Chào from Hanoi & Sapa - Hoan Kiem District, Vietnam
Hoan Kiem District, Vietnam
While in Nanning, we met a young Chinese guy from Shanghai, who was also taking the bus to Vietnam. The bus trip was 10 hours, so we took the opportunity to bombard our new friend with questions on life as a young person in China. It was fascinating to hear his view on the single-party political system and some of the other economic challenges that people face. Once we crossed the border, not only did the flags flying patriotically from each home change, but the architecture also made it clear that we were in a very different country. The European influence was evident in the buildings, and the yellow colour makes the villages very picturesque. And there were even more motorbikes than in China! As we drove into Hanoi, we could tell that it was a much more hectic city than either Tokyo, Beijing or Shanghai. It took us a while to get acclimatised with the chaos and to be able to cross the road without fearing for our lives. Our hostel helped though, by providing free coffee with condensed milk all day long. In the confirmation email that they sent us, they warned us about other hotels with the same name. We didn't think much of it at the time, but were quite amused to find that the hotel next door had exactly the same name. Apparently, this is a common occurrence in Vietnam. Whenever something is good, the same name gets used by many other companies. Copyright doesn't seem to exist. Our hotel was in the Old Quarter, a maze of streets packed with shops of every kind. Each street is named after the goods typically sold on it. The pavements are full of parked motorbikes and bicycles as well as minute stools outside coffee shops and restaurants. It is also common to see small fires or a pile of coals on the pavements to be used for cooking dinner. There is definitely no space for pedestrians. That evening, we wandered around the Old Quarter and the night market and were introduced to some Vietnam specialities. On every corner, you can buy kebabs which are cooked on a grill in front of you and then placed in a crispy bun. Yummy. We also spotted some sort of alcohol with scorpions and snakes in it. We definitely weren't brave enough to try that! We also realised that all North Face goods are made in Vietnam, as there is a store around every corner, selling things at a fraction of the price that you pay for them in the UK. They may not be the real deal but the quality is really good. For lunch the next day, we joined the locals at a Bia Hoi restaurant, where you can get fresh beer that is brewed daily, for 15p. We decided to be a bit exotic and so Lloyd ordered pigeon for lunch. Literally as he ordered it, a pigeon flew in and landed right in front of us outside the restaurant. We were really worried when it disappeared for a while. We received a whole pigeon on a plate, the head, beak, feet and all, which really put us off pigeon for life! One lunch we really did enjoy though, was the traditional Bun Cha. Before we even sat down, the table had vermicelli noodles on it and a big plate full of mixed herbs. You don't need to order. As soon as we sat down, the waitress brought us a bowl of pork patties and spring rolls, that you dip in sauce and eat with the noodles and herbs. It's absolutely delicious. Next, we were off to Sapa for a 3-day hike with our Belgium friends. We took the overnight train to Lao Cai. We didn't think the trains could be worse than in China, but this train rocked worse than a boat, was somehow bumpy & arrived 2 hours late. We felt like toy ducks in a bathtub. We then had to take a 1 hour bus to Sapa, which was quite amusing as the bus stopped 3 or 4 times to change drivers. But eventually we got there and met our guide, Pan. We started our trek through the rice fields straight away. Initially we thought it might be quite touristy as we went to a waterfall to take pictures and then to a local tribe house where all tours seem to stop off. But soon after that, we went off in a different direction and it was just the 5 of us, hiking through the rice paddies. The scenery was magnificent, with the rice terraces stretching from the bottom, right to the very top of the mountains. We spotted quite a few animals in the fields too, from buffalo and pigs to chickens, ducks and geese. We stopped for lunch at a local cafe in a village. Schools had just finished for the day and we were surrounded by the village kids, who very interested in us. We walked about 15km on the first day. Our guide was very friendly and didn't seem to mind the millions of questions we asked her. We were fascinated to find out that the area only first had electricity in 2008, and now they have wifi! It's undergone such a transformation in such a short period of time. They also only started the development of proper roads and started using motorbikes in 2008. People still have about 6-8 children each, but the government is now starting education on family planning. Until 10-15 years ago, parents didn't want to send their children to school (even though it was free) as teachers beat the kids and the schools didn't teach the kids in their native languages. Most rural marriages are arranged and people are teenagers when they get married. We also asked whether they eat dog and had a very interesting discussion on this topic! There were lots of puppies around which made us suspicious! Apparently dogs are not viewed as pets, and therefore there is no attachment to them and it is okay to eat them. We asked when people decided was a