Speaking of time flying, I turned 22 last Friday. I'm sure how that happened, but I double checked my passport and driver's license numerous times and it turns out I was indeed born in 1989, so simple math tells me that it's correct. In some ways I feel like no time at all has passed since I was finishing up high school at Laval, yet I feel like all the time in the world has gone by... if that makes any sense. I suppose I've just experienced so much in the last five years or so that it feels like longer. So Friday entered my 22nd year of life.
And boy did I party like a rock star.
We started out pretty tame with a group of friends and I heading to an awesome little Mexican restaurant called Provecho in the Old Quarter. I was quite pleased with my Enchiladas, I have to say (although they were no where near as good as the ones I make). Plus the owner was extremely friendly, took excellent english, and took really good care of us. You can't really ask for much better than that. After dinner we moved on to the Bucket Bar (which I've mentioned before in this blog) for party time... and boy did we ever party. We actually know the owner of Bucket Bar, so between her free shots and my friends shouting me, I didn't pay for a drink all night. I'll spare you the gory details, as those of you who know me well know just how silly I can get with a few drinks in my system. Suffice it to say, we had a hell of a night.
The next morning, however, was a whole different sort of hell. But again, that's another story I'll save to tell those interested over a couple of beers when I get back in Canada.
The Sunday after my birthday, myself and my friend Lene headed out on excursion to Hoa Lua/Tam Coc. Ironically, there was an English couple on our tour who we met at the Bucket Bar on my birthday... apparently. That really made for a good laugh when we first got on the bus!
The roads in Vietnam need a lot of work. I'm not even close to exagerating when I say they're bumpy; it's literally like riding a horse. As a female, after a while it gets pretty painful, so myself, Lene and a few of the other girls on the bus took to crossing our arms to keep things settled, if you catch my drift. And don't even bother trying to sleep with your head against the window, you'll end up knocking yourself out and sleeping a lot longer than you ever intended. It also didn't really help that there were no seatbelts in the minibus and the driver drove like a lunatic. But hey, that's nothing new, pretty much everyone in this country drives like their hair is on fire, their wife is giving birth in the backseat, and they're going to lose a million dollars if they don't make it to their destination before the person in front of them.
Our first stop (besides the obligatory roadside shop with ridiculously overpriced food and handicrafts) was Hoa Lu, which is actually the ancient capital of Vietnam. So, it of course featured the standard pagodas, temples, and stone roads all too common throughout the rest of Vietnam that I've experienced so far. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. And really, unless you're particularly into them, once you've seen one temple with an ancestor altar inside, you've seen them all. Plus, the touts inside the city's gates were even more persistant than the ones you face back in Hanoi (although I will admit that no one chased me down the street with a basket of pineapples). One thing I saw there that I had never encountered before were "picture touters." These people were lugging around expensive looking Nikon cameras (probably fakes) and they would sneakily take pictures of you and approach like 10 minutes later and try to sell it to you. I was completely befuddled as to what kind of idiot would purchase one of those, until I noticed an American tourist (who had been loudly complaining to his guide about being bothered by the touters) purchase one at an exceptionally marked up rate (total amateur, he didn't even haggle). It's clear that some people simple do not read guide books or do any research before coming to developing nations. Maybe I should have given him the link to my blog.
When we arrived in Ninh Binh (which is the town closest to the Tam Coc caves), we stopped to have a buffet lunch at a restaurant. The place was obviously very touristy and the drinks were way overpriced (package tours in Vietnam never include drinks, that's how they get you), yet I was thoroughly satisfied with the food I received. They had a myriad of vegetarian options, including many fresh fruits and vegetables which I was extremely appreciative of. Perhaps it's because I've gotten used to eating so poorly, but I really felt as though it was worth the money I paid for it.
After lunch we walked to the waterfront and hopped on a boat to explore the caves, which are situated on the river. Myself and Lene got on a boat and set off on the two hour round trip journey down the river through the caves. Rather than give you full run down, I figured I'd just post some pictures, and save you all the trouble of reading (read: I'm feeling lazy)!
The good:
The scenery (featuring my fake Ray Bans that I paid 2 bucks for):
The ducks:
The locals rowing with their feet! (something I am so learning to do... well I'll try anyway):
The bad, which I won't show pictures of, was the extreme amount of pressure put on you by the locals to buy things. It was actually really sad. We were constantly bombarded by people in boats trying to take our picture and sell them to us like in Hoa Lu (I perfected the art of sticking my hands in front of our faces so they couldn't get a good picture). Then, at the end of the trip where we were turning to go back, we were surprise ambushed by hoards of venders selling drinks and food from their boats at ridiculous prices. They tried to guilt us into buying things for the people rowing our boat, and needless to say neither of us were impressed. Then, to make matters worse, the people rowing our boat stopped on the way back and pulled out their own merchandise which they proceeded to try and sell us. And then, of course by the time they finally brought us back to the dock, they wouldn't let us leave without tipping them. The scenary at Tam Coc was beautiful, but tourism has really ruined the experience of it. I would have much rathered renting my own canoe and paddled down myself than dealing with all of that the whole way there and back. Another weird thing was the Japanese tourists who kept taking pictures of us and calling us beautiful as they passed in their boats. I mean... thanks for the compliment.. but is that really necessary? Very odd.
All in all, I would saw the beauty of Tam Coc caves made it worth all of the hassle, but only just barely. It's frustating when you can't even look at a shop without having someone in your face going "madame, you buy? madame, you buy?" several million times. I swear, when I get back in Canada if anyone ever calls me madame again I'm going to blow a gasket.
After we arrived back in to Hanoi I met up with some friends for drinks since it was their last night in Vietnam. I also helped them buy a bag which was fun because I've gotten really good at bargaining. I think I'm a pretty good judge of how much something should cost which is really half the battle, plus I think the vendors usually give me a break because I try to speak to them in Vietnamese. My Vietnamese is getting half decent, which I'm pretty proud of. I can't string together many sentences yet, but I've learned alot of useful words and phrases that have been really helping me in my day to day life.
I suppose that's it for me again, I really have to get some work done before the night is over.
Until next time remember, when you're on the highway in Vietnam... wear a sports bra.
Sarah
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