We wave with a smile

Our lovely crew

As I sit on our little mini van basking in the Laotian sun that proves quite a contrast from the cold misty weather of Sapa, the northern most point of Vietnam, I smirk at how different the cultures of the east and west really are. The locals wait patiently as we sit and moan about how long it will take to get going again, we've been on the road since 7pm Wednesday and its now 1pm Thursday. In Asia things don't run in a logical manner.. meeting up at 10 usually means 10.30 give or take .. in psychology we call it Confucian dynamism, in the east they think short term whereas in the west it's the opposite, an easy example being escalators.. in London you stand to the right, in Malaysia you stand, everywhere. the easiest way of adapting is to just go with the flow of things and not let it get to you, or you just end up an angry foreigner that just provides more entertainment for the locals, and more frustration for us.

The charm can be shown through the youth too..

Today's been eventful already, we've haggled our way through immigration (arriving just before my visa expired).. Paying all the 'additional' fees for stamps, visas, passport photo's etc. I laughed as I watched an Israeli and a Korean bartering over the rates for money exchange from Vietnamese Dong to Laotian Kip.. Yesterday I remember opening my money bag (that I thankfully still have) and feeling the stress of being down to my last 3000 dong, equivalent to less than $1 :s. that's what makes travelling with a group helpful, borrowing a few pennies here and there in the most dire of times. So we're down one (Jd#2), the musical, vegetarian dentist with the Jew fro that added light and laughs to the group, the dynamic ever-changing. 

Since my last post a lot has gone down, this time it's been slightly less 'fear and loathing in Vietnam' as my dad described it. We left Hanoi, bellowing out 'Adele' with a heavy heart.. And began our adventures in 'Cat Ba', the island adjacent to Halong bay. Our first dinner didn't prove to be too successful as they managed to get everyone's order wrong, despite pointing to the 'Vietnamese writing on the menu. So we resorted to banana pancakes at one of the 3 other restaurants on the strip. That night the boys got their drink on and we listened to the Welshies trying to say the longest city in Wales 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch' Give it a go, it's not easy even for a Welshman. The next morning was an early start, well 9am but still, we're teenagers. J and I were the only ones to set our alarm so hung around for the crew to prepare themselves for a day of motor biking to the national park. After breaky and fixing our faulty helmets by tying the straps together with pink ribbon, we were off. B's exhaust pipe coughing out clouds of smoke into anyone trapped behind him turned into a mission as we overtook, lagged behind and continued the cycle until we got stuck behind a local bus that made the exhaust seem like a breath of fresh air. We arrived and our fitness levels were put to the test as we hiked up, up and up to the peaks of the national park.. The smokers of the group puffing away in regret. We finally reached the top, climbing up a rusty piece of construction that read on a sign board 'Danger no climbing' (woops) but the thrill of the landscape was indescribable. We climbed down the rusty stairs and puffed some flower fumes before listening to Angus and Julia stone's 'big jet plane' that we felt was appropriate for the scene as our minds flew high above the mountains of Cat Ba; the misty weather adding to the surrealism of it all. Jn. Gave a few of us a geography lesson using palm leaves to teach us how Britain was divided.. Something I felt I should know being part British.. Well by blood. We descended and got back on our bikes to find a spot to eat. Hearing a yelp on the way and turning to see a dog fly across the road as b. had accidentally swerved the wrong way and hit it straight on.. The shock passing through us all in waves until the view took over again. We stopped to admire the beach at a little cove and take a few group snaps before a delicious dinner and drinks on our rooftop. J. And I had our own room with 2 double beds and an en-suite bathroom for the first time, for a 'hefty' fee of $4.50 each a night that sent thrills through us both.

