The dark side of Asia..

[by Franzi] We found the hotel here in Dien Bien Phu super quickly, it is diagonally opposite the bus station and we were there within 3 minutes on foot. After checking in to the hotel, we dropped off our things and went straight out to look for something to eat, as we were both really hungry. We found a small, nice restaurant in a side street. When we looked at the menu, we realized that the food here is much cheaper than in Laos. Luckily, this menu was translated quite well into English (which is not usually the case here in this town) and so we ordered chicken with rice (a total of 165,000 Dong = €5.89 with drinks). As we walked through the streets, we noticed that there were a lot of hairdressers here. One hair salon looked very inviting and since Jonas needed a haircut again and the price was right, he spontaneously decided to get his hair cut here. The lady we spoke to called someone from behind. The man came, took a razor and started. Without saying a word, as if there was only one hairstyle here. But the end result turned out well.

On the way back to the hotel, we took a short detour to the bus station and inquired about tickets to Hanoi - surprisingly cheap! However, not much happened in the afternoon, we only booked a hotel in Hanoi. Since the city does not have many sights, we should be able to visit everything in the two remaining days and we decided to relax a bit.

And that's exactly what we found out the next morning. After breakfast and a quick look at our guidebook, we strolled through the city to the War Museum of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1953/54 and to the cemetery of the soldiers who died in the war. Unfortunately, we were there exactly during the sacred lunch break and the museum was closed. We were able to enter the cemetery and quickly noticed that each grave looked exactly the same. A simple tombstone, adorned only with the Vietnamese star and a few artificial flowers in front of it. Neither the name nor the lifetime was missing. Unfortunately, due to the lunch break, we could not find out why. Whether it is because they simply didn't know or whether this is just the Vietnamese way?

We noticed that the other important attraction in Dien Bien Phu is a war and victory monument and we managed to visit both the museum and the monument in one day. So we quickly threw our plan to travel by night bus the next day and wanted to take a bus during the day to Hanoi. But before we booked bus tickets, we checked with our hotel in Hanoi to see if we could move our stay by one day. That was absolutely no problem, provided we slept in a dormitory for the first night. We agreed to that immediately, because that way we gained one day in Hanoi - after a night bus journey, you are simply not as rested as after a night in a proper bed. So we booked a bus for the next morning (260,000 Dong/person = €9.28). Everything was settled, booked and we paid for the hotel here (1,138,000 Dong/2 nights/room = €40.64), and we went back to the war museum. This time it was open (15,000 Dong/person = 53 cents) and we could enter the super modern building. We were shown a film in English about the liberation battle, but unfortunately the sound was not very good and we hardly understood anything. The museum was very nicely designed with figures depicting scenes from the war. Every caption and also the labels of the objects were translated into English. Unfortunately, the depictions of certain military campaigns were not translated and we could not understand them as well. The museum was not too interesting, but we didn't spend much money on it either. 

The vegetarian restaurant was tucked away in a side street, but after a little searching we found it. The food (135,000 Dong = €4.82 in total, including 3 meals and 2 beers) was really good. We met another German backpacker who was also eating there and talked to him for a while. It is always interesting to exchange tips and tricks with other travelers. He also had to get up early the next morning, so we both went back to our hotels quite soon.

However, Jonas developed something overnight that caused us some trouble the next morning. He ate or drank something that doesn't agree with him. As a result, he spent the night on the toilet.. When the alarm went off at 4:30, he wanted to try to take the bus, but already carrying his backpack to the lobby drained all his energy. So I organized that we could stay here for another night so that he could rest during the day. I also slept for a while. So today was a completely not exciting day. Jonas spent the whole day in bed and slept, while I contacted the hotel in Hanoi again and asked if we could change everything back to the original plan because Jonas is not feeling well. They immediately asked how he was doing now and whether everything is okay with us, which I really appreciated. Changing everything back was no problem at all. At some point in the afternoon, I walked to the bus station diagonally opposite our hotel and booked new bus tickets for tomorrow morning at 7, this time a sleeper bus during the day (290,000 Dong/person = €10.35), probably good for Jonas to be able to sleep well in the bus. I paid for the unplanned extra night in the hotel (350,000 Dong/night/room = €12.50, yes I was also surprised, that's much less than the previous nights) and did some shopping. In the supermarket, I met an Australian expat and his wife from the Philippines and briefly spoke to him. It turned out that they live here in the hotel and offered their help if we need anything! Otherwise, I watched a movie, labeled all the entrance tickets (I collect them for a photo album that I will make afterwards), and am currently writing this blog. Nothing else happened or will happen today.

[by Jonas] Unfortunately, this is also part of a Southeast Asia trip, I think. The hygiene standards are not the best in many places, but as long as you are a bit careful and don't go to a stall with lots of flies or something like that, you can prevent most of it. But not everything. However, I don't think you should worry too much about it, usually it will be over after one or two days. I'm also feeling a little better already and the plan to take the bus to Hanoi tomorrow is still in place. It was just annoying because we had already planned and booked the next few days and it seemed quite complicated to change everything again in the hope of improvement. But everything worked out fine and we will continue to Hanoi tomorrow, if everything goes well.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Franzi and Jonas