Hanoi
I had mixed thoughts and expectations before arriving in Vietnam, on the one hand i thought it had only recently opened up to tourism in the 90's and on the other, i knew it could be a large country with diverse landscapes and cultures, but BUSY. Well having left very chilled out Laos, I arrived in Hanoi, the capital and was whacked over the head with a baseball bat. Uber Busy! Loads of people, circa 5million inhabitants with about 3million scooters and no helmets for kids (the law). Rammed, i would say.
As i was traveling alone, met a guy on the way, Andrew from Canada so we went to Hanoi Backpackers together. Well, I wouldn't be alone for too much longer, it was easy to meet people here. Again rammed, with about 40-50 travelers!
Andy and I visited some historic places of interest like the Ho Chi Min museum and walked around the capital, there's a pic of Andy trying to buy some local food. We soaked up the vibes on the smaller streets, passing traditional markets with their wonderful colors and fragrances. (well most smells were nice :-).
However, I had heard of the infamous snake farm from other travelers and noticed the hostel had a tour the next day so we decided to sign up and see what the crak was. Well, it was an experience to say the least, not sure I'd repeat. (the pictures and videos will do it justice when i get hem uploaded but they are not for the fain hearted!).
The Snake Farm
We arrived at this farm, wooden buildings built on thin stilts above water and immediately one of the guys working there took out this Cobra from a bag to show us. It looked deadly. It was, very. The man had trouble keeping it under control, everyone stood well back while the Cobra kept trying to bite the man.
The farm actually breeds snakes for crazy people to eat their meat and worse still drink their blood and bile, as we were about to do. To be honest its a pretty gruesome experience watching them butchering the snakes with a knife to the neck for our sake. The man slits the snakes throat open, pours the blood out into a glass, rips out the heart and then empties the bile into another glass. I know guys its terrible, but i didn't know this before i went, ok.The session, and it does turn into a session, begins with everyone necking a shot of snake blood, me included. Just gross.
(see video). I reach as usual, haha. Come on that's gonna happen, lucky 
i didn't chunder! We then all sat down and chowed down into the various snake meat dishes followed far too often with a shot of the local crazy homemade brew. We all had an unusual in not unforgettable experience that afternoon, I made a load of new friends and got home in not too bad a shape. ...did I say, Hanoi is a bit full on. Well it doesn't get any better!Halong Bay
There was a big trip organised by the hostel with about 30 too 40 people leaving for the famously beautiful Halong bay for a 3 day trip, well Halong Bay was certainly a very special landscape that i had read a lot about and wanted to experience (but just maybe with 2-3 friends). So here goes...
The mob get taken down in a coach to our big boat where we would eventually eat, drink, party and sleep for the next few days. A great mix of travellers from all over, US, Canada, Europe etc...
Halong Bay is a UNESCO Heritage listed and wants to be the eight natural wonder of the world. It is a beautiful bay made up of some 1600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars coming out of the sea all around us. The trip out into the bay was spectacular however the weather wasn't that great but i still you can a appreciate the awesome beauty of the scenery. I have added a link here so you can get a better feel of it http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/photos/index.htm#top2
On our first afternoon the captain moored the boat and we did some kayaking through the islands and some swimming. That evening we had diner and brought out the booze. The party got started. I found a music system on the boat got that pumping and so we danced the night away and slept very well in our clean and comfortable wooden cabins.
The next morning we headed for a larger island and upon arrival did a bit of a trek to the summit in the backing heat, not a great idea when you are hungover, but still, beautiful views. We spent the afternoon chilling on a local beach playing beach volleyball and had another session before crashing in our hotel rooms that night. I didn't realise it was going to be carnage but i guess if you go with a big group from a hostel, what do you expect. Everyone had a good time, but by now i was looking forward to escaping Hanoi and the mob and heading for mountains in the north of Vietnam, get some fresh air and clear the mind. I did so.
