Worst night sleep. Ever.

We have just arrived in Hanoi again and it was not a pleasant experience once again. It was better than last time but still not great. The worst bit was the actual bus journey. It was the same sleeper bus as we took down to Hue. This time we were right at the back and the only tourists on the bus. Not only that, we were one of the few women on the bus. The seat/bed I had was better than last time. It lay flat so I had a tiny bit more room to move.

However I could not lie straight. My head would touch the bars at the top of the bed and my feet were too big for the box my feet were in. And barriers on the side of the bed were just as wide as my hips. Cue me lying in the fetal position with my knees and bum over the edges. I could lie like that for about an hour before my leg got numb and I would have to turn over.

Now I managed sleeping like this last time. It also helped that I fall asleep quite easily when travelling. This time though was different. I managed to stay up reading my book and once I decided it was time to sleep I just could not drop off. I tried listening to my 'chill' playlist. No luck. I tried with no ipod, just the man next to me snoring and the bouncing bus as background noise. No luck.

I think the problem was that the bus driver seemed to be having a race. The roads in Vietnam are terrible and I think I experienced zero gravity more times than necessary. Imagine driving down a country lane riddled with potholes at max speed while trying to sleep. Only this wasn't a country lane it was a highway. It's like trying to nap during an earthquake. I think he thought he was driving on a hot wheels track and was doing far too many jumps.

The last time I was aware of looking at the clock it was just past 4am. We had left Hue at 5pm and were due to arrive in Hanoi at 8. When I awoke at about 7, the heavens had opened. We got of the bus and decided that we could walk to the hostel. How wrong we were. Luckily the rain had stopped but it was still wet and muddy. Our bags had got wet while when they were on the floor when we got off the bus. I had flip flops on which got coated in mud. We didn't seem to be getting anywhere and had to keep asking for directions by pointing.

In the end we flagged down a taxi. We asked him how much a taxi would be. He said 70,000. I told him we would go by the meter and asked him to turn it on. When we got to the hostel the meter said 31,000 but he wanted 70,000. I had to argue with this guy who didn't speak any English by pointing. In the end I won (I don't know how) as he got my stuff of the boot and I paid him.

Tune in next time when I will write about our escapades in Hue which include waking up to Sarah throwing up over the balcony and me sleepwalking.

Hoi An - The place where every hour is happy hour.

I'm way behind on the blog posts and most of the reason is that there just isn't time! I thought I better write about my time in Hoi An. I feel like these posts are pretty bland as you have my terrible descriptions of these places and no pictures and it just doesn't give the places justice. I realise that I miss out so many details when trying to write about everything. Like I forgot to mention about the Vietnamese woman who fell asleep on my shoulder on the way back from Ha Long Bay. I have no idea how long she was there, it was probably quite a while as I was asleep too. It's nice to have a new nap buddy though.

We had such a good time in Hoi An, it's a beautiful little town. We got the sleeper bus from Hanoi to Hue and then waited four hours for the bus to Hoi An. Luckily it was only a 3 hour journey so we didn't have to suffer too long on the pleather seats. We had booked to stay in a nice hotel as a treat to ourselves. When we got there they didn't have any rooms so they upgraded us to a "Deluxe Villa". It was just a nice hotel room but it was luxury compared to the dorms and tiny bathrooms we have grown accustomed to.

On the first night we decided to head into town to get a bite to eat and then get an early night. I ended up buying myself a tailor made winter coat. Hoi An is famous for their tailors and there are 300+ shops where you can have something custom made. Our hotel was bit out of town and we got lost on the way home. We were asking a guy for directions who clearly did not understand us. A woman called Lee comes over and gives us directions. She said she would give us a lift on her scooter. We kindly declined and thanked her for her help. She then suggested that we should go to her mum's shop the next day.

We walked for a couple of minutes when it started raining. Lee suddenly pulled up next to us and said she would take us back to our hotel, for free! We decided to accept this time so with both us on the back of her scooter she took us back. She offered to come pick us up the next day to take us to the shop but we said we had no idea when we'll be up. She wrote down the address for us as we thought we might as well go there as we didnt know which of the 300 shops we should go to.

When we were walking around town the next day Lee found us and gave us a lift to the shop where we were shown so many catalogues to see what we might want making. In the end I got a dress and some trousers made. Sarah got herself a dress and a coat.

