Vietnam: Hanoi

  Hanoi, Vietnam
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Hey all,

Sorry its been a while but the last few weeks I've been feeling kinda lazy. I made my way to Hanoi without any problems but got here just in time for Tet which is Vietnamese New Year. While it was a good time to get here the downside is that everything closes so I was unable to get into the museums and sights until the following week.

25 Coming back from the bike trip

I did manage to get to Ha-long Bay the day after arriving (Thursday) which I will make a separate entry for but after that the only proper sightseeing I was able to do had to wait until the following week. So the only option I was left with for the long weekend was to generally relax and have a good time. It was tough, a few too many drink were had , a song or two at the karaoke bars were sung (their everywhere here, and we suck at it),  but I managed to get through. 

I stayed in the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel which is a spot run by two Aussie guys. Its a great spot, the two guys are dead on and really helpful. That and the fact they have a Happy Hour every day from 5-6 and a BBQ up on the roof every Monday, Wednesday and Friday made it a really enjoyable stay. I have managed to meet a load of people here including an Irish guy called Mini, who's from Piltown, a group of 8 Aussies from Perth, a few more Swedes, Canadians, Germans etc. It has been a good laugh talking to these guys and it made the week in Hanoi so much fun.

30 Me on the back of my motorbike taxi

The costs in Vietnam are really cheap too with hotel and hostel room costing around 4 to 6 Eur a night. And by and large you get a really nice rooms for that. They also don't hassle you as much in the streets to buy stuff as they did in China. As you walk around the place nearly all the kids are smiling and shouting Hello at you, so all in all I really like this place.

Anyway after I got back from Ha-long Bay on the Friday it was time for a bit of Tet partying so we had a BBQ at the hostel, which included a beach party on the roof (there was beer involved when they came up with that idea), Diana the Canadian girl trying to teach me poll dancing (there was even more beer involved in that one) and a few party games before we all headed to the lake to watch the fireworks at 12.

The whole place was packed with people and when they did kick off it was met with cheers and claps from everyone along with shouts of Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Happy New Year).

10 Party in the Park and Sorcha

  I was there with the Aussie guys and we managed to gather a crowd,  due mainly to the fact that Sally who was celebrating her birthday was passing out kisses to the locals. The fireworks lasted for maybe 15 to 20 minutes and were pretty spectacular. The only problem with them was that after a while the exploded fireworks started to fall back down to earth and I ended up with a piece in my eye, which kinda hurt for a while but I fought on. The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet as most things were shut and just involved alot of chatting and a few drinks

On the Monday me and Michael, a Canadian guy I met in the hostel, rented a scooter and went for a ride around Hanoi and its countryside.

23 More views from the countryside

It was the perfect day to do it as the streets were still pretty quiet and really enjoyable  get out of the city for a few hours and see how things looked. The next day the museums started to open up so myself and an English guy called Steve hoped on the back of a few motorbike taxis(the only way to get around when in Vietnam) and went to all the major sights including The War Museum, HCMs Museum, HCMs House and a few parks along the way. The war museum was pretty impressive with planes and tanks that were used during the war as exhibits.

26 A Huey in the War Museum

The HCM museum contained mostly documents and diaries belonging to cadres or Vietnamese soldiers who fought in the war. It depicts the war through their eyes and even though their was translations for some things I think the significance of some of it was lost on me because of the language barrier.

After a week it was time to move on. The rain was starting to fall, well it was only a drizzle really but it was still time to get down south to the sun. So 16 hours on a bus here I come.....