GOOD MORNING VIETMAN!

I've finished my 15 day tour of vietnam, now in Siem Reap sitting in the bar by the pool, geeking on my laptop.

So waht to say about Vietnam, its a beutiful counrty with an interesting history. We started our trip in Hanoi, very different to the pristeane Chinease streets. Hanoi hums with activity, people are working every hour of the night and day. The only way to get about Vietnam is by motor bike and Hanoi is full of them. I called upon my India crossing the street experiance and used the walk steadily across without looking tactic - the only way to part the sea of motor bikes. There was confusion over a change of hotel, something about a government booking, I'm still sceptical about this but the other hotel was nice enough. met my tour group, 15 of us, from all counrties and all ages. to be honest this was not what I was expecting, but turned out to make a more interesting trip.

From Hanoi we headed north into Sapa. Sapa was once a quiet village in the north home to tribal communities. Sapa now is a tourist mecca, the tribal woman have been prevented from growing opiem (though they clearly grow a bit on the side) and now occupy thier time plauging tourists:
Sapa woman's guide to selling
1) small talk
'whats your name?'
'where you from?'
'how old are you?'
'you have husband?' (me no) they say 'aw'
'you have baby?' (me no) 'aw' sometimes consilation pat on back
'you my freind?
'you buy from me?'
2) bring your baby if you've got one
3) follow tourist like a shadow
4) if all else fails send in the big guns - the cute kids

the women were unstopable, they waited in groups outside the hotel and buses, picking which tourist they were going to mark, they followed us all the way through our 6 hour treck, they never gave up. Its a shame, I was looking forward to seeing the rural way of life, and Sapa was beutiful, but the insistant 'you buy from me' somewhat ruined the experiance. We did stay in the mountains and got fairly drunk on the home brew. Our guide went into a back room with the family and came out red eyed and wasted - the home brew wa not strng enough for this. We did enjoy his singing, particulalry 'I'm smelling you for the last time'.

From Sapa we headed to Haylong Bay by train. Fairly comfy other than the bi polar airconditioning, very hot, freezing, very hot, freezing. Haylong Bay is stunning. We spent a night on a junk boat, visited some caves, and went cannoing. It wa brilliant, just such a beutiful place to be in.

We then headed to Hue, it wa raining! which is a bit of a shock to the old system. In Hue we had an awesome motor bike tour, it was pissing with rain, and we looked ridiculous in our matching cagools, but it was a briliant way to see the back streets. We stopped in at a little village, and saw how they farmed rice, we visited a one armed hat maker, had lunch with buddist nuns at monistary, saw the kings excessive tomb, took a boat down the river to see a pagodia, and rode up to the hills which overlooked hanburger hill and the ho chi min trail.

Onwards to Hoi An, a shopperholics dream and a husbands worst night mare. Hoi An is entirly populated by tailers, who will make a coat from sctatch in 3 hours, tailoured to your mesurments. there is nothing these woman canot make, and cannot sell. Even little old tight fisted me bought 2 dresses. Hoi An was also very wet, flooded in fact, which added some amusment to the shoping trips as we waded our way to town - neither hell or high water was keeping Elena from those dresses.

And Finally Sigon/Ho Chi Min City. Busy but modern, Sigon has embrassed capotalist industry far more than the still very comunist capitol (hanoi). Western shops cafes hotels and restaurnts are easily found. We visited the war museum, which was truely harrowing. The things this country has been through, and worst of all are still going through. It was a horrid realisation that the cirppled younge people we saw on our travels, the one armed lady, were not a result of an unfortunate genetic twist, but a result of the use of Agent orange. Agent Orange, the most toxic chemical known to man, was spread across vietnam throughout the war. Many people died, and thier unborn children horribly malformed as a result. How can the attrocities that occure during war ever be justified.

So Vietnam in a nutshell. Its beutiful, and going through a period of rapid change. As Vietnam relaxes its policys to allow for forign investors and tourism its greatly improving the quality of life of its inhabitants ('ten years ago everyone was hungy, now we all have full bellys' Nhing our tour guide). But with the good comes the bad, the Vietnam I saw was a tourist trap, everything was geared towards porviding serivces which would make money from the tourists. I fear some of the old culture which makes vietman so rich might be being lost.