I can't believe that my trip is almost over! It feels like we've barely been gone, but also like we've done so much in the past week and a half. We started in Hanoi and I must say, I'm glad that I spent some time in Thailand before hitting this city. The traffic is absolutely insane! I've gotten quite good at just walking right into oncoming traffic and assuming that the motorbikes (there are very few cars here) are going to drive right around me...and they always have, so far anyway.
traffic in Hanoi
We didn't do much in Hanoi, other than buy a ton of bootlegged movies for super cheap (I got the entire series of Seinfeld for $10...and it actually works!) After Hanoi we headed down to Ha Long Bay, where we took a boat tour of the bay.
Ha Long Bay
We spent the first day just sailing around and seeing the sights, then we slept on the boat (which was fun, except that Krista and I had an uninvited visitor, we're pretty sure in the form of a rat, in the middle of the night in our room. We heard it scratching at the foot of my bed, and there was no power so we couldn't even turn on the lights to see in our windowless cabin...it was really quite horrible and scary). The next day we took a tour of some really huge caves and grottos before heading back to land and back to Hanoi.
at the caves in Ha Long BayWe were back in Hanoi for a few hours before boarding an overnight train to Sapa, in Northern Vietnam. We spent two days there hiking and learning about the culture and the people.
the countryside that we hiked in Sapa
It was really interesting, and we had a fabulous tour guide named Gom who was only 17 years old, but one of the wisest people that I had ever met. We spent most of our two days with her and she told us about her village, her culture and her life. She told us about how her parents had arranged a marriage for her, but she didn't want to get married so she convinced her future husband to call it off (this was the only way that it could be called off) She also talked to us about how she felt that it was unfair that women had to do most of the work in the village while the men did very little. It was really interesting to hear her perspective on things, because she had grown up in this little village that had now been turned into a tourist attraction. She had a very intersting mix of perspectives because she was constantly surrounded by the culture of the tourists that constantly passed through the village, which had made her question the ways of her own culture, but still had a lot of respect for her culture and the traditions of her village. She also had some of the best English that we encountered, and had never taken an English lesson in her life. Everything that she knew she had learned by talking to tourists. She took us hiking all through the countryside and even took us to her own village to show us her house and introduce us to her family. I would say that Sapa was definitely the highlight of the trip for me.
a baby that we met along one of our hikes in Sapa
After Sapa, we headed down south to the city of Hue. We were only here for a day, and mainly went to see the caves where the Vietnamese people lived during the war. It was crazy that people lived in these tiny tunnels for up to five years, I was scared and feeling clausterphobic and we were only in there for 20 minutes!
the tunnels near Hue
After Hue we headed down to Hoi An, which is the tailor capital of Vietnam. They make everything and anything that you want in a matter of hours. We went a little crazy and had to actually book our bus tickets in order to force ourselves to leave! We spent a ton of money, but got a ridiculous amount of clothing. The best part was that we could design the clothing ourselves and they would make it exactly as we wanted. We got shorts and shirts for $10, dresses for $12 and pants for $15, it was great. I even got a pair of leather boots (real leather!) custom made for my feet and legs for $30. It was hard to leave, but we knew that it was time...
Krista and I in our new tube tops
Now we're in Nha Trang, the most beautiful beach in Vietnam, and it's raining! We went to a spa this afternoon with mudbaths and hot mineral pools for about $4. I still can't get over how cheap everything is here!
We're leaving Nha Trang tomorrow and heading on down to Saigon/Ho Chi Min City to visit some more war sites and museums before heading back to Bangkok on the 25th.
It has been a whirlwind, but I have had a really good two weeks. I am looking forward to going back home to Bangkok to see everyone again and to be back in my apartment. I have really begun to feel at home in Bangkok and I think that it is going to be quite hard to leave. I only have two more months left here, one in Bangkok and one travelling the South of Thailand. It seems like a long time, but it's going to completely fly by!
I'll try to post some more pics when I get back to Bangkok.
Nicole and Krista thinking about crossing the street
Nicole and Krista excited to have successfully crossed the street
water puppets in Hanoi
when Krista asked our tour guide if these dogs were safe for playing with, she said, "
our Sapa group
carrying anything and everything on a motorbike
