Hanoi, one of the bigger cities in Vietnams and the more well-known ones apart from Dien Phien Phu and Saigon (aka HCMC – Ho Chi Minh City). It was too noisy for my liking. It was a little bit more dirty than what I was used to. It was hot, humid and frankly, sticky! *ugh*

BUT I loved it.

….I must be nuts to love a country that implements honking as ’safe driving’, hiding under the driver’s poncho when it’s raining, holding an umbrella while you’re on a motorbike, and no helmets. It is not that I love…but more.

The people are always smiling and ever so friendly with huge amounts of waves to spare for complete strangers. The scenery is so unspoilt, untouched, and wild. It is nice to see a little slice of European weather in the heart of South-East Asia.

My travels took me from Hanoi to Lao Cai (by train) and then on to Sapa – the gateway to the North. From Sapa, the city that never seems to run out of rain and mist, I head onto Dien Phien Phu by motorbike (as you can see from above) BUT because of a little accident, we never reached our original destination. We stopped at a little town called Lai Chau and from there, headed back to Sapa through the same way we came.

I never did much shopping. I ate a lot of Vietnamese food. I stayed in weird places. I was a zoo-exhibit at a local Viet village. And I got into a whole lot of cross-cultural incidents…

I had fun – even though Nil thinks otherwise (coz of my accident). But I mean if you saw what I saw, you would too.

For more pictures, feel free to click here and be sure to go through the descriptions instead of concentrating just on the titles. There is so much for me to tell you.