales of vicious monkeys so will be keeping my distance. No rabies shot means extreme caution!
There's a 7 hour time difference with home now that you've gone into daylight savings, and it feels odd to think that it's cold at home (and almost bonfire night!). Cords and I are both looking quite backpacker-ish now; Asian culture dictates that we're more covered-up than we would be usually in this heat, so I've adopted long shorts and a vest as my everyday look, and Cords is sporting some sandals which make her look like a lesbian. Oh dear, good job this isn't a style blog...
p.s. The other day in Luang Prabang I saw a dog with its leg stuck up another dog's bottom. Just one of the weird and wonderful sights Asia has thrown at me...
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- comments
Em We went to the kangaroo cafe - I remember it being excellent food. Are you sure you went to the real one and not one of the rip off copy cat versions? PS it's raining here. Whoop whoop xx