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Well I am officially the last one on the Contiki tour left in Hanoi. I didn't really do much yesterday, just went around the block and stopped in a couple of shops to look at some things that they were selling. Then returned to the hotel room to watch some tv and relax. I tried some Vietnamese iced coffee though, it had a strong flavour to it but after a while I got used to it. The one I ordered just came with milk, apparently the ones that come with condensed milk taste a lot better. I might try another one later today.
I am looking forward to meeting my next group and leaving Vietnam. I had a good time while in Vietnam, but I didn't fall in love with the country. I find Vietnam very frustrating; especially, dealing with the traffic. No one stops for you and a car or motorcycle could be parked on the side and just starting their vehicle and if you are walking in front of them during that time, they don't wait for you.. they will start pulling out. Just the lack of respect is draining when it comes to traffic laws and rules. I feel like I can't travel far from the hotel because I don't want to risk my life - that is exactly what it is as well. In a group its not as bad, since we stick together but alone, I am too afraid to deal with it. I have found that Hanoi does have street crossing with a green man light for walkers but that doesn't really do much of anything. As well as, there are a lot of beggars on the street that pointed to my shoes yesterday asking if I wanted them to be clean. Also found that depending on how busy a street is, people are just as pushy and will move you out of their way; just like the vehicles.
I am starting to miss Canada, looking forward to coming home to road rules and the fact that you don't have to worry about drinking water. Even having the luxury of having free water at a restaurant in Canada.. that would never happen in Vietnam. You need to buy bottled water, and it is more expensive at restaurants compared to anywhere else.
I currently doubt I will ever come back to Vietnam, but I did enjoy the experience. If I were to ever come back I would spend more time in either Hoi An or Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay seems to have converted itself into a tourist town and there is less traffic around that area.
I am looking forward to Laos, and Cambodia. Part of the group I was with on Contiki did a longer tour through Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia and a lot of the people agreed that Laos was the best country out of the three.
Other news:
At Ha Long Bay, my bathing suit top broke.. so now I am left with no bathing suit. I tried to look for one around Hanoi but the prices are high; around $35 for a suit.. so I will try and look for one later on.
Also, during the first two nights of the tour I roomed with another girl but was offered a room to myself, which I took. However, then I had to bunk with other girls throughout the tour due to their roommates being sick.. etc. For one of my roommates, I got creeped out so much. She ended up sleep walking both nights that I had to share a room with her. The first night she stood by the end of her bed and then started walking towards the head of the bed talking to me about her sleep walking. It was the first time I dealt with sleep walkers so I was freaking out and had no idea if she would turn violent.. should have never seen paranormal activity! On the second night, she was up walking around, bumping into things and turning on and off the lights, and opening up the doors. When I asked her what she was looking for she said "the exit, I need to find the exit" after talking to her for a bit and asking her why she needed to find the exit, something clicked and she went back to bed. The strange thing is, that for both nights she couldn't remember sleep walking.
That's all for now, just doing some laundry at the moment. I will post something new later.
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