Well what else can one call one's first email from Vietnam???

I arrived here on Saturday afternoon and what a totally awesome, joyous city this is... You know all that stuff about fed up of cities and heading to the hills - well that's kind of gone out of the window because HANOI ROCKS!!! It is a really busy, bustling, lively city full of fantastic food and people, motorbikes tearing around everywhere and it is just buzzing....

I am currently hanging out in the Old Quarter close to the lake and got a bed in the plushest dorm I've ever seen for $2 a night! Class! However it is on the sixth floor.... but you get a great view over the city from up there.

The guy who runs the place is a total comedian and really funny. The food here is awesome too! Yummy ! (Elad - I am afraid the purple bush place in Pokhara has been obliterated from it's number one Top Muesli Slot - if you come here head to the Tamarind Cafe in the Old Quarter - it does THE BEST muesli and it's served in what can only be described as a small bucket - tons of the yummy stuff for $2)I take back the comments about fed up of noodles too!!! It's cheap and there is so much to do it's unreal...why do they only issue visas for a month???

Anyway, as I say I have been hanging out in Hanoi for three days now and had a good ol' trundle around... much easier to deal with a city that's not the size of Belgium! It's just buzzing. The markets are great and fascinating, although I've stayed away from the areas that would automatically cause me to surrender my budget and liberate the ducks and chickens and other assorted creatures from the fate that awaits them!! The Old Quarter is busy narrow streets, it's impossible to walk on the pavements as they are choc-a-cloc with motorbikes, crossing the road is back to being the usual suicide trip although the secret seems to be to wander across slowishly giving the motorbikes enough time to dodge you but if you see a bus it really is best to run like hell.... still alive though. This is the kind of place I love where life is going on in your face and all around you... just amazing. You get such a great feel for Hanoi - just amazing!!

Hanoi is also a shoppers paradise. You should see the stuff they sell it is simply awesome (Mum, there is surely going to a very large box of stuff coming home from here!) The traditional arts and craftware they sell here is stunning and around the Old Quarter the streets are basically named after what they sell so what ever you need you just go and check out the street!!!

We went to check out the Water Puppetry the other night which is basically Punch and Judy in a pond (in Vietnamese) and tell stories about Vietnamese life with accompanying music and singing. Absolutely no necessity to understand what the hell is going on as it is amusing on it's own... One of the stories was about some random peasants taking their ducks for a swim and them one of the ducks gets nicked by some random carnivore and carted off but said carnivore eventually gets its comeuppance.... sadly no policemen or strings of sausages involved but the puppets are pretty funky and worth $1.30 for the sheer amusement factor!! Oh yeah and we got a free fan each!

Bonus....

Yesterday we went on a trip to the Perfume Pagoda which is about 60km outside of the city. It is a Buddhist temple built on top of a small hill and set in caves at the top. It was one hell of a sweaty climb up though but just amazing to see. Stalagmites and Stalactites and one you have to rub to bring you wealth so that one got a big full on Lillie sized hug from yours truly! We took a boat trip to the place where it is and we were rowed down the river in perfect calm and peace by the locals in their little boats. Paddling through the rushes and water lilies and surrounded by limestone outcrops of rocks covered in lush green vegetation. The area is so peaceful and quiet and full of butterflies and bird life it was a great hour trip although sitting on the little wooden benches in the boats was somewhat tough on the buttocks!!! We visited another temple on the way back and had a fab lunch at the Pagoda site and then back by boat again and back to Hanoi. A fab day out and well worth the $9 it cost for the entire day!!!

I am sharing a dorm with a great bunch of people. There's Harry and David from London, both a scream. Harry has just graduated from Cambridge in Medicine and is about to go to Kings to finish his medical degree thing. The stuff he has told us about med school is just ripping and he's had us in fits for the last few days.. Sadly as these emails are read by tender ears I am unable to divulge 100% of the conversations! David is about to go to University so we'll catch up with him in 4 years!!! There's also Lucy another Brit and Leanne, a Canadian, who I met in the queue in Immigration and we shared a cab here. Both cracking girls...The three of us are going to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island tomorrow which sounds awesome. It is an UNESCO site of world heritage and natural beauty and we're going to spend three days there. One night we get to sleep aboard the sailing boat we spend most of our time on which will be great. Lots of sun, sea, secluded beaches, amazing coves and bays, sand, snorkeling and chilling out in beautiful scenery...You actually can't orgnise going there yourself for much cheaper. It's costing us $15 a day for all food, accommodation, transport the lot! Bargain!!!

Getting around Vietnam is also going to be a breeze as you can buy "open" bus or train tickets which means you just flash your ticket and get off where you fancy! How cool is that? Perhaps it's not the "hard-core" backpackers way of doing things but frankly why make life difficult for yourself? Beats me.

The plan is to head back to Hanoi for a night or two on Friday then bail on the train to Hué which is meant to be another awesome spot along the way south. This is the Demilitarised Zone which is meant to be awesome for the network of caves built during the American War and a good demonstration of the tenacity of the Vietnamese. Then head to Hoi An. From there we will be bussing it down to Nha Trang (another spectacular place that apparently many have got "stuck" in) and then onwards south. I really want to spend some time in the Mekong Delta before heading to Saigon...There is just so much to see and do as you make your way down through this country it is going to be a really full on schedule but everywhere looks so amazing and beautiful....Saigon also has a massive water park so we also have the opportunity to be complete kids there for a day!! Marvelous something for everybody!!!

I haven't yet been to say "Yo" to "Uncle Ho" who resides in a crystal coffin in Hanoi...(poor sole requested to be cremated) but there he lies for everyone to filter past and gawp! However he goes on his holidays every year to Russia to be "attended" to by the embalmers there or what ever you call them!

Anyway time to trot off, hope all's well with you's lot - what you all up to?? There must be some gossip!

Take care

Loads of love

Lisa / Lillie

xxxx