Vietnam!!

I’m-so-sorry-It-has-been-half-a-year-update:
Ok never thought I would be so lazy updating my blog, since it has been over half a year.. Well just say that I’m having so much fun meeting people and planning my trips, that I didn’t have any time for it, I guess....
If I’m right, I ended up in Vietnam after Sumatra, not the easiest county to get into.. Very strict on visas, so I ended up waiting at the border for an hour in the middle of the night. My ride into Ho Chi Minh was ok and my hostel in the middle of the city was fair. After a good night of sleep, I met people at breakfast (miss you Monse!) and ended up spending the day with them, walking through the city. (that I can even remember all of this, hope I’m not forgetting all the fun parts). The food is more than amazing in Vietnam, the traffic is the same as in all of Asia (insane!!), but the part I liked the most was all the history you can find in the city. We went to several museums and had some interesting discussions about religions, we ate local food at the foodmarket and had dinner ‘on the street’. That night we went out in Ho Chi Minh (or Saigon), a fun night with lots of new friends, but the night ended in a little shock for me tho. We ended in a little bar where I was the only European girl, the other girls were all Asian and the only reason they were there, same as all the guys, was for payed sex.. It was such a shock to me that these girls were selling their bodies and all the guys were just using them for cheap sex.. The whole vibe, the touching, the looks, it disgusted me. I ran outside and back to my hostel, I was sick of Vietnam already. But, my hostel was not a party hostel like the others, apparently it closes after midnight, so I stood there, in the middle of the night in the middle of the city, no place to sleep and all my stuff inside. I decided to go back and hopefully find my friends. Thank god I met one of them on my way, he told me I could sleep in his bed and he would sleep on the floor.. True gentleman do exist..
The next day I went with my dear Monse to the underground war fields. They showed us how they lived underground, how small the little caves/holes were and all the sick traps the Vietnamese people have made. We went through a 50m tunnel ourselves and were all poring sweat, imagine living in there for years...
As always I plan my trips after recommendations of my travel friends.. This time I decided to get a night bus from Ho Chi Minh to Hoi An. A 18h bus trip with a stopover in Nha Trang. Nha Trang is a small town but apparently taken over by all the Russians. I arrived 5am after hardly any sleep.. Dropped my stuff at the office and had to wait till 6pm to get my bus again. I decided to walk along the beach for some nice pics.. Funny is that all the Local people were up and ready for workouts, a swim and family time. I was so tired and had lots of time, so I decided to get a nap on the beach. I woke up a few hours later, walked back and saw that all the local people were gone and they were replaced for all (lazy) Russian people, tourism is taking over all the countries. The rest of the day I spend like a tourist as well, till I got back on the bus, next stop: Hoi an, the city of tailor made clothes. I arrived there 6am, not even off the bus I got harassed by local taxi and motorcycle drives asking me if I needed a ride. I didn’t even book a hostel yet, just to see where the bus would stop and which hostel would be the nearest. Trying to book my hostel with taxi drivers looking over your shoulders at 6am is not good idea and not good for my mood. Luckily I saw 3 guys and asked them where they were going, I didn’t want to be alone at that moment. . Armin, Flo and Pippo, ended up being my 3 little brothers for the next couple of days. I decided not to stay in an hostel but in their Hotel. A bit more expensive (15dollars, huge double room), but I thought I deserved it after 2 nights in a bus. We’ve spend a couple of days together in the amazingly beautiful city of Hoi an. We went to the sea on pushbikes, played volleyball between the jellyfish. We went out to a club and danced till we were soaked in sweat, we went for a full body massage (laughed my ass off) and last but not least, we got tailor-made clothes. I ended up spending hours with them in a shop giving them advice about their suits and shoes. And they did the same for me, helped me with my dresses and I ended up with 2 beautiful ones for my cousins wedding in a few weeks. We promised each other to send pictures wearing our new clothes and hopefully meet again in Hanoi.
