(21-16th October) The time had come to leave China and cycle yet another country, so sped 18km down the road and
quickly reached the
'Friendship Pass' border with Vietnam. Through a big stone archway and into a passport control building that looked
rather like an airport and we were there! Another short ride got us to Lang Son.
Went hotel shopping and found a really kitch but sweet place with a nice balcony. Explored the town, not a big place
but bustling with markets and friendly folk. Had the first coffee in weeks - Vietnam holding on to the cafe culture
left by French colonialism. Saw one other traveller the whole time we were there, not a tourist spot but nice enough.
We were duly excited about our first taste of Vietnamese food, showed our piece of paper saying 'No meat, I'm a
vegetarian' and what did we get!? Spaghetti bolognese! Had to laugh and it was nice enough, garnished with mint and
still ate with chopsticks. Ah well, plenty of time to get it right! Back to watch English language TV in our room,
a first for Asia.
Next day we mentally prepared ourselves for a toughie - had read that there was no civilisation between Lang Son and
the next big town 90km away... but pleasantly surprised as the first 30km or so all down hill!! Coming down from the
mountains to the sea so enjoyed a lovely ride through a green valley with high hills around us, nice little farming
villages etc. School kids and others were often shouting out 'hello' and thought we were very funny.
It was a hot day
so lots of drink breaks, slowly down onto the plains and more intensive agriculture, almost all rice paddies. Arrived
at the town (can't remember the name!) in good time, another shop around and settled for an even more crass but cheap
room (you should have seen the wall picture...) Went out for food and a look round, tried the filled baguettes from the
street stalls, and our second attempt to eat Vietnamese style was slightly better, if not a little meaty.
In the morning along a big busy motorway into Hanoi, at least it wasn't for too long as I had tummy trouble, don't think that meat agreed with me. Into the crazy traffic chaos - there are even less road rules here than in China, very few intersections have lights so everyone from all directions just drives into the middle and mixes and swerves and somehow makes it to the other side. There are a lot less cars however, its almost all scooters and bicycles. Got in touch with our couch surfing hosts and off to receive the warmest of welcomes.
We were met by Luyen, who is from South Vietnam but lived 20 years in the States where she met her Brit husband Robin
and had their son Nicholas. Now in Hanoi for 3 years they both work on projects aimed at training disadvantaged Vietnamese
and helping them become more independent. Anyways they are a lovely family and were the most amazing hosts to us, able to
rest and relax and enjoy great company and Vietnamese food!
In the 2 days we had to explore Hanoi we checked out the small busy streets of the old Quarter, strolled along Hoan Kiem lake, visited the Women's Museum and the very impressive Museum of Ethnology, checked out the Temple of Literature and sampled numerous street snacks! Fried dough balls, fresh mango and pineapple, baguettes, sticky rice with peanuts, noodle soup and corn on the cob.
Also found a map and did lots of reading for the route ahead - now we are en route to the SEA! Very excited, can't wait to jump in that salty water. Going to spend some time in the beautiful Halong Bay area, hopefully finding an Island to camp on - but more on that later!
Hoping you intrepid website readers are well and please feel free to email us, missing y'all and be cool to hear what you're up to aye :)