Vietnam: The land of no traffic signs.

After our hellish bus ride, we finally ended up in Hanoi - Vietnam's capital and main major city. Since we needed some backpacker-style pampering, we decided to splurge on arrival and stay in a $10 dollar/night hotel, as opposed to a $3 dollar/night hostel. It was HEAVEN..Air conditioning, our own beds (instead of the cosy queen-sized bed the three of us had been sharing the entire trip thus far), and an English movie channel...What more could you ask for?

 

Us holding heaps of Dong upon arrival in Hanoi- FYI: Dong is Vietnam's currency ;)

We adored Hanoi. It was a hustling bustling city that strangely reminded us of New York. The streets were thin and decorated with lights and lanterns and red Vietnamese flags. We felt the energy right from the get go. The main difference we noticed was that THERE ARE NO ROAD RULES. The only rule is: just go. Seriously, if you are driving through an intersection you just go. If you are a pedestrian crossing the street you just go. It was TERRIFYING at first but you get used to it. If you show any sign of hesitation, you will most likely get run over. People just go around you. Oh and they LOVE the horns. There are a thousand different versions. Our favourite was the fader horn (Aka a special edition horn that goes from really loud to soft from a single touch of the button).

In the middle of the street right near our hostel.

One of the cool things about Hanoi is that all of the locals eat their meals on the side walk on little plastic stools. There is this one street corner where you can buy 4 beers for $1, so we went and sat like the locals on these little stools and drank our beer and people watched. It was incredible. When there are no driving rules, people watching can get intense. Bikes were criss-crossing all over the place. Also, the things that people put on the back of their bikes is abstruse...such as massive bags of rice, a chest of draws, 1-year old-children, and boxes the size of a small fridge. And you thought Asians were bad drivers.

4 Beers for 1 Dollar. YUM.

Motor bikes EVERYWHERE.

Street food looking tasty as ever. NOT.

Our English friend enjoying a "Chip Butty" (french fry sandwich).

There is a wonderful lake in the middle of the city, and in the centre of the lake is an island with a stone monument. Supposedly, the king built this temple dedicating it to a tortoise. The legend goes as follows: back in the 15th century the Mongols were attacking Hanoi, so the king went to the lake and a tortoise came up and provided the king with a sword. With this sword the King defeated the Mongols and returned to the lake to give the sword back to the tortoise. The sword is supposedly still in the lake and the occasional tortoise spotting reminds the Hanoi people of victory against the Mongolians.  There you go, a little history lesson!

Tortoise Temple.

Some ice cream by the Tortoise Lake.

We continued to walk around Hanoi, and came across every woman/girl/metrosexual/homosexual's fantasy: Shoe Village. The entire street was packed with shoes coming from every direction. Every style, colour and knock-off brand imaginable. Obviously, we spent some much-needed time in shoe village...highly recommended.

Shoe HEAVEN.

That night, we decided to check-in to Hanoi Backpacker's hostel with some of the friends we had met. It was a $3 dollar/night, mixed (boys and girls) dorm-room style hostel. Quite the experience - and definitely the place to stay in Hanoi if you are backpacking. We all went out to this club, which looked small at the front, but opened up into a massive dance floor. Party, partyyy. What a phenomenal way to spend October 30^th.  

Hostel Friends.

Dance, Dance, Dance.

Next stop, 8AM wake-up call for our 3 day, 2 night cruise in Halong Bay..To Be Continued.

Much Love,

Leigh & Chloe

Honk Your HORN More, BUDD

Wellll hello folks!!!!

So finally, (and when I say FINALLY..I mean it), we are in Hanoi, Vietnam. The route to Hanoi from Vang Vieng was not an easy task, nor should it be taken by anyone. EVER.
So, as you can probably see by Chloe's posts, Vang Vieng was like a Wonderland for adults. Probably 5 of the best days of our lives. If you come to Southeast Asia and you do not go tubing in Vang Vieng, then you are a LoooooSER and you are missing out big time. Words, not even pictures, can describe the amount of good times we had, and the amazing people we met. We will try to post some more pics soon.

Anyways, like I said, we ended up meeting a bunch of other people in Vang Vieng who told us they were hitting up this place called Halong Bay in Vietnam. They were planning on taking a 3 day, 2 night party boat/cruise which would be stopping at all of the beaches and islands (along with kayaking, snorkling, etc.)..and obviously we HAD to go with them. So, we ended up foregoing our plans to go to Luang Prabang (another city in Laos), and staying another phenom night in Vang Vieng, so that we could leave on the 28th on a 24 hour bus over to Hanoi.

So we got on a mid sized bus in Vang Vieng at 1:30 PM, which drove us 4 hours to Vientiene (the main area of Laos where most buses/planes depart from). When we got to Vientiene, we caught the 6:00 PM sleeper bus which would be taking us to Hanoi (a 24-hour ride). We all got settled in our own little 'bunks'..Jocelyn and I were in the back of the bus (right besise the toilet...yum), along with one other passenger in a 3-person bunk. Very cozy. Chloe got a solo sleeper bunk (there were two layers of bunks - a layer on the floor and a layer on the top). Anyways, after a 6-hour delay at the Vietnamese border, and hours of horn-honking later (the Vietnamese people honk their horns at all times. Why? I don't know)..we finally made it to Hanoi 32 hours after our departure from Vientiene. Overall, it was the experience that we will always remember, but we will also go down in the books as the girls who conquered one of the "Top 5 Worst Bus Routes in the World". BEAT THAT.

                                      My view of the top row from the back of the sleeper bus.