loved u long time vietnam

Our arrival in vietnam was not a smooth one,though eventually we came to love the country,at first we thought we were going to die,never to be seen again,sold to sex traffickers or at worst,have to become someones wife........

we arrived at the airport in hanoi,without much hassle and having pre-booked the hotel in hanoi,i thought that we could get a transfer to the hotel,no probs right?wrong.

when we came out of the airport there were the usual taxi touts,and one guy claimed to work for the hotel that we were staying in........................

after much discussion myself and my travelling companion decided,fuck it,lets just go with him.

what proceeded was the scariest car journey i have ever experienced,drivers in hanoi(and asia in general) are CRAZY!!!

I tried to keep my eyes open for some part of the journey just incase he was indeed a sex trafficker so that we could maybe jump outa the car and make our way back to the airport.

this scary driving,combined with the fact that we werent sure if he was indeed going to take us back to the hotel did not a fun drive make.

but,in fairness he dropped us outside the hotel,where we were greeted by the hotel manager,mr sun........i think we possibly were still shaking from the car journey,and had broken out in a cold sweat,so he made us some tea.........disgusting "tea" but the sentiment was appreciated all the same.

and we even managed to leave our hotel room,and it was dark!when you are hungry,u will do what it takes!

we came to realise that hanoi was very safe,a mental place,but had a cool vibe!any of the photos that we took just didnt depict the traffic chaos,but by day 3 we were super street smart and could spot the newly arrived tourists from a mile off as they tried to figure out how to cross the road!

we also spent two days in halong bay which was so peaceful after the craziness that is hanoi.and our tour guide duc(pronounced dic) who's basic grasp of english provided much amusement to my travelling companion and i("everybody renax"(relax),aswel as his stories about sex education and love in vietnam.......

his efforts to set up a french 8 yr old boy with his 6yr old daughter was quite funny,as wel as his general views on life....."if you more than 100m away from your wife then you single"............

that night on the boat was also a near death experience as there was really bad lightening,and apparently a typhoon..........cue hysteria on the part of me and my travelling companion.the hysteria could have been brought on by the hunger,having refused to eat anything other than rice on the boat.......awkward,moi?

also we were like celebrities in vietnam,think it was the paleness.........but everywhere we went we were stared at.........talked about.........and surrounded by children who found us fascinating.......wish people would have the same opinion back at home..........

also,vietnam is a place where the women do all the work and the men sit around drinking beer??

so a bad place to be if u were forced to become someones wife..........