With most people in Hoi An we seemed to have the same conversation it went something like this.
Vietnamese: Hello happy hour you buy something.
Us: No thanks.
V: Where you from?
U: England. Manchester.
From here it can go one of 3 ways.
V: Option 1: (while holding their hands over their heart) Ahhhh Manchester United! I love!
Option 2: I collect coin. Do you have England coin for me?
Option 3: Do you have boyfriend? (Usually from the women)

On our last full day we rented scooters and went to the beach. Neither me or Sarah had any experience on scooters. I'd been on one once before but that was pretty much going in straight lines. So we put our bmx helmets on went on our way. I can't describe how scared I was when we first set off but after a little bit of riding and navigating tariff I got the hand of it and I loved it. The beach was gorgeous the typical white sand, blue water. There's no better feeling on a hot day than being in the sea! We did manage to get pretty sunburnt that day though!

Hoi An was such an interesting city. We had chances to talk to locals and get to know a bit about their way of life and their dreams. I love this country and I can't believe we only have a couple of days before we leave.

Twin Dog.

In Hue and this is the background on the computer.

How did a picture of Sadie end up on a computer in Vietnam?

Bites, Bikes and Boats.

Over two weeks in now and in a new place again! We have been in Hoi An now since Tuesday and compared to Hanoi this place is a breath of fresh air. The place is packed with tourists but it's nowhere near as busy as Hanoi.

I suppose I better start by telling you about our trip out to Ha Long Bay. It took us about three hours to get out to Ha Long but obviously not a problem for me as I have refined the habit of falling asleep as soon as I get into a moving vehicle. Once there we took a boat out to the boat where we would be staying the night.

Unfortunately we didn't have good weather so we didn't get the best views of the rocks/islands/whatever they're called but there was a light mist around them so it all looked rather eerie. We went to a little floating village where we got into canoes and we got to go explore wherever we wanted.

It was cool to get up close to these rocks and see the size of them. Of course, once we crashed into one of them I freaked out a little bit as there were all these black crabs which I thought were huge spiders. We also went into a cave which was rater large and our tour guide took great joy in pointing out all the rocks shaped as animals and parts of the human anatomy. Some were cool, some not so cool.

We stayed up into the night sitting on the top deck of the boat playing cards and singing songs. Even at night it was a beautiful view, we saw the outlines of the rocks as the sun went down and once it was pitch black all you could see were lights from other boats. Sleeping on a boat is rather odd. Once I settled in I could feel myself rocking ever so slightly. It was quite a weird sensation. The next morning was not so pleasant when I woke up to find five huge bites down my arm. I swear the mosiquitos here must think I'm some kind of open buffet as I have had two bites on my face (which thankfully have gone down now), innumerable bites on my hands and feet, the five on my arm and to top it off I have a huge bite on my neck which does not look good.

The next day we sailed out to Cat Ba Island where we went on a bike ride and went to another cave. This cave was one that was used as a hospital during the war, aptly named 'Hospital Cave'. It's pretty amazing what they had created in there. After we went into the cave we had a little bit of free time before cycling back to meet the rest of the tour group who had gone on a trek instead of the bike ride. I decided to cycle into the village. As I cycled through the village, children were waving and shouting hello.  At the risk of sounding corny, it's so humbling to go into these villages where the people have nothing and yet they seem to be so happy. Makes you grateful for what you have.

We were staying on a small resort where we pretty much had a private beach and we stayed in a little wodden bungalow. After the bike ride we had the chance to go see some monkeys. Now, I don't particulary like getting close to wild animals. I don't mind seeing them in a zoo or whatever, but wild animals should just be left alone. Before we scrambled up the mountain our guide advised us that we need to be careful around the monkeys. We were not to laugh or smile as showing your teeth to monkeys is like asking "You wanna fight?". Also we were not to look them in the eye. He then started saying that he could no guarentee the monkeys wouldn't bite us et cetera, et cetera. Well, this just instilled fear into me. To put it mildly, when the monkeys finally appeared and started jumping on people, I freaked out and pretty much ran back to the resort.

We left Hanoi on Monday on a sleeping bus which was an experience to say the least. Lets just say, they aren't made for westerners. At 5foot8 I was crammed into the bed so I hate to think what it was like for anyone taller than me.

I did intend to write about Hoi An in this post but unfortunately I'm having a bout of illness and after getting sunburnt today I just can't be bothered. You will just have to sit in suspense.

Same Same... But Different.

Here in Hanoi you can get a t-shirt which is quite popular among tourists that says "Same Same... But Different" on it. It's a phrase you'll hear on the markets when someone is trying to sell you something that is totally not what  your looking for. I hadn't really heard it used until today.

