Vietnam recap

Well, two months down, and so much more has happened. Vietnam has been pivotal in my travels, I know that already. It has shown me so many different things, offered me so many different experiences and left me with a deep sense of loss at having to leave. 

Again the people I have met have made this part of the trip and some of the things I've seen wil never be describable to people back home.

So my highlights of each place:

HANOI - 28th July - 31st July and 02nd August - 04th August

Top 5 moments:

- Meeting Dutch chaps, Matthijs, Jordy and Sèbastien.

- The Old Quarter.

- The Water Puppet show.

- Hoa Lo Prison.

- The street food.

SAPA - 01st August - 02nd August

Top 5 moments:

- The Sapa Squad.

- The trekking through rice fields and villages.

- Being conned out of 400,000 VND.

- Za, our tour guide.

- The epic games of Mafia at the home stay.

HALONG BAY - 04th August - 06th August

Top 5 moments:

- Sitting up all night with the stars, waiting for sunrise.

- Kayaking.

- Cat Ba Island.

- Swimming at night.

- Monkey Island.

PHONG NHA - 07th August

Top 5 moments:

- Riding a motorcycle for the first time.

- Zip lining and caving.

- Meeting Danish double, Anne and Julie.

- Easy Tiger.

- The landscape.

HUÈ - 08th August - 09th August

Top 5 moments:

- The Indian restaurant.

- Playing Jenga in a nightclub.

- Banana pancakes!

- Hiring motorcycles for the ride to Hoi An.

- Julie and Anne crashing the bike within 30 seconds of leaving the hire place.

HOI AN - 09th August - 15th August

Top moments (there's more than five because there were too many to pick from):

- Suits - selecting, fitting and buying.

- Falling down the stairs in Why Not club.

- Cargo - the best desserts in town.

- Spraying Sèbastien with the bidet hose.

- Convincing Sèbastien to stay on with us all the way to the end.

- Losing the bike lock and having to saw it off.

- Meeting Mr Xè.

- Watching Dayana eat crab and explain why she's never seen any Disney movies.

- Playing the Green and Black / CB game with Julie.

NHA TRANG - 16th August

Top 5 moments:

- Funky Monkey boat trip.

- Snorkelling with fish and sea snakes.

- Karaoke.

- Vegetarian dinner place.

- The poached regs at breakfast - finally, someone who can cook an egg well!

DALAT - 17th August - 19th August

Top 5 moments:

- Canyoning.

- The Crazy House.

- The bed bug terror.

- Winning with Julie at pool against Sèbastien, Jordy and Anne.

- The Bee Bar

MUI NE - 19th August - 20th August

Top 5 moments:

- Duning and quad biking.

- The beachside hostel.

- The live music bar.

- The relaxation.

- The food.

HO CHI MINH / SAIGON - 21st August - 23rd August

Top 5 moments:

- Cu Chi War Tunnels.

- Walking Tour.

- War Museum.

- AB Tower sky bar.

- Last drink with the Crazy Gang.

Vietnam was something really special, I'll never be able to go anywhere without remembering it. A special thanks to everyone I met this time around, and a extra special thanks to Jordy, Sèbastien, Anne Banana and Lady Julie - you guys made this for me!

Special notes:

Matthijs - You are a down to earth guy, my friend. It was great meeting you in Hanoi and Hoi An and I'm glad we had some good talks over beers. I hope to see you in England one day or perhaps when I come to The Netherlands. All the best.

Dayana - Thanks for the banter and for entertaining me when you ate crab. If I still know you in a year, and you still haven't watched a Disney Movie, I'm going to send you every Disney Classic to watch. I swear! Good luck in London and stay away from Budapest!

To the members of my crazy gang:

Jordy - What a guy! Your organisational skills, diplomacy and general zest for life is something that made you easy to be around.

I want to give you a big thanks for pushing me to do all that crazy crap, like kayaking around giant islands in Halong Bay, zip lining, cave swimming and motorbiking in Huè and all the way to Hoi An, getting me to buy ANOTHER suit from Mr Xè, abseiling off huge rocks and especially for telling me not to be a pussy and giving me the motivation to do the 11 metre cliff dive! 

Thank you buddy and I look forward to visiting you in The Netherlands and for you to come to Old Trafford to watch a United game with me!

Sèbastien - What's happening Ricki? Watching you go from being conservative in every respect to a maverick with a cavalier attitude in just under four weeks has been a pleasure.

