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We made it to Hanoi!!!! How simple it was to write those words and yet how different it was to actually do!

Hooray for Hanoi!

Simon and Adele
2006-02-25 13:56:31

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We made it to Hanoi!!!! How simple it was to write those words and yet how different it was to actually do!

Simon said he fancied 'some adventure' and we were both tired of seeing the same people everywhere we went, so rather than retrace our tracks from Luang Prabang back to Ventiane and take a bus to Hanoi from there - the route every other (sensible) traveller takes - we decided to take our chances on the relatively new and unexplored border crossing in the north East of Laos at Na Maew, near Sam Neua.

It was a route that ended up involving flagging down buses in the middle of the night, trying to find edible food on menus that served 'fried rat', 'roasted squirrel' and 'steamed wasp', having my underwear and dirty washing inspected by the Vietnamese border police as they completely emptied my rucksack, staying the night in a town with a name we are still not quite sure of, and me being invited into the 'kitchen' of the 'hotel' we were staying at to cook dinner for 7 people with just a bag of rice, some unidentifiable green leaves and tin of sweetcorn!

Hanoi was a welcome sight this morning and so we didn't even mind the 25 or so taxi drivers who literally climbed onto the side of our bus and scrabbled at the windows in an attempt to get our custom! I am glad we did the journey and took the 'road less travelled', but I am now also glad to be here in Hanoi with a comfortable hotel room and a good meal of identifiable ingredients inside of me! For the next few days we shall swap 'some adventure' for museums, lakes, cafes and a water puppet show. Then we shall decide where or what adventure to have next ...