When the bus arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday morning we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. I had been warned by various people about how all tourists get ripped off in Hanoi, and taxi drivers and moto drivers are the biggest culprits. Me and four other guys eventually managed to get a taxi with a meter, but I was instantly surprised and concerned by the enthusiasm of the men hoarding around us to guide us into the metered taxi. It soon became clear why; the meter jumped up at astronomical rates. We had barely moved from the spot, but the price had already doubled up to 35,000 Dong. Ten weeks ago I would have just sat and dealt with it, but no-one in the car was prepared for that, including myself. We eventually arranged a fixed taxi price of 100,000 Dong. The driver still got a very good deal but at least we were not ripped off as badly as most people do.
After the taxi journey I settled into a lively dormitory and began to plan my day. I had hoped to go to the Ho Chi Minh complex, but visits to Ho's Mausoleum ended at 11am. This visit would have to wait. I therefore spent the day wandering around the old quarter of Hanoi, including a stroll around the lake and the Tortoise Pagoda. I also bought an afternoon ticket for the Water Puppets show. I had no idea what this show involved, but for the price it was an entertaining, if slightly surreal, hour. The accompanying live music was impressive, while the puppet show itself is quite clever. It took me a fair bit of thought to work out how the animated puppets were being controlled as they moved around above the water's surface.
That evening I spent with an interesting guy called Adam. Adam has lived in various interesting places including Paris, Burma and Leeds. He also is a personal friend of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a woman unjustly imprisoned in Burma who Damien Rice, amongst others, has campaigned to be freed.
On Wednesday I awoke early to visit the preserved body of Ho Chi Minh in his Mausoleum. Both Adam and the internet had warned me about the gnawing craving to giggle at the sight of the body, but this was always something I didn't quite understand. This soon changed. A visit to see Ho is very formal. Talking is prohibited, and just walking in I was ordered by a guard to put my arms back down by my side. The orderly line moved slowly into Ho's room and around the deceased body. To my surprise, the giggles started to come as the room came into sight. It's difficult to explain - possibly it's just the bizarre way we were orderly and solemnly walking in line to see a very bizarre sight - the smartly dressed dead body of an impeccably preserved man. When Ho was in view, however, the giggles were suppressed. To his credit he looked in good shape for a dead man! He could have passed on just yesterday!
After viewing the man himself it was time to go to the Ho Chi Minh museum. This was nothing short of mental. While the first floor seemed fairly normal, the larger upper floor is full of completely surreal and bizarre pieces of art. Without a guide, it's just nonsense. I wouldn't be surprised if even with a guide it would be complete nonsense. The rest of the day included the surprisingly dull Temple of Literature, and also The Museum of Ethnology. The latter museum was quite good, but viewing a museum about local tribes is always going to seem dull once you've already spent time actually being in a remote tribe.Hanoi unfortunately had done little to change my opinion of Vietnam. As of yet the country had been particularly underwhelming. Maybe it's just now taking more to excite me, but nevertheless there had been very little in Vietnam that had seemed worth a visit. This was possibly due to the size of the country; with so much to view and relatively little time, I never ventured off the beaten track where the better experiences are often found.
However, things would soon change. That night I boarded a sleeper train to Lao Cai. Here I met Tom from Israel. Once we arrived on Thursday morning, it wasn't long until we found ourselves on a mini bus and riding up the winding hill side roads towards Sapa, the trekking capital of Vietnam. The views should have been incredible, but not only were my eyes still sleepy, but we were now high up in the clouds. Sapa itself was also very foggy, as well as chilly. It's an extremely attractive town though, despite the rain which blemished the first morning. Colourfully clad local villagers seem to outnumber the tourists, which for them is unfortunate as they are mainly there to sell their locally made accessories and clothing.
On Thursday afternoon we donned our trekking shoes and explored nearby Cat Cat village. Although the nature of the village is sometimes blemished by the way it is geared to cater for visiting tourists, the village was incredible. The scenery was unbelievably beautiful, from the crop fields to the waterfall to the low lying clouds. Tom and myself then ventured to the following village which was also nice. In the evening we booked a trek for Friday, and relaxed in the evening.
On Friday our trek began. Once more the scenery excelled. The local villages were good, although more than ever they catered too much for tourists, spoiling the feeling that you were experiencing something genuinely rural. Nevertheless Friday was a great day. Vietnam was finally beginning to deliver. It was particularly good when we were able to veer off the usual tourist route and venture deeper into the hills. It was here, however, that we started to realise that the colourful clothing of the numerous villagers was probably for the sake of the tourists. The further into the hills we went, the more frequent jeans and t-shirts became.
In the evening we joined some locals in our homestay, and were quite forcefully encouraged to down shot after shot of local rice whisky. It actually wasn't quite as intolerable as some other local drinks I have sampled. The rest of the evening involved a fun variation of the card game Snap, and finally a good sleep despite the occasional huge and close rupture of thunder.
Saturday involved a little more trekking. It was once again spectacular if a little short-lived. Overall though, Sapa and its surroundings was an incredible place to visit, and by far my favourite place in Vietnam so far. Upon our return to the town, Tom and myself quickly began travelling once more, and now we find ourselves in Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay, ready for the final stage of Vietnam.
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