After Hoi An I went for another crazy bus ride straight to Hanoi, I thought 17 days for Vietnam would be a lot, but I really needed the time to see the North, apparently the best part of Vietnam. Again I arrived early in the morning without booking an hostel and I decided to get a taxi with 2 other girls. A meter taxi because they can’t scam us. The girls got out before me and apparently payed way less and the taxi driver brought me to an hotel that he said was ok. The price of the taxiride was insane, apparently it was still night tariff and I had to pay almost double. I gave him too much money and he never came back with my change. Well OK, the hotel didn’t look that bad, so I slept for a few hours and got ready for a discover-the-city-day. I went to several museums again, had more local food and enjoyed the culture. In the evening I got back before dinner to get changed. But weird enough I couldn’t open my door with my key. I asked the hotel and they couldn’t either. They send me of for dinner so they could fix it. I had a strange feeling already that this could go wrong, and yes, when I got back, the lock was on the frontdesk. ‘ It wasn’t broken before I got there, it was my fault, I had to pay for it’. But the stubborn, you can’t scam me part was taking over me and I got so mad. I’m not going to pay anything, it was their door and lock! And I’m not going to stay here another night. I payed for the few hours I slept there in the morning and left. Next door was another hotel, way more expensive, but is was getting late and they were going to pick me up at 6am again in front of my scammy hostel. At least I had a goodnight sleep and was ready for my next adventure out of the city thank god.
The idea was to go to Sa Pa, meet a sweet lady where my friend Sanja stayed at and she highly recommended it. Yes, ‘the idea was’.... On the busride just before the last town before Sa Pa, they told us there was a typhoon in Sa Pa, the roads got flushed away and we probably had to go back to Hanoi. We stopped at the last stop, had lunch with everyone from the bus and waited for several hours. Finally they told us that the bus was going back. But me and few other people, just had an one way ticket and we wanted to take the risk and get there ourselves. Unfortunately it was getting too late to find a taxi there, so we decided to get a few beers, ended up drinking local booze on the streets en slept in a very luxury hotel. The next day we got up early and spend hours on finding a taxi up to Sa Pa, we finally found one, not overpriced and got on the road again, happy we were so stubborn and going to see Sa Pa anyways. On the way there we realised why people were advised not to go to Sa Pa, big parts of the road got flushed away, some parts were totally covered in meters of mud, houses got flushed away and whole families had died. But people got back on their feet again straight away, fixing houses, clearing the roads and give each other a shoulder to cry on. After an 8h ride (normally 3h), I said goodbye to my friends and met Chua, the sweetest, but also most spicy little lady ever. We got along straight away and had so much fun. We walked to her house, a 2hour walk with breathtaking views, and I ended up being blown away how beautiful and peaceful she lives between all the rice fields. The food was absolutely amazing, her kids so adorable and Chua the best hostess you can find. The plants in front of her house were nice and relaxing too ;).. I ended up sleeping there for 3 nights, meeting new people, having walks through the rice fields and taking pictures of all the little kids and animals. It was so peaceful!!
After Sa Pa I got the night bus to Cat Ba Island with a short stop in Ha Long City. This time I arrived 3am, and my ferry was leaving at 7.30am. I could have decided to sleep for a few hours in an insanely expensive hostel or go to the ferry already... Yepp, I’m a cheap ass backpacker, so I arrived at the ferry place at 4am, completely dark (thank got electricity so I could use my phone), couldn’t sleep and waited for a few hours to get on the ferry. (sorry mom, everything went OK as you can see, won’t do it again, probably...) The ferry ride was again, stunning, but extremely hot, and after a short taxi ride I finally arrived in my guesthouse/hostel. I had a 4dorm bedroom for my own. The family was nice but they couldn’t speak any English. The food was really good! They showed me how to roll my own spring rolls and crab from its shell. The next day I booked a boattrip around the Island on my own. But again it’s so easy to make friends, after beating 2 guys in a canoe competition. I made new friends for the next days. The boattrip was beautiful but extremely hot. We went canoeing through caves (and thunder), swimming between all the rocks (water was 35degrees, not cooling at all) and ate lunch at monkey Island. That night we went for dinner and ate the best oysters I’ve ever had, we drank a few beers and I ended up walking back in the middle of the night pouring sweat because it was still so hot outside. The next day I met the guys again and we discovered the Island on motorbikes, we played football with local children (proved them that girls CAN play football) and climbed a mountain for 20meters, the guys were too lazy to actually climb the whole mountain. But again so much fun! I even decided not to go to another city, but spend one more night with them and leave Cat Ba with them to Hanoi. This time Hanoi was more fun, not being alone but with 2 guys, spend time at the market buying souvenirs and go nightclubbing with crazy Vietnamese people. And also the end of my Vietnamese trip. Luckely one of the guys had almost the same flight as me, so I didn’t have to go alone. Vietnam is a crazy adventurist country with a lot of history and beautiful stunning nature. But my advice: Buy a motorbike and ride the country yourself.. Next stop: Canada, see my family again!!!

Live your dreams, dream you memories. Loesje