Hanoi - (Lao Cai) - Bac Ha

11/11/12 - That was a long and painful night.

Our first breakfast in Vietnam that a lady gave us (as we looked probably anxious and curious when she opened one of those for herself)... Still not too sure what it was, but we were starving at this point so we hat it all.

After 8 hours journey (bus+minibus+cab), we reached Hanoi and the crazy atmosphere of the Old Quarter where we had a nice (street food) meal and our first beer for 5000 dong (15 pence). We also found a hotel for just 10 U$ dollar per night through a very nice thai man (wearing a Popeye jacket) who had come all the way with us on the nightmare bus (he was 58 and had to sleep on the bus for two nights in a row, not a very nice start to his holiday). The room was on the top floor with balcony and a hot shower… just what we needed.

13/11/12 – The next morning, the sounds of the busy traffic and horns woke us up in the early hours. We had a soup for breakfast and learnt how to cross the road without being injured by one (or two) of the millions of motorbikes racing through the capital.

We visited a Water Puppet show (and learnt a new dance, Cham style), the Temple of Literature, The West Lake, its temple and also some nice restaurants…. We stayed 3 days there, but every morning before we went to go out of our hotel into the street, we took a moment to breath in and out. The thought of all the noise and traffic was a bit of a headache and we thought about taking a Nurofen 400 beforehand. It would have been fine if we could walk on the pavements which Hanoi did have, but they were full of motorbikes parked there (which meant that as a pedestrian, we had to walk on the road). 

On our last day in Hanoi we watched the new James Bond film at the cinema (thumbs up except that Embankment is not on the Jubilee line, at least not when we left).  We saw some nice shots of London which reminded us of home and how peaceful it is there in comparison to the mad chaos of Hanoi. Even when watching the movie, we knew we were far from home, with people snoring after 5 minutes from start and answering their mobile phone to have a chat with their mate.

15/11/12-17/11/12 – We took an overnight train to Lao Cai (3km from the Chinese border) and headed to Bac Ha where a lot of hill tribes live nearby. We went for a little trek solo, after visiting the tourist centre (one guy with a laptop and no leaflets/maps available), where the guy drew us a map and told us where we could go.

It was relaxing 8km walk even though it was raining. We came back before dark and had a meal in a local restaurant where we had a chat with a few other guys eating at the next table. The young waiter who served us sat with us (without asking) to practice his english (which was very poor), but he was very nice and even offered us tea before we left (he seemed to like us a lot and wanted us to stay as long as possible).

We went to bed early and could hear the heavy rain outside to swing our dreams.

The next day, I went to Cam Cau by scooter 20 km away from the town to go to a H’mong local market. (Dave didn’t feel well so stayed at the hotel to rest). I didn’t realise that the rain did some massive damage to the road. After 10km, I asked a guy standing outside his house if I was going in the right direction. I was and it cost me as I had to give him a lift to the market… I couldn’t refuse but I wished I had as the road got worse. He was chatting to me in Vietnamese all the way, when I was trying to focus on the road.
Eventually, we stopped as there was some work being done on the road (I learned later that it was a restricted road). Lots of motorbikes and cars were waiting for the “green light” to go because 15 centimetres of red and wet clay was covering this section of the road. I saw quite a few cars sliding as I struggled to go up the hill and also a few motorbikes on the floor with their drivers. The front wheel of my scooter got stuck due to the mud and I fell as well with my new friend behind me. None of us got hurt as we were going quite slowly. We tried to remove as much mud as we could and we got on again, with the guy in front this time. We fell again and he left, saying that Can Cau wasn’t too far… 4 km or so. I met a French woman soon after who was going up by foot as her minivan was stuck further down. She saw me covered in mud and asked me if I was alright. She suggested for me to leave the motorbike on the side and keep going by foot… I thought that was an excellent idea and followed her advice.

Now on my way to the market by foot, some local people were looking at me with a big smile or even laughing (I was a real mess), but I was finally in this very colourful and fascinating market.