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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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So here's the first installment of many. Hopefully they won't be too far between, but we'll see. There are computers here and there, but so far I've lacked the time to use them!
Landed no problem on Thursday, found a hotel(were shown one we weren't looking for, but decided to stay out of laziness). Got the tours-we-offer spiel from the girl, then struck out on our own. Ate the first of our baguette sandwiches. Met up with Torre and James(friends from Seoul) and later their friend Joe, who lives here(and speaks fluent Vietnamese!). Then out to a 'real' vietnamese restaurant(no tourists!) and to the water puppet show. Interesting, neat music, not quite on the scale of headache-inducing Chinese opera!
Booked our trip to Halong Bay(which we just got back from). A picture is worth a thousand words as far as that is concerned, so I won't waste my typing time--you'll have to wait for the pics!... Spent the night on our(broken-down) boat, then switched to a new(not broken-down) boat to get back to Hanoi. Beautiful trip, the weather could have been better, but could also have been a lot worse. Really overcast and hazy, but it made the scenery really dramatic. Spent last night drinking $1 beers on board and playing cards. Lots of fun!
Now we're back in Hanoi, dropping our bags off and heading to an Ethnology museum to get some background info on the hill tribe culture for our 2 days in Sapa. We leave tonight on the night train, hard sleeper class, which might make for an uncomfortable night. It'll be an experience, anyway. Sounds like it'll be a little cabin with 2 triple bunks!
Some random thoughts/first impressions: Man there are a lot of scooters/motorcycles. Crossing the road(no stoplights) is FUN! Just walk across, no sudden movements, and if all the bikers are paying attention, you won't get run over. Bigger means right of way here, and there are constantly horns blowing. Constantly. Like non-step. The food is AMAZING. The bread is the same as you'd get in France. Fresh baguettes, yum. Live chicken count: 1, cow sleeping on the side of the highway: many, dead pig on the back of a motorbike: 1. Lots of rice fields and those coned hats you picture when you think of Vietnam. Too bad they'd be so hard to get home! Garbage(including food scraps) goes on the street in the (close to) the gutter, and at night people walk around with big carts and scoop it all up. Oh yeah, rat sightings: 2.(and even the Vietnamese were standing on their chairs when they saw it(the first one!) Did I mention how many scooters? I'll try to post a pic of that when I figure out how to. Friendly people, lots of English spoken. No sun as of yet, but that'll change as we head south. Beer's cheap, rooms are cheap(1 night for $5US).
We're off to do some more exploring(and Sean just came back with baguettes and cheese, so it's eating time!)
previous travel blog entry
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