I managed to book a really nice sleeper train from Hanoi up to Sapa, a mountain village not far from the border with China. I like sleeping on sleeper trains, i think its the sound and movement. The sleeper buses in Vietnam are an absolute nightmare designed for short people. Anyway Andy and i headed north and joined by a fellow traveller.
SAPA
The small mountain village of Sapa is set among a beautiful picturesque landscape with lots of coffee plantations grown on rice like terraces on hillsides interspersed with little village communities nestled in to the hills. The ethnic Hmong people live here and as we found out they were very friendly.
On our first day the three of us were just walking around the small village streets when a couple of local mums and their daughters starting tagging along and talking to us. The mum's didn't speak much English but the little girls, well their English was impressive. Anyway we ended up
going for a long walk over hills, across streams to their village where we stayed. We ate with them and talked as best we could with them. Of course we bought some little bits, scarfs etc, but we would have done that in a shop or through this personal experience. An experience that showed me more about how the local ethnic people live their lives, earn their keep and go about their daily chores. It was most unexpected and i am so glad we didn't go with some organised tour. It was a memorable first day for all of us.
We ended up staying here for a few days, one while walking we came across this waterfall where locals were swimming and playing, so we joined them in the fun and games ;-).
We also rented motorbikes one day and explored the surrounding countryside, both on road and off road! (Andy and i Chowing down somewhere on route)
All in all I found Sapa to be a refreshingly different place from what i had experienced in Vietnam so far. More real and true to life. Ok, sometimes a little touristy but that's everywhere almost. It was certainly a lovely break from the madness of Hanoi. Clean fresh air, magnificent countryside and friendly indigenous people. I had mixed feelings about moving on, i could have stayed here longer...oh well...
From Sapa i headed south to Hoi An which i loved but some reason don't have any pictures of. Hoi An has a very European feel to it, basically due to the French influence. You can by pastries, European dishes, beautiful arts and crafts, oh and, they are specialists in custom made clothing. Anything you want from suits and shirts to shorts and dresses. I did end up getting a suit made and some shirts and shorts. It would have been rude not too, good quality and cheap. Hoi An is definitely worth a visit.
After Hoi An i visited the seaside resort of Nam Trang but i didn't really rate it that much, not really Vietnamese. Busy, featureless big buildings, bars and restaurants. Nice enough beach, but I was getting itchy feet again to experience the real Vietnam so i researched hiring a motorbike for a few days and heading inland to the mountains. Well i got everything organised including a rough itinerary from a local guide of what route to take. I asked a fellow traveller, Dave from Ireland if he wanted to go, he said yes. So, Game On! We left the next day. Spontaneity, the beauty of being a traveller.
The Motorbike Trip into the Vietnamese Central Mountain range
I had a very rough outline of a map scribbled on a paper that might guide us for the next four/five days, we ended up calling it the bible because without it we would have been total lost, as it was we got lost anyway. It took us over an hour just to leave Nam Trang, there are no bloody sign posts!
On the first day we headed straight into the lush green mountains of the Cordial Mountain range that lies in the middle of Vietnam and heads all the way south to Ho Chi Min. Sadly some parts were deforested but others were still virgin forest. We passed through many beautiful coffee plantations, mountain lakes and villages. We often stopped for what we called a 'sharpener'. Water drained through grounded coffee metal filter into a small glass (espresso like), add sugar to to taste and then pour into larger class filled with ice. Absolutely delicious. It sorted any fatigue write out. You can see Dave and I are happy from the pic below. Often we would end up sitting a chatting with the locals, one day a family invited us into their house, their daughter spoke broken English and we would chat for while, telling each other about our different worlds. This for me is what part of travelling is about. Getting away from the tourists and clouds and being with and chatting with the locals.
We got lost many times each day, i said the map wasn't great and on all nights we ended up at our destination well after dark relying often on the kindness of strangers to point us in the right direction. To be continued...
Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)
Ho Chi Min Tunnels
(to be written)