Sarah and I went into to the travel agent to book our tickets back to Nanning today. The woman behind the desk asked us if we were sisters or friends. We told her that we were friends. Her response was "Yes, yes I see. Same, same. But different". I'm not quite sure what she means as we look very different from each other. For starters, I'm 5 inches taller than Sarah. The only likeness is the white skin. She then stared at Sarah for a little while and then told her she had beautiful eyes. I see the blossoming of a blossoming romance....

We leave for Hoi An tonight and I'm going to miss Hanoi. But we'll be coming back for a day when we are heading back to China. We had a lovely time on the Halong Bay/Cat Ba Island tour but I will have to write about that when I have more time. But from the trip I learnt that I do not like monkeys.

I wanna be a billionaire...

Because I'm already a millionaire. Withdrew 4 million from the bank today.

Shame it's only worth about £100.

Tomorrow we leave for our Halong Bay - Cat Ba - Monkey Island tour. 

The first night is going to be spent on one of these:

via

The next night we will be in one of these:

via

Glass case of emotion.

Went to go see Ho Chi Minh today in his glass box. It's pretty crazy. It was our 3rd attempt to go and see him. The first time we went too late - the place is only open from 8 to 11 in the morning. Yesterday we got up a bit late and then got a bit disorientated and got there at 11:03. Today we finally made it and got to go inside to see Uncle Minh. It's quite weird. He's perfectly preserved and looks a bit like a wax work. He's just lay there looking pretty dead, but what can you really expect?

[Edit: Before we could go into the mausoleum (picture below) we had to check our bags in and queue up to get in. As we were walking in we were laughing about something and the guard told us to shush and gave us a deathly stare. It was serious business seeing Ho Chi Minh.] 

Interesting fact I learnt from Anna and Eva -  Ho Chi actually means Uncle and is apparently more respectful than Father because the eldest son is the head of the family is 'Uncle' or something like that. Someone else could probably explain that one better.

Edit: I read somewhere else that he is quite often referred to as Uncle Ho so I don't know if any of his name actually means 'Uncle' but people do still call him Uncle!

Just wondering...

What is the weather like in England?
 
Today in Vietnam we have sunshine and its 27 degrees.
 
Jealous?

 

Life without straighteners.

Hello from Hanoi, Vietnam.

I've been away from the UK now for a week now but it feel likes longer! Not because I miss it (because I don't, not yet anyway) but because we have been so busy and done so much.

Our last day in Nanning we decided to go see the shops and have a look around. We felt like celebrities. In the shops the young shop assistants followed us around giggling every time we looked at them. People were taking pictures as we passed. A man even reached out and grabbed our arm as if to see if we were actually real. Normally if a guy in the street grabbed me I would be scared but this guy seemed absolutely fascinated and harmless and just wanted a closer look at our skin. We went to the supermarket to stock up on food for the journey to Vietnam. We spent about 60RMB (about 6 pounds) and got about a weeks worth of food.

We left Nanning on Monday on another sleeper train. This journey was much more pleasant. For starters it wasn't as busy, only about 20 people. But we also had bottom bunks and lots of food. When we got to the station we were sat in the crowded waiting room when we found some fellow Europeans. We were both as shocked as each other to spot fellow foreigners. We got talking and they were sisters from Austria who were also heading to Hanoi. It was nice to have some company on the train and they gave us some great advise for when we go to Shanghai. We didn't get much sleep on the train. When leaving China we all had to get off the train with our luggage. Once back on we again stopped at the Vietnamese border to have our passport checked. By the time we got on the train it was about 1 in the morning. We were meant to get into Hanoi at 8am. We got woken up about 4:30am and at 5:30 the train stopped. We'd arrived in Hanoi way before we had expected to and it was dark.

For the first hour here, I hated Hanoi and I was ready to leave. We got off the train and the first problem we faced was that we had no local money. We walked out of the station and it looked like we were in the middle of no where. We are greeted by many taxi drivers who were desperate to take us to our hostel. We decided we would wait at the station until it got a bit lighter and most probably safer. We knew we had to get a taxi to the hostel and that it would cost us about 80,000 dong but we had no money. There were two taxi drivers that would not leave us alone and finally one of them gave up and walked away but not before kicking me! We waited in the waiting room at the station and the taxi driver waited with us for about half an hour. The taxi driver said that he would take us to an ATM but we didn't really trust him. Eva and Anna (our Austrian friends) had some dollars so we decided to ask the taxi driver if he would take dollars. He was willing but wanted $20. The journey should have cost us $3/4 so there was no way we were going to pay $20. After much haggling he agreed to take us for $5. We managed then to get some money out and find our hostel. Once I got settled in and relaxed I felt so much better and I was able to enjoy the city.

