Vietnam

Was way to long since I wrote something so here we go.
Vietnam. Have spent 8 days here. Am in love with the food, it's so amazingly good. Even if you buy street food it tastes fantastic. And so, so cheap. Eating on restaurant for 2 euros, that's cool. Will so miss eating here when I leave.

For the rest? Honestly Vietnam feel a bit like a trip to Rhodos. Everything is so easy here. You can buy bus tickets everywhere (they even pick you up at your hostel), you can book tours in every corner, you meet fellow travellers everywhere. It's so adjusted to tourists, and it's nice cause it makes it easy, but still, in India (even if I didn't really liked the country) every day there was an adventure. Only by travelling by bus you had a full days entertaing in front of you, then I came here, were so happy in the beginning that it all was so easy, but now... I had expected Vietnam to be more... challenging, more different, more of an adventure. I have become one of this annoying "i have already seen everything, this isn't anything compared to..." persons. Pore my surrounding I have seen more ugly trains in India, have seen more crazy traffic, been travelling longer bus trips, have seen more dirty streets, more ugly hotel rooms, larger cockroaches, etc, etc. I have become blasé... Which is funny cause I am one of the least blasé persons I know... Weird.
But am happier here. Less scared (not at all actually), less home sick, like it better.

It's hot here to. Don't even know how hot any longer. But it's nice here in Hoi an, it actually gets cooler in the evening. Was so funny yesterday. Me and the portugese women I am travelling with right now, was staying at an awesome hotel, with big lovely rooms and a pool Had AC in the room, opened the door in the evening and thught that it was really cold in the room, went back out after five minutes and realised it wasn't our room that was cold it was outside it still was so warm, but I was so used to it that I didn't even realise it...

Came to Hanoi, north of Vietnam for eight days ago. Took a trip to Sapa, a village north of Hanoi. Went there with a so cute sleeper train. We were a group of six, two aussie guys, one women from portugal living in Belgium, one guy and girl from Indonesia and me. Was a cool group, everyone 25+, easy to talk to etc. Up in Sapa we did a two days trecking walked around between the small villages, was cool to see some "real Vietnam" and up ther it was really as I had expected Vietnam. Beauiful nature and all these terrasses. Was also real interesting to had the chance to speak to two persons from Indonesia, to realise that our life are real different in some ways but that we still as persons are so alike. Really cool.

Hanoi is crowded. The first city were the exhaust from the vehicles have given me headache. After three hours surrounded by all these motorbikes you are totally exhausted. How to cross a street full with motorbikes, bikes and vespas? You just walk stright out really slowly so all the bikes can drive around you. Crazy but true. Stayed in Hanoi in a really Aussie style hostel with dorms with bunk-beds, felt as home And it's a really nice way to meet people, casue you naturally starts to talk to people, it's nice even if it's just for five minutes.

Left Hanoi with the over night bus to Hue. The buses here is an experience. It's three double rown with beds. You have your feet in a box which is the person's in front of you pillow. A bit weird, specially since the Vietamese people are pretty small and am not so tiny, but managed to lay on the side and sleep. (the fact that I had spent the three nights before on a night train, in a homestay on a thin madress, and on another night train, and been up since 4.15 may have helped...).

Hue wasn't that spectacular. Is suppose to be the cultural center of Vietnam, with some old graves of ancient kings, was pretty beatiful and interesting architecture but not so much fun for the rest. Exciting enough thou since one of the girls on the followed her to the hospital, accompanied by the friendly guide. Coming to a hospital with a dead scared girl you don't know, where no ones speak english, is pretty scary. The guide helped us, and that was big luck, but he still spoke pretty bad english so he could only understand the most basic things. And I mean she was scared, I was definetly scared since I had watched her collapse, none of us knew what to expect. A (so so expensive) mobile call to Sweden and mam the doctor made me a bit less shoken up, her telling me it can happen because of the heat. Anyway, we got a bill and paid it, went in to the doctor, he felt on her head (she hit it badly when she fall), we went to the reception again, got a new bill, didn't know for what, the guide couldn't translate it for us, the only he told us was 24 hours, we didn't understand if we were suppose to stay at the hospital for 24 hours or come back in 24 hours, but we paid the bill, hoping we didn't have to stay for 24 hours, and followed him again, to what was a blood sample. The girl was deadly afraid of neadels and had a really bad time taking it. After that they xrayed her head. We waited ten minutes, got the result, the doctor told everything was fine, and we could go. So her attack was scary, coming to a hospital where no one can speak english is scary but the hospital was impressivle fast. It took as maximum 40 minutes from start to end, if it would have been in Sweden we could have been sitting there waiting for hours and hours, and it was cheap. So my hat of for the Viatames healthcare. And thank god we had the sweet guide who followed us there.

After this dramatic end of the guided tour I wad drop dead tired, got early to bed and left for Hoi an in the morning (yesterday morning). Came here to Hoi An and checked in at our lovely hotel. Clean, fresh, big, with a pool, free tootbrush, free robe. Just lovely. Spend the whole day at the hotel. Had a plan to get myself in to town, but after a failing attempt to rent a bike with a helmet (only helmets to motorbikes) I gave in and spend the rest of the day by the pool, at the computer and at the hotel restaurant. The room was expensive for Vietnam standard (9 euros/person) so we checked out this morning and found a cheaper one for only 5 euros, good to be economic but right now I miss our pool... But this place is closer to town (a really cute town) and closer to the beach, whcih I will rent a bike and explore tomorrow, it's suppose to be really, really nice