Vietnam Part 1

It is usually confusing to enter a new country directly in the capital. In the capitals, it is usually the loudest, most chaotic, and most dishonest. Capitals are for superlatives. When we girls arrived at the hostel late at night and carefully opened the door to the 12-bed room, only two beds were occupied and both people were awake. A bad sign, the others came in throughout the night and some were so drunk that laughter, shouting, and vomiting didn't let us rest and sleep. This led to the realization: this will be the last hostel for now. Fortunately, we had an Air BnB in Hanoi for the next few days with Sven. Sven was only half as tired and jet-lagged as we expected when he stood in front of our accommodation looking confused. Nevertheless, we took it slowly in Hanoi. The queue in front of Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum was already too long and Hanoi is best explored through sensory impressions. New Year's Eve was loud and stormy and somehow unforgettable in the old town.

We continued with a three-day boat trip to Halong Bay. It is very similar to Guilin, with endless karst mountains sunk in the sea. There are actually more than 2000 karst islands, but in honor of Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese claim that there are 1669 (the year of his death). The boat was beautiful and even the vegan food was abundant and excellent, but the first day felt more like a tourist conveyor belt than freedom. On the second and third day, when many had already started their journey back home, we were able to enjoy the sea journey, kayaking, and Monkey Island. Until the next part of the journey, which was infinitely long and exhausting, giving us a taste of traveling in Vietnam. Four hours by bus back to Hanoi, then waiting for an hour for the delayed bus, which turned out to be a shared taxi that only takes you to the bus stop. Waiting for another half an hour there and then waiting again for an hour after boarding the bus until the bus finally departs. Vietnam's night buses...

When we arrived in Tam Coc, we had a beautiful guesthouse with a breakfast buffet, which we still dream about today ;) The main attraction there is to be rowed on a small boat on the river and through various small caves to absorb the misty and rainy karst landscape. The rowers are exclusively women and they even row with their feet when their arms get tired! The next day, we went to the national park with rented scooters, whose furthest point was actually only 30 km away. So, as a naive German person, you think that the destination can be reached easily in an hour. And then you are confronted with road conditions that do not deserve the name road at all. Most of the route would be better described as a collection of dirt and concrete pieces, interspersed with bathtub-sized potholes. It took us two and a half hours to reach the entrance and another three-quarters of an hour for the next 30 km in the park. The jungle trail with the natural cave was definitely worth it. And although we definitely didn't want to drive home in the dark, the monkey and turtle rescue center was more interesting when we started the journey back, dusk had already set in. Then it started to rain, of course, and the falls were bound to happen. Result: two battered, bleeding girls on the road behind a human-sized pothole, scratched scooters (but in the end no one cared), and everyone was upset and trembling. The rest of the journey home was a nightmare and the plan to rent bicycles the next day died with the open knees and hands. So, we had to take a taxi to the temple complex, which was really impressive and unfortunately had many stairs.

Another night bus took us to Hue in Central Vietnam, an old imperial city from the Nguyen Dynasty. Things we will never understand here: locals are allowed to get on and off the buses anywhere, but if you want to get off at one of the many stops closer to the hotel, that is forbidden. The small annoyances when traveling ;) The old citadel was nice to look at, but not as impressive as imagined due to decay. And because we had the first really hot day, we changed our plans and went to the nearest beach to finally go swimming in the sea instead of just looking at it.