Ouch my wallet!

Trip Start Sep 19, 2002
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Trip End Sep 22, 2003


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Flag of Vietnam  ,
Friday, May 16, 2003

16th May - On waking LJ decided she couldn't walk after her exploits of the previous day and so we decided on a lazy day. Why is it that a lazy day for women has to involve shopping? We wandered into town where we were soon surrounded by Hmong women and girls touting their wares. It soon became clear to them that I was not one for earings and bracelets and so they left me alone (all except the toothless old women who seemed to like me!). LJ made the mistake of showing some interest and so was surrounded by about 15 sellers. I decided to take a photo and I was soon joined by some other cameramen who thought it would make a great photo. At one point LJ bumped into one of the ladies who said "Oi, you very fat" and then grabbed LJ's bum and gave it a good squeeze. Anything for a sale eh? On the previous day an American girl had her boobs grabbed by one of the Hmong ladies to the call of "Big girl". The Hmong are not known for their large hands and so didn't try this with LJ. After a few purchases we escaped to a cafe but the girls waited outside and peered in through the window waving. One enterprising girl then ran round the other side of the building from where she could call to us. With no other choice we had to brave the streets again and LJ proceeded to empty my wallet amongst the locals. We later saw a tourist who had bought some of the clothes and worn them before setting the natural dyes. He looked like a blue version of Shrek!

Later in the afternoon we boarded our bus for the return journey to Hanoi, being waved off by our newly found (bought) friends. I have decided to cut off LJ's little fingers so that she cannot "pinky promise" the cashiers at Marks and Spencers when we get home. Had a bit of a wait in Lao Cai before the train which we filled having some dodgy noodles. The train was even grottier than before but there were no hairy legs as we shared with a young Vietnamese couple (Vietnamese women apparently have no body hair - so I've been told) who went to sleep at about 8.00pm.

17th - Arrived in Hanoi at 5.30am in time to see everyone doing their exercises by the lake. Managed to wake up the hotel staff to get our key and promptly fell asleep til lunch-time. We had some lunch and then slept til dinner.

18th - Our last day in Hanoi. The previous day we had decided we couldn't leave without buying some cheap CDs. Only problem was we don't have a cd player with us so we had to go shopping for one of those too. After walking round many shops we eventually came away with a Sony that plays cds, vcds and MP3 cds for about 25 quid. We then relieved ourselves of another 13.50 quid buying 34 cds and a case to carry them in. Obviously the cds are all copies but that doesn't matter over here, you just have to check to make sure it is a good forgery. This newfound music seems to have cured LJ's homesickness so maybe it is a good investment. In the evening it was back to the station to catch a train south to Hue. This time we had decided to take the hard sleeper where there are 6 people to a cabin and more cockroaches. I'm sure that if you took a hard seat it would be crafted from cockroaches! The bunks are 3 storied and we had the top ones which give you about 2 feet between the bed and the ceiling - nice!
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