Vietnam- city and country living

Hanoi

The final leg of our Vietnam adventure had us on an overnight bus to Hanoi- the capital city. From our hotel we arranged a hectic few days for a ridiculously cheap price; including a return train to Sapa- which is Vietnam’s major hiking and hill tribe destination; and a boat trip to Halong Bay.

Hanoi we found to be a charming little city, full of confusing narrow busy frantic ‘real’ people and streets. It’s a very old city and if you can eventually coil your way through the alleys you’ll find yourself at a lovely central lake and if you’re an early riser (or arrive into the city at the ungodly hour of 5am) it’s a great place to be. It seems like all the residents of the city congregate en masse for their daily exercise, doing laps around the lake and working out on the park facilities. Communism at it’s best.

It reminded me of when I taught English in China and every day the intercom blared exercise routines at 11am where the students had to stop whatever they were doing and participate- after all big brother was watching. I say this literarily as in the Chinese classrooms they may not have had heating but every classroom had a camera and a multi media room where someone was recording the action and manning the cameras. This wasn’t the only comparison I found between Hanoi and China. The places are extremely similar, not surprising considering they hold the same principles and of course a border.

Sapa

Our trip to Sapa was one of the best parts of Vietnam for us. We had an over night train journey after which a bus collected us and drove into the mountains for an hour to the beautiful town of Sapa.

We were taken to a hotel for breakfast, showers and a change after which the hiking commenced. There was an army of traditionally dressed women waiting for us (us including a French couple and three Dutch guys) outside.

Only one, Mimi, was our guide the rest came along hoping that we would buy some of their hand woven goods or lean on them at a slippery slope hopefully in exchange for payment. One lady had a one month old baby strapped to her back as she rushed to help me tackle an awkward passage!

Our hike brought us through terraced rice paddies, streams, waterfalls and some of the most stunning scenery you’ll ever hope to see. It felt great to be back in the mountains as Malachy kept reminding me at every amazing turn in the road.

All food was included in the two day tramp and it was delicious. We met two lovely Argentinean girls staying at the same home-stay; they, along with Mimi’s free flowing ‘Happy Water’, aided to the fun of the night with their drinking card game ‘Chancho’. After a few bottles of Mimi’s brew there was no want for participants when it came to the traditional ‘Bamboo Dancing’!

Even after the huge feed of pancakes and fruit the following morning we were all very slow making it back to the hotel. Our bus was delayed in returning us to the train station consequently we were bumped up to a soft air-conditioned four berth compartment- what a great end to the trip! For $62 each another ultimate bargain!