And then also back in Nam.. Sapa

A few more days in Hanoi after getting back from Ha Long Bay and the 'Vietnam Vipers' had to go our separate ways. The boys all started on their journey home and Anna and I decided to make the most of  our last few days and take a trip to Sapa for a bit of trekking and rice paddy time. We got on the second last of the 10 hour bus rides we would be taking in the country and headed North.

We arrived to start the trek straight away. You have to take most/all of your belongings with you so we tried to pack as light as possible, leaving our big backpacks in Hanoi. We walked for a good few hours taking in the fantastic views of the rice paddies, stopped for lunch, and carried on till we got to the home-stay that evening. Staying at the home-stay was a really great experience. You stay in a wonderfully friendly local Sapa family's house, given a bed, tasty meals and some 'delicious' Vietnamese rice wine. It was the perfect authentic experience and although my first and only bit of travel sickness decided to creep its way in right as we arrived, not ideal at all, I still really enjoyed every bit of it. After trekking the whole of the next day back to town we had the best sleep at the hotel, visited another village and snuck in some foot massages too, because...Asia.

When arriving in Sapa you're almost always greeted by smiling groups of Hmong ladies. They will become your friends and help you during your trek and make you cool grass flower things, and occasionally try sell you their bags and outfits. They are really lovely though and wont be that offended if you don't buy their things.Trekking through the rice paddies and taking in the incredible views of the mountains was breathtaking and definitely made Sapa a highlight of my whole Asian trip.

Cheers Sapa!

Also Back in Nam.. Biking to Hue, Hanoi & Ha Long Bay

Most travellers throughout Vietnam make sure they get on a motorbike at least once during their time there. I've never been a huge fan of bikes and had never actually ridden one on my own till then. We decided we'd give it a go and ride on our own to the next city. Together with the greatest people we met on the trip, the now totally official 'Vietnam Vipers' (we had skull bandannas made and everything) we were off to Hue. The seven hour drive took us to some pretty fantastic places. We rode right along the coastline for most of the trip, over the Hai Van Pass stopping to take in some incredible views. It really was an unforgettable experience and something that even though I was terrified to do, I would do again in a heartbeat, skull bandanna and all ;)

Viperrrrrrrrrssss!!!

  

Filthy faces enjoying that well deserved beer

After arriving in Hue we cleaned ourselves up, riding in the open air with not much other than a bowl helmet made us pretty filthy at the end of it. We didn't waste time in planning the next leg of the trip to Hanoi. Vietnam backpackers are really great because they have opened hostels throughout the country and link up their trips with one another. We were able to book our Ha Long Bay Castaways tour in Hue and jump on board right after arriving in Hanoi. Arriving in Hanoi after another overnight bus trip was mad. It was the first time since Ho Chi Minh that we found ourselves in a big city again. Our time together was running out so we had to fit in as much as possible during those next few days. We made sure we got in all of the pho and street beers, a little temple hopping and cheap stuff shopping before Ha Long Bay.

Our trip to Ha Long Bay was a little different to most advertised trips. Because we opted for Vietnam backpackers castaway tour, we were in for a lot more than we expected... or actually exactly what we expected. It was wild to say the least. One night on the boat playing drinking games and partying till the early hours of the morning, a day spent kayaking through the little island caves and jumping off the roof of the boat and a night and day spent rock climbing, swimming and more partying on the castaway island, all involving all of the beers, pretty much sums up the trip. It took a lot of recovery after it all but was totally worth it. It really was loads of fun and we still got to experience the jaw dropping beauty of Ha Long Bay.

Back in Nam.. Ho Chi Minh, Nah Trang & Hoi An

Vietnam was probably one of the top travel destinations on my South East Asia adventures. Not only did I get to meet up and travel with my brother again who I hadn't seen in 8 months! but I got to do a ton of things I've always been too chicken to do in the past. Three weeks seemed like a lot but I honestly could have stayed there for ages.

We started in Ho Chi Minh city where I had just taken an overnight bus to from Sihanoukville in Cambodia. The ride in wasnt the worst I had been on but super long, although when we realised the size of Vietnam, overnight bus rides were going to become the norm. I met my brother when his flight got in and we had to venture off to the market to buy him some slops and shorts because his bag hadn't arrived.. shame, the jeans he arrived in weren't going to cut it! We spent a couple of days in Ho Chi Minh checking out the War Museum, visiting the zoo, crawling through the Cu Chi tunnels and eating all of the food, seriously Vietnamese food has got it going on! I also did the first thing I'd always been too chicken to do, I got a tattoo! My brother had the idea of getting a brother sister tattoo sometime in Vietnam. I thought it was a dumb idea at first, I actually think the literal words that came out of my mouth were "no that's dumb, I'm not doing that", but fast forward a few weeks later and we were both sitting at a Saigon ink in Ho Chi Minh deciding on the exact design of our little idea and then half passing out when the very nice Vietnamese man started sticking needles in us. It was a terrible but pretty exciting experience to say the least but I now have a little reminder forever of our Vietnam experience:)

We continued on to Nah Trang from there, the first of the 10+ hour long bus rides.. We arrived in the pouring rain, got ripped off by a taxi and had our bags soaked through.. but still pretty excited to explore the first of the many beach towns we would visit. Nah Trang was a bit of a strange place. A complete beach town with massive hotel developments forming on the beach front and resorts all over but not full of just any tourists, the tourist population there is probably around 80% Russian. All the shopfronts and menus include Russian writing with Vietnamese and English being second to that. A bit of a culture wobble. We managed to go on a pretty great snorkel trip complete with the best lunch on the boat, because travel really is all about the food right?

After making some friends in Nah Trang and realising we were all going the same route we headed off to Hoi An. Turns out everyone we met was staying in the same hostel. Win! Hoi An is the sweetest little place. It felt a lot like real Vietnam. There were no massive buildings, overly priced shopping malls or fast food restaurants but there were still tons of people and a million scooter drivers everywhere:) Besides being the best place to get custom clothes made from the tons of dressmakers there, I got the best jacket and a dress and skirt made for super cheap, it was a real relaxing place to be in. Easy going days visiting the markets, trips to the beach, and cycling around town was pretty much the gist of it. Going out in Hoi An proved to be loads of fun too. One bar owner decided to draw people in by making all drinks $1... the entire night. Needless to say we had no problems with that :) Go Hoi An!