Hello all-
SO MUCH to say...but not so much time. Here's the quick and dirty:
Day 1:
Met a young girl (Sofie from Denmark) in the HK airport with the same Vietnam travel book as me so I went and talked to her - she's been traveling with her friend for a couple of months but her friend got sick and is in the hospital in HK, so she was moving on without he after two weeks in the hospital. Scary!! We arrived in Hanoi around 10am, and I had a car arranged to take us to the hostel - I thought that might be a good idea since this is my first experience in a third world country alone - haha. (And it WAS a good decision - the airport is out in the middle of nowhere, miles from the city of Hanoi!) My hostel is such a cool place...all young people doing the same thing we are. We set off to see the city on foot...I had a walking tour mapped out in the book so we followed it -- aboslutely amazing.
This guy LOVED us! Haha... I don't think they see a lot of young white girls walking around here? He followed us for a couple of blocks, trying to get us to get in his little cart. It didn't happen. :)
Met a young (white) guy on the streets - walked up to us and asked where I got my book...so he stayed with us. Having my Lonely Planet Vietnam book in my hands at all times has turned out good! :) He is Hans, 26, from Holland. We kept walking, ate some lunch at a local place - or not so much a place as a spot on the side of the street selling food through a window. But either way, they all just loved us and were so friendly!
Again, I really get the feeling they don't get a whole lot of tourists in the areas we were! :) The women took our travel book and tried to talk to us in Vietnamese...very interesting. They would point to words and then try to say them. Not much got accomplished - haha!
All the guys loved me and Sofie and kept taking pictures with us...it was HILARIOUS!! They were drinking beers and just laughing and talking - no idea what they were saying, but they definitely wanted lots of pictures and kept pointing to my eyes. I think they like light eyes / hair.
We shopped some - found a massive local market that was just insane. I bought a North Face backpack (knock-off, I'm sure) for a few bucks. Sofie assured me I needed to carry something around OTHER THAN my leather purse - haha! Pretty obvious this is my first non-business trip by myself! AND she told me I need to wear it on my FRONT, not on my back, because people walk by and slice it and take everything! So anyways, now I have ANOTHER bag, already filled with stuff I bought -- just what I needed! ;) We had some ice cream, walked around a beautfiul lake, had dinner at another local place (no idea what I've been eating here - I mean none AT ALL).
Went to bed at the hostel...no sleep...stray cats fighting outside the dorm room ALL night (5 sets of bunk beds - 10 girls in one room with one tiny bathroom for $6/night -- LOVE IT). Oh yea - and here is what your feet look like after walking around the dirty streets of Hanoi Vietnam in flip flops all day...
SO MUCH to say...but not so much time. Here's the quick and dirty:
Day 1:
Met a young girl (Sofie from Denmark) in the HK airport with the same Vietnam travel book as me so I went and talked to her - she's been traveling with her friend for a couple of months but her friend got sick and is in the hospital in HK, so she was moving on without he after two weeks in the hospital. Scary!! We arrived in Hanoi around 10am, and I had a car arranged to take us to the hostel - I thought that might be a good idea since this is my first experience in a third world country alone - haha. (And it WAS a good decision - the airport is out in the middle of nowhere, miles from the city of Hanoi!) My hostel is such a cool place...all young people doing the same thing we are. We set off to see the city on foot...I had a walking tour mapped out in the book so we followed it -- aboslutely amazing.
This guy LOVED us! Haha... I don't think they see a lot of young white girls walking around here? He followed us for a couple of blocks, trying to get us to get in his little cart. It didn't happen. :)
This lady was selling TOADS! Yes, that bag is full of toad trying to hop around!
Met a young (white) guy on the streets - walked up to us and asked where I got my book...so he stayed with us. Having my Lonely Planet Vietnam book in my hands at all times has turned out good! :) He is Hans, 26, from Holland. We kept walking, ate some lunch at a local place - or not so much a place as a spot on the side of the street selling food through a window. But either way, they all just loved us and were so friendly!
Again, I really get the feeling they don't get a whole lot of tourists in the areas we were! :) The women took our travel book and tried to talk to us in Vietnamese...very interesting. They would point to words and then try to say them. Not much got accomplished - haha!
All the guys loved me and Sofie and kept taking pictures with us...it was HILARIOUS!! They were drinking beers and just laughing and talking - no idea what they were saying, but they definitely wanted lots of pictures and kept pointing to my eyes. I think they like light eyes / hair.
We shopped some - found a massive local market that was just insane. I bought a North Face backpack (knock-off, I'm sure) for a few bucks. Sofie assured me I needed to carry something around OTHER THAN my leather purse - haha! Pretty obvious this is my first non-business trip by myself! AND she told me I need to wear it on my FRONT, not on my back, because people walk by and slice it and take everything! So anyways, now I have ANOTHER bag, already filled with stuff I bought -- just what I needed! ;) We had some ice cream, walked around a beautfiul lake, had dinner at another local place (no idea what I've been eating here - I mean none AT ALL).
Random side note: Crossing the streets here has turned in to be quite the fiasco. Pedestrians absolutely do NOT have the right of way here! It's damn near impossible to be honest. Hans made it - barely - and was standing on the other side laughing at Sofie and I trying to cross. Sofie actually got hit! I mean barely, the motorbike slowed way down, but they still ran in to her and started screaming at us in whatever language it is they speak here! It was kind of scary - kind of funny :)
I decided I REALLY wanted to ride on a motorcycle here. So Hans and I traded cameras to take pictures of each other and Sofie held on to me for dear life...it was one of the most fun things I think I've ever done. I can't even describe it -- there are 5mm people in Hanoi and 3mm motorbikes. It's like rush hour traffic in NYC only ALL motorbikes and no road signs or many stoplights...craziest thing I think I've ever done - such an adrenaline rush to be here in Vietnam, on a motorbike with a random guy, haha! We rode around town for awhile with two Vietnamese guys we just met on the streets. (A lot of people wear masks to avoid breathing in all the fumes - we figured we'd be alright without them!)
Went to bed at the hostel...no sleep...stray cats fighting outside the dorm room ALL night (5 sets of bunk beds - 10 girls in one room with one tiny bathroom for $6/night -- LOVE IT). Oh yea - and here is what your feet look like after walking around the dirty streets of Hanoi Vietnam in flip flops all day...
We are off to Halong Bay tomorrow! Will write more when I get back!
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