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UK - China - Vietnam

10 November 2006

So, I've been in Vietnam now for three days and I can already say that I love this country – beautiful scenery, friendly people and everything from food to accommodation is 'cheap as chips' – and I love a bargain, ask any of my friends.

We arrived in Hanoi early in the morning after a 15 hour train journey from China and were going to be catching a train later that evening! So we were in limbo – as we couldn't book into a hotel and dump our bags, yet we didn't want to carry our luggage around with us.

Luckily we found luggage storage at the train station, so once our bags were safely locked away for the day (only costing about 50p), we set off to explore the bustling city of Hanoi. After consulting 'my bible' – the trusty 'Lonely Planet' to Vietnam, we decided to head towards the Old Quarter of the city. We chose to catch a taxi there as we were quite tired from all the travelling that we'd been doing and didn't fancy the long walk in the sweltering heat. And what an experience that was!

The roads here are crazy, but not with cars – with motorbikes and scooters – they're everywhere. Just trying to cross the road is a mission and a half – it’s like playing dodge ball, but much more dangerous. It seems that the Vietnamese (and the Chinese for that matter), don't take any notice of pedestrian crossings – they all just jump the red lights and no one seems to care.

The only advice I can give about crossing the road is to go slow – just shuffle your way across step by step; this then allows the driver to see you and go around you...

The taxi had dropped us by the Hoan Kiem Lake, which the centre of Hanoi is based around, very beautiful, yet not tranquil as there is a big road all the way around it – so you can hear all the whining and honking of horns, but it's still beautiful all the same.

The Old Quarter is characterised by its narrow streets and exploring this maze of streets was fascinating. Some streets opened up, while others narrowed into a warren of alleys. It was very commercialised though – with an abundance of shops selling everything and anything, all categorised into streets. I was very sensible though and kept my wallet firmly closed at all times – apart from when I had to feed myself.

The food is so good here, yet still so cheap – great! Well lunch was anyway. Unfortunately we made a bad choice at dinner time and decided to go to a restaurant that the 'Lonely Planet' recommended – uh oh, wish we hadn't. The food here was bland and the presentation was poor.

We arrived in Sapa at about 7am the following day and the first thing on our agenda was to have a shower. After we'd done that we realised that the flush on our toilet didn't work and they couldn't fix it – so they 'up graded' us to another room for no extra cost – woo hoo. This room was great – it had the most beautiful view of the mountains and rice fields. We were both still pretty wacked from the train journeys we'd been doing, so we thought we'd have a chilled day and do a spot of sightseeing and shopping in the town.

The villages in the valleys around Sapa are home to a host of hill-tribe people who all walk into Sapa to sell their goodies – from gorgeous hand sewn bags to home made jewellery. The main tribe that do this are the Black H’Mong’s – they are all so beautiful (see picture). It is mainly the mothers who make the goods and then the young daughters sell it and they are hard sellers and don’t give up very easily. It was always along the lines of: 'Hello ,You want this?' 'What your name', 'You buy from me later ok?'

This could go on for ages; they would follow you along the street just chatting away. They were all harmless enough and I actually enjoyed chatting with them as they all had great senses of humour and their English was fantastic. It's amazing really as they only go to school when they are very young to learn to read and write and then they leave to start their selling. And that is when they learn to speak English – from talking to people like me – the good old English tourist.

After dear mother had purchased a few gifts for people back home and me not being able to resist the temptation of another pair of earings – it was time to eat and then have an early night - as we had booked ourselves in for a trek in the mountains beginning at 9am.

That brings me to today, as I have just completed the trek, and what a trek it was. We were lucky with the weather in the fact that it wasn't too hot, and there was slight cloud coverage. We choose to hire a guide for the day and I'm so glad we did because he was able to tell us all about the lifestyles of the hill tribe people. We were also able to look around the Black H'Mong’s village – in their school and even in someone's house.

Did you know that it's 90% boys at the schools there, as the parents have to pay for their children to attend and can usually only afford to send the one child. Over here, the boys are deemed more important than girls, because they grow into men - and in their eyes men are better, as they are stronger.

You'll also find that the girls here will marry and start a family at a very young age, at around 15 years old, so there is no point in them attending school – ummm, well each to their own hey!

The Government is trying to crack down on this and make them wait till they are at least 17 years old, but whether they'll manage this, who knows. There is also another Government rule that they're trying to enforce - and that is a 'two child policy' for all families. In the cities it is stuck to, but in the hill tribes it isn't. They want more children so they can help with the farming, etc.

The Chinese also have a similar policy – but theirs is only one child. That is due to the country being so ‘over populated’ and it is one of the only ways they can stop the country getting even more ‘rammed full’ ofÌý people.

Back to the trek: when we were in the Black H'Mong village we looked around a mud brick school that consisted of just two rooms and a few rickety benches and tables - and also one family’s home. This too was mud brick and so dark and, (I hate to say it), dirty. But what do you expect when the floor is just like the floor outside and they lead an outdoor life – traipsing in and out from working on their crops and looking after their animals.

Whilst in their home I watched as they tended to their fire in their kitchen. It was a wood burning fire, which had a big pot which hung over the top of it. Then above the fire they had a place to store all the wood that they collected, so it kept dry until they needed to use it. Everything is so basic and I don't think that more than 50% of people back home could imagine living a life like this, but they all seem so happy there and that is the main thing!

During this walk we ended up walking about 10 miles and it was hard going, as the heavens opened at one point and this made all the muddy paths awfully slippery. Well, that brings me to the end of today, so I will temporarily sign off…..till next time!