Betonamu

i loaded up the pics yesterday which mostly speak for themselves. here's a bit more to fill in the gaps.
i arrived at hanoi airport to a smiling esther. we hopped in a taxi to head to our hotel and i was bowled over by the heat and humidity, even at almost midnight. i'm used to it here in japan - but this (if it's even possible) seemed even worse.
i was very impressed by esther's ability of vietnamese. she claims that it's only because i don't recognize anything that it seems like a lot - but she was able to carry out basic conversations and necessities - something that really came in handy.
i spent the entire trip being taken care of by esther - who had spent 7 months living in the city during university - and it was wonderful. she fiercely bartered with the xeom drivers to make sure we weren't being ripped off, she knew that a loaf of bread should not cost over 1000 dong, and her basic suspicious attitude was a godsend in a city where you constantly feel as though people are trying to take advantage of spoiled rich tourists.
hanoi is a completely chaotic, vibrant city which surprised me for several reasons. first was the lack of general western development (no mcdonald's or starbucks in sight). every single building front is a store selling anything from scrap metal to whicker to fish tanks to jeans to scooter parts. the pedestrian images of the city from the 1960's with the streets crammed with bicycles has been replaced with the entire population of hanoi owning a scooter. there are no recognizable traffic rules (to a foreigner) and i felt as though i risked my life each time i hopped on the back of a xeom (taxi scooter). my possibly worst xeom experience (after esther left) was when the driver (who sat in front of me) simultaneously stroked my pant-less knee while telling me i was beautiful while texting someone on his mobile phone and swinging between lories.
the houses are through narrow, winding alleys behind the shop fronts. i even had the chance to dine in a vietnamese home as esther's friend bich invited us over to her family's house for dinner one night.
we spent my first full day there shopping on the fabric street to buy material for some clothes we were going to have tailored. i had two pairs of pants made and a shirt for marijke. they came out alright!
the following day, we (esther, bich and i) escaped the heat of the city and took a night train north. this area is in the far mountain ranges of vietnam, right under china. and it's where one of vietnam's ethnic group's still live amidst the rice-terraced mountain sides. we stayed in sapa village for two days, buying hmong crafts and doing small hikes around the area. it was much cooler and very beautiful.
one memorable experience was one day while the 3 of us were on a walk to find an orchid for bich. we passed a nursery school (literally, one cement room up a hill) and bich asked the women working there if we could stop in for a bit. they were all too eager to oblige, and we spent about an hour scaring the shit out of these poor little sprites. i think they warmed up to us eventually (their curiosity getting the better of them!)
coming back to hanoi was a bit of a nightmare as the workers in our hanoi hotel had promised our return tickets would be waiting for us. we ran around for two whole days and finally sorted it out, but when we got to the train station it was absolute chaos. everyone stood crowding around the doors to the station and when they opened it was like a free-for-all. there were only a few minutes to get on the train before it would depart, leaving half of the (ticket holding) passengers behind. amidst the sweat and the pushing and the heat, bich just shook her head and said, "vietnam will never develop as a country if we continue to operate like this."
we finally found our car after a vicious encounter with a fed up backpacker (who swore to bich, "FUCK THIS TRAIN, FUCK VIETNAM, AND FUCK YOU!"...poor bich!)
the next few days in the city were spent doing one main activity during the day, afternoon naps to escape the heat, and frequenting the many delicious restaurants. one restaurant in particular stands out in my mind - a (rather fancy) restaurant which employs street kids in order to have them gain service industry skills enabling them to later on work for hotels and restaurants and get them of the streets. the food was delicious and the service was so great - felt like a queen!
besides a short bout of feverish stomach flu, the trip was great. next time i'd like to have the chance to see more of the country - i'm sure i'll find myself there again.