Good Morning Vietnam!!!. . .

. . .good morning my new favorite country of SE Asia! I absolutely love Vietnam so far. We've only been in Hanoi a few days but it is beautiful and lively and full of great people! It just took us awhile to get here. . .

We left Vang Vieng, Laos on Wednesday afternoon on a 4 hour mini-van ride south. Apparently we were the last leg of our driver's long shift because we kept having to clap and shout at him to keep him awake. Little nerve racking as we drove through the curvy mountain roads but we eventually made it to Vienetiene, Laos. We loaded onto a big charter bus about 6:30pm and made ourselves nice and cozy, knowing this would be home for the next 24 hours. Or so we thought. When we were told "24 hour busride" we figured 24 hours on the bus with some food/bathroom stops along the way. What we didn't know was how much time we'd be spending off the bus. . .

First stop was within about an hour: bathroom break for the bus driver. Little early in the journey but I guess you gotta go when you gotta go.

Next stop about 45 mins. later: dinner break.

Next stop at about 1 am: some random hotel/restaurant/convience store which we eventually named "Hotel California". At first we were told this is where our driver sorts out our passports for the border crossing. A woman also told J "Hours 6 to border". So we figure we're 6 hours away from crossing into Vietnam and our driver just needs some time to check the passports. Before we know it, it's 3am and we're still at the same stop. Finally the guy that was going through our passports stands up and says "5mins" to us. We start gearing up to get back on the bus and the same woman that talked to J earlier comes over to say "No, here until 6". At this point we don't know what to think. Are we leaving in 5 mins? Or are we here until 6am? And how far away from Vietnam are we? Of course we can't really get any straight answers because of the language barrier but we finally roll out of there at 5:30am.

Next stop about an hour later: border crossing, Laos side. A guys just shouts "passports" at us. It is pouring down rain at this point but we all pile off the bus and race up this hill to the government office. There is of course no method to the madness here. People push and shove their way up to the front, passing papers and passports back and forth, signing who knows what while angry men bark at eachother in Laotian or Vietnamese. This is all done in the cloud of smoke created by everyone chain smoking in the building. We finally get back on the bus, cold and wet at this point. It's the first time in awhile that we've actually been cold and not dripping sweat. We began a long rant of how nice it would be to have a hot cup of cocoa, big cozy blanket, nice warm fire, and a big comfy couch. Instead we snuggled ourselves into our bus seat under the blankets and started reading our books, figuring that's the closest we'd get to our little daydream. And it actually felt pretty cozy. For about 5 minutes. . .

Next stop, 5 mins later: border crossing Vietnam side. Apparently the last stop was just getting stamped OUT of Laos. Now we needed to get stamped INTO Vietnam. More pushing, shoving, passing papers, signing documents, cigarettes flying. This time we also had to load our bags off the bus and pass them through a metal detector (which looked about 85 years old. I wasn't quite convinced it actually did anything.) After about an hour of standing around we finally made it out of there.

Next stop, another 5 mins later: yet another passport check. A couple men in military outfits load on our bus and check our stamps.

Next stop, about 30 mins later: military men repeat. By this point I think it's official that we're cleared to come to Vietnam.

Next stop: lunch time. Stopped at a crazy little family owned restaurant along the highway. Used the bathrooms first, which were out back next to about 10 pigs squirming around a little fenced in area. Came out to order food and quickly learned that, in general, the Vietnamese language sounds like someone is really angry with you. Instead of ordering we were pretty much told what we'd get to eat. We watched while the ladies scooped up this and that and threw it into a bowl of noodles and broth. Luckily throwing a hand up, saying 'no', and smiling is the universal sign for "don't put that chicken in my soup. Please :)". The cook shot me an angry look at first than smiled and nodded, giving me the 'ok' for the vegetarian version.

Next 10 stops: random places along the highway to drop off bags of rice or mysterious steel containers with massive locks on them and a few times the local men got off to relieve themselves right outside the bus windows. Hey, what about the girls!? We need bathroom stops too! Not fair.

Final stop, 6:30pm Thursday evening: HANOI, VIETNAM BABY!!!!!

So, like I said, it took us awhile to get here and our travel days are exhausting but so far they have been totally worth it once we arrive at our destination. (Not to mention they are full of adventure and hilarity). The past few days we have soaked up the city and I absolutely love it. There are fruit markets, art shops, bars, coffee shops, a whole street with shoe stores lined on both sides. Next street over, exercise clothes shops lined on both sides. Next street over, snack shops lined on both sides. I'm not sure how they all stay in business because they all sell the same things and are right next to eachother. It makes bargaining easy because you can just tell them that the next store over is offering the same thing for 50, 000 Dong less. And yes, their money is called DONG. We've had fun with that one.

As for today, we are gearing ourselves up for a 3 day hike up the Fanxipan mountain, just north of Hanoi and known as the 'rooftop of SE Asia'. Fingers crossed on the weather conditions, when we summit on the 2nd day we should be able to see Laos on one side and China on the other. After our hike we come back to Hanoi and drive east to Halong Bay where we will go kayaking and spend the night on a huge wooden boat.

We'll probably be out of computer range for the next week or so but hopefully I'll get to a spot where I can load some pics of our hike/boat trip once we get back! Until then, we will continue to avoid the typhoons/earthquakes that have hit this region of the world.