J and I

The next day was Feb. 14th so we all had a lie in for the first time. And after the girls were ready and the boys were fed up of waiting for us, we had a group breakfast and discussed the days plans of kayaking through the caves that are meant to be one of the 7 wonders of the world. We'd organised a game of 'Secret Valentine', similar to 'Secret Santa' and guaranteeing everyone a Valentine and a pressie, with the budget of $1 each. I had Jd. #2., the one whom I described earlier, and decided to get him a cucumber (veg), toothpaste (dentist) and chocolate (love), with a printed photo of our crew from the day before. Asking for a cucumber proved to be ridiculously hard as making a phallic shape with my hands didn't get me the right responses.. But I eventually found one. The next step being to find a printer; this mission resulted in meeting the entire population of Cat Ba as everyone's printers were broken or ink-less; but hours later my mission was complete and we all conjugated for lunch to exchange pressies.. Everyone's was creative and funny with a few exceptions. As we waited for the food our 'Stomp' sessions began and we used chopsticks, cutlery and bottles to create (what we thought) was a harmonious orchestra of sound.. We went to buy bottles of water after lunch and my tummy churned at the thought of them re-filling the mineral water bottles with tap water and just re-sealing the lid.. And we wonder why everyone keeps getting tummy aches. Items on the menu cause the same reaction.. Ostrich, hedgehog, crocodile, turtle, you name it, it's there. I'd try a lot of it but ethically that's not what they're bred for so it's not really OK  It also helps knowing what 'cat' and 'dog' is on the menu to prevent mishaps (after speaking to a friend that lives in Hanoi and finding out that her 'well fed' cat dissapeared only to be found on someone's plate hours later sent chills down my spine :s).

Our makeshift cover for the secret valentine pressies

We then proceeded to have the best valentines night so far, creating our own little rave on our rooftop bar. I began with J and Jd#2, having a deep and meaningful on our views on love and marriage, with strong and opposite opinions on both sides, building up a realization that  the belief system of marriage is partly based off of the insecurity that without the papers, the legal benefits don't present themselves, and there's a fear that the other person won't stick around forever because they're not legally bound to. But that's for another time.

The 'long' boat ride back to Hanoi

Valentines night

We left the convo and joined the rave, 'ring of fire' our notorious drinking game took off.. And before long, clothes were off, tables were broken, the elevator stunk of urine and the managers son was bawling his eyes out because a couple had broken into the shrine room for a quickie (it wasn't us, don't judge). As one of our group sayings go, 'shit escalated, drastically'. The morning rush was hectic, drunken stumbling to breakfast, to pay for the damage, pack and jump in the bus to take us on our 'boat cruise' to Hanoi. We jammed on the front of the boat, with the huge limestone formations (one of the natural wonders of the world) protruding out of the water on either side of us. T and Jd#1 knocking back Saigon beers at 9am to deny their hangover. We learnt not to expect anything from 'good boat deals' as the short cruise (that we'd expected to take us at least 3/4 of the way) landed us in a tiny mini- van with our luggage on our laps, for 6 hours to Hanoi,  as it rained cats and dogs outside the window. 'ALL DAY BABY, ALL DAY', 'FOR THE BOYS' and 'THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME' was all you could hear from the non-stop energetic and quite pissed Jd#1 sitting at the back of the bus. I could only laugh as Jd#2 became more and more irritated as the hours passed and 'full volume' on his ipod no longer blocked out the sound.

We arrived back in Hanoi eventually, reclaiming our passports in relief and being greeted by familiar faces on the 5th floor, our hang-out spot. I finally managed to buy some fake A&F flip flops and later joined the group, turning around to see a familiar tipsy 16 year old who I'd coincidentally lived in India, KL and Lanka with... 'It's a small world after all' ringing truer and truer. We bar hopped for free promo cocktails and landed ourselves in a club at 11.30pm. When the witching hour arrived (12pm) and the police did their rounds, the music stopped and all of the drunken dancers crouched low to the ground in silence as they passed before the volume was revved up again. The end of the night required a kebab pit-stop.. Conveniently situated right in front of the hostel and proving to be quite successful as the prices had risen by 50% in a week. We stumbled into the dorms singing out our catchphrases to the 2 members that hadn't come out, before the growls got too intense and we happily passed out under clean sheets.