We may have done the Rush Hour impressions to death, but we ruled them. Thanks for being my wing man on the joke front, for giving me a good run for my money at pool, for sharing my indulgence of food at all times of the day and especially for singing 'Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough' with me at Karaoke. I'll never forget that.

Equally, thanks for staying with the group in Hoi An. It wouldn't have been the same without you if you'd left, and sorry for sending your food back to waste time and for orchestrating you missing your flight. I did it for the gang.

As with Jordy, I'll see you in The Netherlands and when you come over to England for the game . . . And Johnson, what panties you wearing man?

Anne Banana - Ah, what an angel. Your happy demeanour and fun style of living just made it impossible for me to dislike anything about you. 

I'm always going to remember wrapping you in a white towel and cradling you just because we all wanted to see your baby face in that scenario and your giggling in the night when I was trying to go to sleep. Talking to you was so easy and I'm glad we had the chance to travel the majority of Vietnam together, seeing some crazy stuff and both of us learning how to ride bikes. You rocked it.

One thing I'll also never forget is your ability to steal my things. In our time together, you took precisely three towels, two door keys and a bar of my soap. It was lucky I was aware really.

Keep those smiles coming and I'll see you in Copenhagen! That's a promise.

Lady Julie - Best until last they say. The way in which you can look like you're going to kill me and then produce this sweet smile is something I'll really miss.

At times I know you were missing home and the people there but without you in the group, I wouldn't have had someone who could attempt to bring my energy levels down (sorry but like all others, you failed, but nice try).

Our bus trips and sleeping arrangements are going to take some time to get used to not having. It was always fun playing the green and black / CB game, doing impressions of your voice and learning Danish with you. I'm practicing still, I swear. I won't miss you pouring water over me, pinching or punching me. Oh, and I definitely won't miss you asking me to repeat everything five times.

I'll miss you Lady, and I'll really miss applying the antiseptic gel to your cut. It was the highlight of my day.

Keep your eyes open - one day, I might just appear in Denmark for surprise piña coladas!

Best of luck to you all, and thanks. You made my Vietnam trip!

Day 40 - More rain, more trekking and goodbye to Sapa

The Sapa Squad.

Day 40 - 02nd August

It was just after seven when I actually woke up, a cat miaowing repetitively and children's cries contributing to the disturbance of my sleep.

The local church.

Around 8 am, I got up and went downstairs. It was still raining heavily and only Za and her family were awake. I stood out and looked across the valley at the mountains. What a way to wake up! After a discussion with Za, I went to look at the local village. Hearing the local church-goers singing hymns, I went to see what a mountain church looked like, and it turns out, it's not that much different. The only exceptions being the building has corrugated iron sheets for walls and roofs, the seats are plastic chairs or benches with no back and their is no alter, just a reverend standing in a space up front. Other than that, it's no different, yet it was still bizarre to see it in a different language.

When I headed back for breakfast, Jordy was next up. I told him I'd balls up (again) thinking breakfast was at 8:30 am instead of the agreed time of 9:30 am but all was forgotten quickly when those amazing pancakes came out with banana and honey. It was so much better than the crap the hotel gave me, which had been just round discs of uncooked batter, forcing me to swallow it down with large gulps of water. Everyone ate them with tea or coffee and morale in the group for the second day of hiking was good, even despite the rain.

Another great view.

We met Za's husband and I asked about the story of how they met. She said they met on New Year's Eve and were dressed in sparkly attire. They were in the same tribe, the Zi tribe but lived five hours apart. Long story short, they married and at 20 (Za) and her husband (22) they now have a bambino. Ahhhh.

This picture does it no justice!

We set off and soon saw how much it had rained as mini waterfalls gushed over pathways and roads. Dylan didn't hesitate to walk through it, and soon, the herd followed, with a few taking off shoes and socks to cross the rushing water. With a majority of wet feet and soggy socks, we made our way to the waterfall.

The waterfalls.

Rickety old bridges, talking to U.S. Zach about teaching in Korea and George jumping up and down on the crossing bridge to wobble it made it more fun to get to the waterfall but once we arrived, all the slips and chaos were worth it. It was an incredible view and we all had great opportunity to get some good shots of it.

Serious egg cooking problems in Vietnam. It's all rusty.

Another mini trek and we reached our lunch stop. We had fried eggs on a noodle broth. A strange combination but tasty all the same. The broth was followed by bananas for desserts. Dylan managed to draw the local population of child sellers (serious, bloody a huge group of 'em) and haggled with them for bracelets. Soon, the creepy, doll voices came out from the day before, 'you want a bracelet, buy one from me.' A funny experience, especially when he tried to get them to play rock, paper, scissors for them.

