hanoi

Getting to Hanoi overland was straightforward. Bus to the 'friendship pass', get passport stamped (visa previously arranged in HK) and onto another bus. 8 hours. Nice and easy.

Vietnam was one of the countries I was most excited about seeing. Possibly due to its history and the films I have seen about the war. It's incredible to think that this country has managed repel all invaders, despite sometimes impossible odds. A country the size of Italy which has had 20 times more bombs dropped on it than all of WWII. Where 2 million Vietnamese died against the worlds most advanced military power. The Americans spent a colossal sum and still lost. These people, the Vietnamese must be something else. I think they are.

My first encounter with a Vietnamese was a moto-bloke offering to take me to my hotel. It was ironic that he should be wearing an army fatique with 'US ARMY' written on the chest. I declined the ride on political grounds. I kind of abandoned the girls from the Bundesbank after we found our hostel. I had little time or inclination for endless rounds of negotiations with street vendors. Then I met a girl from Ireland and a bloke form Korea. The Korean bloke knew the area a little so we took a look around together.

You would not believe how many scooters there are. There are no rules. They come from every direction, happily down the wrong side of the road, with impossible loads on the back, using a mobile, with four passengers and all at speed. If you hesitate when crossing you're in trouble. Add to it narrow streets and it all adds up to a crazy, noisy, smokey experience. Having a beer is easy but wait a moment and a half dozen hawkers will be all over you. Selling counterfeit books, particularly Lonely Planet, is a favourite. Besides being drunk and dodging traffic don't go hand-in-hand here.

I spent a lot of time looking for buildings over 40 years old. There aren't many in the countryside. Just tall narrow dwellings (something to do with tax) but fortunately, a lot remains of the old French colonial buildings in Hanoi. Plus the Presidential Palace is very impressive. Ho Chi Minh was quite shrewd to build a little wooden house beside it to demonstrate that he was down with the people. Got to see him in his mausoluem too. I lingered too long looking at him and was prodded on with the butt of an AK47. But that juts leaves me with one old commie to see now; Kim ll-Sun.

Met many more decent people on a boat trip through Halong Bay. It's an UNESCO world heritage sight with over 3,000 islands. Oh, some caves too! The weather could have been better but the views were still wonderful. But been stuck on a boat for three days, fed minimal rations, being confined to the boat most of the time wasn't my ideal. Their idea being that the punters will eventually give in and buy those Pringles at $3 a pop!

When I got back to Hanoi, I had planned on going to Sapa, a mountain retreat. But I forgot that Patricks Day was upon me and I felt it would be much better to get drunk in a boozer rather than on an overnight train. Motorcycle traffic pattern permitting! I found an Irish boozer readily enough. Entered the quiz (with korean bloke) and came third. Pretty poor as most of the punters were non-Irish. But it was a good night even if the music they played was terrible and the live band who were Austrialians did not know any Irish songs.