Above the clouds

The next day we explored Hanoi and the boys went to the gym (ha). The rudeness of the Vietnamese was exemplified as I was pushed out of a shop with a bamboo stick and rammed in the foot with a motorbike because he was too impatient to wait for me to move. Juices and kebabs lifted the mood and then synchronicity took place as we went back to our hostel and engaged in interesting conversation. With perspectives from a physicist,  a mathematician, a yogi and a historian we understood how the root subjects all explain every aspect of the world from a different perspective, the details are too complex for writing but I'm sure everyone can relate. When our brains were exhausted, 'Looper' was the chosen film on the big screen, so we all dossed on bean bags before our 'last supper' as a group of 10, at the Indian restaurant nearby. Cutting it close to catching our 12 hour sleeping bus to Sapa, the hill country of Vietnam. On the bus 2 of our boys graciously gave up their seats for 2 girls and slept on the hard floor under feet and snores, with no signs of gratitude from the girls.. But they survived the ride, tired and grumpy.

Sapa greeted us with a spectacular view, the hotel we dropped our luggage at was above the white puffy clouds, the sun shining on the mountain peaks. I zipped up my hoodie, pulled on my backpack and we made our way to the breakfast buffet that awaited us as part of the package that we'd paid for. A couple we met at breakfast was telling us how lucky we were that the sun was out as they'd experienced a 3 day trek of mist and rain. We counted our blessings and sat down to relax before our full-on day of trekking. After hot showers and clean clothes we met our tour guide, Linh. She was about half my height and dressed in traditional Vietnamese clothing, beautifully embroided, with various colours that only the women wear, mostly stemming from indigo that comes from a specific plant that we were later shown on our trek. It took her a year to make 4 pieces of clothing for both her and her husband, all made out of hemp (the male marijuana plant), hence it's durability made the making-process worth the time. We chewed on sugar cane as we made our way downhill through the mountainous villages, walking alongside the traditional-dressed women to Linh's house. We all sat in her one-roomed house and discussed her daily life. The simplicity astounded me, she had a little stove in one corner, a simple bed in the other, a few wooden stools and pots and pans. Yet her level of content soared above most people I know, her eyes lighting up as her sweet 2 year old son ran around in circles as she told her stories. There was raw meat hanging off a hook on one side of the house that captured my attention. Apparently they leave raw pork to go rancid before using it to heal cuts/ wounds (an odd prospect given that raw meat generally has a lot of bacteria, not what a wound calls for) but it seems to work for them. B. also pointed out that their roofs were all made of asbestos, another worrying prospect, especially when it made the link between her brother-in-law's death (coughing up blood because of lung cancer) a lot clearer. She told us of the local shaman in the village, the relationships between the locals, their food habits and their general way of life. It was humbling knowing how lucky we are; I complain when I don't get the food i'm craving, they go weeks without meat because they can't afford it, or without food in general, it puts things in perspective.

On the way to our home-stay we stopped off for lunch, outside there were huge rocks overlooking the streams and rice paddies below, with the mountains ahead of us. I sat and meditated on the sounds, the breeze and the beauty before joining the others for noodle soup and Vietnamese coffee (black coffee with condensed milk - it grows on you!) The Vietnamese charm was ever-present as the 'sweet' ladies that had been walking with us the whole way suddenly pull out all of their bags, bracelets and headbands. Little kids joined in as well, tugging on our sleeves as we tried to eat: 'you buy from me, money, money, money'. 3 year old's would ask us for money and turn away if we didn't give them any. It was so sad realizing that the adults of the village place more importance on money than education for their kids. 

Climbing in bamboo forests

We passed a versatile array of animals on the way to our home stay:  pigs, cattle, chickens, buffalo, cats, dogs, the lot. It made it clearer why pork, beef and chicken were so prominent on all the menu's in the area. We finally arrived at the home stay, expecting a basic house similar to Linh's, we laughed at how set-up it all was. Hot water in our showers, a huge mattress each, situated right next to 'bamboo bar' that sold the richest hot chocolate in the world (run by a dutch man of course). Our luxury home stay was not what we expected, but we embraced it, Vietnamese tea, french fries, a family dinner, pancakes, rice wine, the lot. At Bamboo bar that evening J. and I engaged in a conversation with a 'Shaman' that proved to be rather interesting. We were skeptical when discussing our new found knowledge just because he was quite buzzed on opiates (in the form of sticky black hash oil that he rubbed on the outside of his cigarettes), but it was interesting hearing what he had to say. He had a strictly vegetarian diet and carried around a plastic bottle in which he placed ash, spit, hair, pee, rizzla's, flowers etc. He then proceeded to feel the spirits of certain trees and pour the contents of his bottle on to them, claiming that the next day, they'd grow at least a foot taller (hm..). We talked about the feminine/ masculine energy of certain trees (oaks being male due to their deeper roots and Bodhi trees being very female due to their shallower roots- look it up for details) and he went on his way, swaying slightly from side to side with droopy eyes but a kind heart. The temperature dropped as the mist descended and we cuddled up under thick blankets, warmed from the fire and feeling funny that we were in Vietnam; everyone felt a tinge of nostalgia thinking back on wintry nights around a fire with family and hot chocolate.