The crazy kids.

And that was our two days of trekking done. Gone by in a flash, as I notice everything does when you're enjoying every second. I also noticed when you're not having fun, whatever that thing is you're doing takes an eternity, and the bumpy bus back to the Sapa View Hotel was brutal. Bouncing up and down and hitting myself in the nuts with a bottle of water made it all the more harder (no joke intended!)

Za, our Tour guide.

I found the postcard for Nanna (expect in 10 days or so, Ethel darlinnn') and we boarded the bus back with boiled eggs (just imagine the smell) to Hanoi and a nice hot shower and bed. Nope, I'm not sharing with Jordy and Sèbastien. I was in a six bed dorm with three French men, a German and English woman. And we had a wet room instead of a shower! And the French men had left wet foot marks everywhere and beard trimmings. Perfect!

Another great couple of days, with glorious views, great people and memories a plenty. Thanks to all involved!

Day 39 - Sapa trekking.

The breakfast stop.

Day 39 - 01st August

So we arrived in Sapa just beyond six am. It was raining! Damn this wet season.

The villages below. Stunning.

Our group was assembled: me (obviously) Sebastian and Jordy (Dutch guys), Dylan, Matt, George and Zach as well as Lauren (England), Ania and Katherina (Austrian), another Zach (USA) and Bulgaria (Dayana from Bulgaria). Our guide, Za took us from the hotel where we had a light breakfast until 8:30 am, carrying her baby and being assisted by 7 other guides.

Some of our guides.

Our guide, Za and her baby. He was adorable.

The trek began rainless and the views were beautiful. I have never seen a place so magnificent with natural beauty. The rice and corn fields were a ripple of green, running down the hills towards the river. Everyone managed to fall over at times, some incidents looking more painful than others, but Lauren flew the flag for the English and managed to make the journey without a slip or trip.

The locals were friendly and welcomed us warmly, before children approached us with bracelets and rings, asking in doll like, repetitive tones, 'Buy one from me.' Actually they were more zombie like but we managed to resist the urge. Jordy pointed out by buying from children it was like supporting child labour. It's tough when faced with such a small child and a heartbreaking expression on their face. Perhaps I'm too soft.

We trekked for four hours before reaching our checkpoint. We were due to have lunch but prior to this, we were asked if we wanted to buy anything from our guide women. As usual, I paid out the most to my guide, who had been incredibly helpful. I brought two gifts for my sister, so Tel, you'd better appreciated it! As a 'free' gift, I received a hand made bracelet.

Lunch was nice, with sticky white rice, chicken, vegetables and spring rolls filling us up. We also laughed at me losing 400,000 Vietnamese Dong on the two items I'd brought and made a joke of it all afternoon. What a plonker!

Trekking through the corn fields.

Our accommodation for the evening was a homestay with our guide. An hour or so trekking in the on / off rain made it a more arduous task than it should have been. We arrived to iced Vietnamese Tea (although I think it should have been hot but the rain delayed us) and a naked toddler running around.

The place was nice with flat beds and mosquito nets. It was like a converted barn with the beds on the second floor overlooking the main room downstairs. A world away from what I'm used to in hostels or at home.

We all showered (it was bloody freezing, shrinking my . . . nipples to a shirt button size) and I observed the others playing drinking games before dinner was cooked by Za and her house sharers. 

After dinner, we all decided to play Mafia (if you don't know what it is, research it, you lazy bugger). Basically, everyone is handed a card and those with spades are mafioso, the jack of hearts is a detective whilst the queen is a doctor. The rest of the red cards are the villagers. The aim of the game - get the Mafia before they kill everyone.

My intuition was right on some but Bulgaria and Sebastian were elusive and English Zach and Dylan were caught in my firing line. Sorry chaps. It turned out to be a great few rounds and really broke the ice. Everyone laughed and joked which is always good after spending only a few hours together as just  randoms.

Za brought us Happy Water, which I can only liken to Fire Water or Saki. It wasn't too bad but Dylan, not a big drinker, mistook it for water and was greeted with a nasty surprise when he gulped out of the bottle, much to everyone's amusement.

Finally, we talked about our lifes before one by one we dropped like the mosquitos and flies around us.

Retiring to bed, the rain rattled on the roof and I laid with my thoughts. That was when I realised what I've seen in the last five weeks makes me think, Christ I love travelling!