good time to eat their dogs and apparently if a dog misbehaves, it's days are numbered. You can imagine how shocking this was to us. And most different types of dogs taste the same, except for huskies, which taste better. We also learned a lot about the lives of families in Sapa. It certainly is not an easy life. While those rice paddies that go right to the top of mountains look beautiful, they are hard work to farm. And the whole family chips in. We saw a girl of about 4 years old busy collecting something, which we thought was for fun, but Pan told us she was collecting food for the animals. All the farms in this area are subsistence farms so the people eat the rice and vegetables they produce and the meat from the pigs, chickens and ducks that they rear (and let's not forget the dogs!). That night, we stayed in a traditional Homestay, which was at another guide's house, named May (pronounced Mai). There were other hikers staying there and we had quite a festive evening. Around the dinner table, we had people from Holland, France, Belgium, us South African-Londoners and of course the Vietnamese. After the home-cooked feast, we played Vietnamese card games and then Pan and May introduced us to 'happy water'. Happy water is home-made alcohol, we think from rice, which you drink as a shot. Every household makes their own and stores it in big barrels. As you are about to drink the shot, everyone raises their glasses and says, 'Mot Hai Ba Dzooo', with the 'Dzooo' said extra enthusiastically. Also known as 1, 2, 3 in English. A fun night was had by all. As we were about to leave the next morning, a TV crew showed up and filmed us chatting together at the Homestay. They also did a 5 minute interview with Lloyd, so we're looking out for ourselves on Vietnam TV! May and our new French friends, Vincent and Mari, were taking the same route that day, so we all hiked together. We did 16km, but this time it was tough going. We were asked if we wanted the easy route or something a bit more challenging. Being a fairly young group, we took the challenge but I don't think we knew what we were in for. We went quite high into the mountains, so the path went up and down very steep inclines and sometimes there was not much of a path at all. Sherilyn fell into the bushes once, and almost down the mountain (according to Lloyd) but luckily he was there to save the day. We were very happy to get to the Homestay that night and felt that our happy water was well-earned. The next Homestay was with a different family and as we arrived, we saw a pig being slaughtered. We were told that it was for a different group though, so we wouldn't get to taste the fresh pork! On the final day, we walked to one last village & then to a waterfall for a swim. We returned to Sapa where we had fun exploring the markets. We had a great time in Sapa, not only taking in the scenery, but also learning about the local people. They are hard-working, with simplistic lives and seem very happy. This creates a special atmosphere. We only hope that the rapid rate of development and exposure to the big, wide world does not ruin this. As we were about to board the bus back to Lau Cai, we realised that our overnight train tickets back to Hanoi were incorrect. When we left Hanoi, the conductor had taken our return ticket. We phoned around and after a bit of panicking decided to go to the station and see what happened. Much to our relief, when we got there, they didn't seem to mind at all that our ticket had the wrong date on it and we boarded the train with no issues. The train had some water pipe problems and there was water running through our carriage. Together with the bumpiness and the conductor telling us to lock the door to avoid our things being stolen, this made the trip back even more sleepless than the journey there. When we arrived back in Sapa after our hike and had connectivity with the rest of the world again, we realised that something was going on. We got quite a few messages asking where we were and if we were all right. This was the first we had heard of typhoon Haiyan, that was predicted to be the biggest storm to make landfall. We were scheduled to travel to Halong bay a few days later, but this was delayed due to the storm. So we spent an extra few days in Hanoi, which was quite good as we hadn't had a chance to explore any of the museums, etc yet. On our fist night back in the city, I tempted fate one too many times and was knocked by a motorbike as I stepped into the road. I wasn't hurt at all but was amazed that the motorbike stayed up. And now I can claim to be a victim of the famous Hanoi crazy bikes. That night we found an awesome restaurant where you braai (BBQ) your own food on your table. The following day, we set about sight-seeing. We were seeing some of the effects of the typhoon as the rain poured down. But that didn't stop us. First up was the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where you can view the body of Vietnam's first president. We also walked around the palace grounds, where you can see where he lived. The museum was interesting, although it didn't seem to tell a complete story of the country's history and we left with more questions than answers. We took a look at the aeroplanes and other vehicles captured during the various wars and then spent a while looking at the photos in the war museum. We had grown quite attached to the hustle and bustle of Hanoi and it's people by the time we left. But the weather had cleared and we were excited about our trip to the famous Halong Bay.