Linh and her baby

We all slept soundly, as you do in the cold. And our alarms went off one by one at 7am. Groggily we all huddled around the breakfast table for pancakes and fruit, finishing it off with a healthy dosage of coffee and cigarettes. The weather had turned and the mist was everywhere as we were literally stuck in the clouds. It made the days trek rather interesting as we slipped and slid down the muddy paths, clinging on to little Vietnamese ladies and bamboo trees for support. Wearing our ridiculous polka dot plastic raincoats, we began worrying about splatters of mud and ended the trek covered in it with smiles on our faces. As we walked a long, watching our steps, it felt like we were in a play station game, with new challenges presenting themselves at every corner. After a big lunch we were taken back to the hotel in a bus, to shower up and settle in. I was waiting for the Hollywood lights to shine, the camera men to appear and the screen to lift as the view when we got back was too good to be true; I kept pinching myself just to remember it was real. 'Presence' was key. J and I decided not to third wheel anyone so agreed to sleep in separate rooms, I slept with Jd#2 and Jn. while he slept with B and T in the other room. We paid $5 a night for clean, white, electric blankets, TV's and hot showers - life was good. That night we went to 'misty bar', appropriate given the weather, and after a few games of pool and a few more beers, we went on the lookout for some food. Our only option seemed to be Vietnamese BBQ that was not what we expected. Chicken feet, 'tofu' that was actually bread, and being completely ripped off with no say in the matter. I sat there and muttered 'I can't wait to leave Vietnam', getting the response of nodding heads all around the table. 

Our last day in Sapa

Our last day in Vietnam was perfect, we finished Sapa with motorbikes, following unknown roads with no maps or directions, finding beautiful waterfalls and rocks on which we could admire the perfect landscapes below us. The rice paddies were shaped like ripples of water and the sun reflected off them beautifully. It was so surreal, exactly what we'd wanted to see in Vietnam. On our way back we passed fields of cherry blossom trees, the pink flowers floating around us as we sped past rugged mountains, spotting the little houses situated in the middle of them - I wondered in awe how far they'd have to walk every day to get anywhere, but what amazing views they must have from their bedroom windows.

Fireworks on Tet but still, we ended it with a bang ;)

We got back to the others, checked out, throwing away the evidence of the newly broken toilet seat that J. managed to stand on just as we were leaving. We bought snacks for the train and I had a little explore in the local market, walking out shortly after, due to the disinterest that results when you have 50 women rushing towards you shouting out prices with handfuls of clothes. The 'Last Sapa' took place at a little Vietnamese restaurant that we'd discovered the previous day before saying goodbye to Jd#2 and hopping onto our bus to Laos! It was a sitting bus this time and the Valium wore off faster than we'd have liked, I looked around as I tried to get comfortable and saw everyone doing the same thing. Moving into just about every position possible and failing in vain. Just as we drifted off and found our position, the bus stopped. We all got out with prominent bags under our eyes, having to wait two hours for the next bus to arrive to take us to the border. Immigration was a chore, and the 'no drug signs', police and dogs everywhere sent nervous sparks down our spines but we got through safe and sound, not that we'd had anything to worry about..
Laos greeted us with a friendly dose of hot sun that we all needed desperately, Vietnam had it's charm and I came away with a few expressions including (excuse the pun) 'cum on you' (thank you), 'Un Chai' (vegetarian - something Jd#2 struggled with a lot) and 'Sin Chao' (Hello). But we're happy to be leaving behind the rudeness, the haggling, being ripped off constantly and losing just about everything that was valuable to me. Bring on Laos baby.

Recipe of the day: Banh Ran

http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011/05/banh-cam-recipe-banh-ran-sesame-balls.html