Vietnam Part 1

Vietnam (nam) is one amazing country.

We started our journey in nam on May 8th after jumping from the Macau tower. We had to travel from Macau to Hong Kong to catch our flight to Hanoi,Vietnam which is where we met our first travel partner Stevie from Ireland.While getting our boarding passed for the flight to nam I over heard Stevie having trouble with his nam visa. After getting our tickets I approached to enquire if everything was okay. Stevie explained to us how he never received his visa via email therefore they wouldn't allow him on to the plane. The Vietnam visas are done by group depending on the day you apply so it ended up that Stevie was on Cindy's visa. Therefore we photocopied Cindy's, gave Stevie a copy and headed for celebratory beers. Stevie has been travelling with us ever since.


Upon arriving in Hanoi we were all hit with a bit of culture shock. There are people everywhere on scooters, cars, and bikes all honking continuously to make sure you get the hell outta the way. There are clearly no rules to the roads here and if there is absolutely no one follows them. After arriving at our hostel, we checked in, changed, and headed out to explore. Stevie and I hit up an ATM to take our some local dollars. The currency here is called dongs!! I took out my first two million dollars in dongs.



Holding my first two million dongs

After having a quick shower to rinse off the layer of sweat and salt the three of us headed out to explore the local scene. As we were leaving the hostel we were approached by a very drunk German guy  aka Niclass (Nick for future reference).

He screamed out to us "I just traded in my last dong for water!".  In the morning we woke up to the water guy sleeping next to us on the bunk beds. He joined us for breakfast and has been part of our group ever since.





Streets in Hanoi

War museum in Hanoi
Nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by American pilot prisoners


The world is our oyster and I love oysters!


Normal moment of travellers
Reading our travel bible (Lonely Planet)
attempting to figure out whats next
From the left Nick, Steve, Cindy Qu

Stevie and I in Hanoi at a local pub

Nick and Stevie

  

Fellow Travellers in Hanoi.

During our time in Hanoi we met two awesome British lads Jack and Max. We spent two of three nights there partying with them and exploring Hanoi's nightlife. Jack and Max always talked about the partyfloor at Max's parents home in Hanoi.

One night we took a 200,000 million dollar dong cab ride there to see this apparent partyfloor. It definitely wasn't what we had expected but we made some solid memories there and on the way home.Since that night we have called ourselves "Team Partyfloor"!

Stevie sleeping on the bus
Heading to Halong Bay for a day on the boat

Halong Bay
Absolutely beautiful but the water is all full of pollution

Cindy Qu and I on the boat in Halong Bay

Another view of Halong Bay

Nick and Stevie waiting for our local street food to arrive
In Hanoi

On the train
Heading down from Hanoi to Hue

Cindy Qu on the train

My first train ride!
We were on the train for almost 16 hours!
For train rides you can get soft seaters (chair), hard seaters (harder chair), soft sleepers and hard sleepers.
We most definitely got the soft sleepers and a bottle of cheap wine to put us to sleep.

Upon arriving in Hue we thought we could walk to the hostel.
Our short walk turned into almost three hours of being lost.
We wander the streets for hours in the blistering heat attempting to find our resting place.
During the walk we met another German guy named Ben. He suffered through the walk with us and joined our travel team. Somewhere a long the way we finally realized we were on the completely wrong side of of the river looking for our hostel. After crossing a short bridge we found our hostel and, of course, had celebratory $0.50 beers.

Local food in Hue

The whole team partyfloor!
Ben, Myself, Stevie, Nick and Cindy
In Hue at our hostel

For Stacey Doolan
Much Love, xoxo

Local seafood lunch at the beach in Hue

The beach in Hue
B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!
Our first beach day = first sunburn

The girls room in Hoi An
$10.00 a night hotel rooms

The pool at our hotel in Hoi An

Local Vietnam pancake dinner

Stevie at dinner in Hoi An overlooking the riverfront

Scooter day. The six of us rented scooters and headed out to explore Hoi An
Ben met a fellow German (Kim) who joined us for a few days.


My Son temples in Hoi An

Cindy, Myself and Kim in Hoi An
Day of shopping.
Getting trailor made dressed and suits :)

Coconut and Vietnam hats

Markets in Hoi An

Kim from Germany
We will most likely meet up with her again in Cambodia

Stevie and Cindy.
Travelling back from exploring the coast of Hoi An

The beach in Hoi An
We were the only people on the beach :)

 Another first!
Sleeper buses
Travelling from Hue to Hoi An

View from the scooter in Hoi An at sunset

 Ben and I on the scooter in Hoi An


Team party floor having a beer by the water in Hoi An
Cindy Qu and I in our trailor made dresses

 
It is taking us much longer than expected to make our way through nam. Cindy and I had planned to do Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao in approximately one month giving each coutnry around 10 days. However I have quickly learnt that planning while travelling is useless. Now we only plan for tomorrow and let our future selves worry about the future. So far everything has worked out perfectly and I am having the trip of a lifetime!
In about one hour Cindy, Ben, Stevie, Nick and I are headed down to Nha Trang via a sleeper bus. We bought a few cheap bottles of red wine and some oreo cookies to tie us over on the ride.  The beaches in Nha Trang are even better than here (Hoi An). ....stay tuned and I'll let you know
Much Love,


Leah