Despite all the tourists, after one day I love Hanoi already. It's like nothing else I've ever experienced. There are thousands of motorbikes and no crossings. Crossing the road involves just taking a leap of faith and stepping out into the street and all the vehicles just drive around you. I will have to write more about Hanoi when I get the chance. We are planning on setting off for a 3 day trip to Halong Bay this weekend, spending one night on a junk boat. I can't wait!

[Edit: Pictures added 17/08/11 from the first day in Hanoi]

typo typo typo

E-mail blogging is difficult to correct after it's been posted.
I apologise for the obvious typos, I must learn to proof read.

Greetings from Nanning!

Good news is I remembered my toothbrush! Oh and that I made it safely to Hong Kong and survived the train journey to Nanning. As is inevitable I did forget some things, namely socks, suncream and my camera lead. And because of that I have no pictures to share with you as of yet. You will just have to use your vivid imaginations. [Edit: Pictures added on 14/08/11]

So we are on day 6 of travelling. We spent 3 nights in Hong Kong. It's such an interesting and busy city and I would love to go back one day and explore more but as budget travellers the place did get a bit expensive. But we made the most of it. We were staying in Fortress Hill which was right next to the bustling area of Causeway Bay. We walked a lot around the city taking in the sky scrapers and all the sights and smells of the crowded streets. We took a stroll down the Avenue of Stars where I had a photo taken by Jackie Chan's star. The avenue gave us the perfect view of Hong Kong Island. It's a far cry from Manchester!

On day two we went to the Tian Tan Buddha which I posted a picture of in an earlier post. Once we got to Lantau Island we took a picturesque journey up to the monastry. It was a hot day and we had to walk up 264 steps in the heat to get up the Buddha but it was worth it.

[Edit: On a final night we took a walk around the city, it was so busy but it was cool to be among all the sky scrapers and the hustle and bustle. This was the night that the photo used in the blog banner was taken.]

We left Hong Kong the next day. We had to get two trains to get to Nanning. We took a sleeper train which was a totally new experience. We had the top bunks which were about 6/7 foot up with just a narrow ladder to climb up. We shared the carriage with 64 other people.

[Photo taken from Sarah's blog Gandy Goes Global]

The bunks were tiny and we had no head room. And my feet were dangling over the edge. Don't even get me started on the toilets. I'm not looking forward to our next sleeper train journey tonight. The train view did however offer views of the Chinese countryside and we saw people working in the fields and the shacks we could only assume were their homes.

Compared to Hong Kong, Nanning is what I guess can be described as real China. They obviously don't get as many tourist as most people do stare at us, absolutely fascinated by these white people walking through their city. To say I stand out in this country is an understatement. The shop across the hostel sells baby turtles for 70p and the park next door men gather to play dominos. We went down into town to the night food market  with some people we met at the hostel and they sell some weird and wonderful stuff there.

A chinese girl from the hostel came with us so fortunately she was able to tell us what everything was. We tried fruits that I'd never seen before. They had whole crocodiles (which absolutely stink), every body part of pretty much any animal on skewers and numerous birds in cages. The most distrubing thing was when a woman got a handful of sparrows from a cage and then just threw them to the ground to kill them, right in front of us. I think she found our reaction quite amusing. I even tried a chicken foot, when in rome and all. I can confirm that they actually taste quite good, it's just the thought that you're eating a chicken foot that is bad.

Sarah outside the hostel.

The pet shop.

Games in the park.

[Photo with sparrows from Sarah's blog Gandy Goes Global]

Everything is so cheap here, we fed ourselves at the market for about 1 pound. On the way back we walked past the park where people gather to dance in the evenings. A song just starts and everyone knows the rountine and just gets into it. I wish I could have videoed it as some of the dancers were amazing. You should try and see if you can find a video on YouTube. I would look for it but YouTube is banned over here. And so is Facebook.

Blogger is also banned, so I'm posting this through the e-mail blogging facility so I have no idea how well this will post but I'll tidy it up when I get the chance.

Next time I post, I'll be in Vietnam!! Wish me luck for the train journey.