Finally in Vietnam, where all 'great victories' have been due to the leadership of Uncle Ho - the first victory was the speed at which my debit card was liberated from the evil imperialist cash machine that took it in the airport. I then became a millionaire by taking out 30 quid's worth of Dong. Such bounteous wealth is also doubtless due to the great leader.
The next 'great victory' was price of the public bus into Hanoi, with all the other comrades (45kms - 5p). The driver played stirring communist anthems all the way into town and was in such a patriotic fervour that he nearly knocked two people over on a zebra crossing. Someone was informed that we were traveling on the public bus so go on swiftly to badger us about accommodation. - The palace we are staying in comes in at 4 quid a night - viva la revolution! Vietnamese people are always keen to offer you a bargain.
Some pictures attached of us eating on children's garden chairs-as favoured by street cafes. The first of which where we weren't sure what meat we were eating - but a look in the market confirmed our suspicions. We have had some great meals here though, once we started avoiding people tearing meal from big balls and then boiling it.
Hanoi is hotting up after monsoon rains yesterday, but I was happy as this cooled the place down and let us look around without having to drink litres of water. Today we absorbed a water puppet show, and tomorrow we may go to the shrine of the great (but dead) leader himself. All this while negotiating the streets which are jammed with mopeds - best strategy is to close your eyes and cross.
Despite the insistence of our hosts on many trips they could offer us at great prices, we are going to head into the mountains (Sa Pa) on a night train tomorrow and do some walking. We will be traveling hard class - not because there were no comfy beds left, but because we want to stay up all night contemplating the wisdom of the great leader.
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