Good morning Vietnam

After a few days spent bumming around Bangkok doing nothing particularly touristy (I watched The Hunger Games and had a Mcdonalds) I decided it was time to go somewhere new. Boy did I hit the ground running with Vietnam.

Hanoi was hectic, stressful and overwhelmingly eventful, but it was also spiritual, cultured, vibrant and exotic. In other words it was love at first sight. I spent the first half of the day wandering the streets of the old quarter. I explored temples tucked into corners, walked past streets packed with shops selling things based on themes (such as christmas decorations, childrens clothing and in one particularly beautiful example and entire street packed with flowers).

After all this excitement I was ready to head somewhere a bit more meditative so I visited the beautiful Bach Ma temple. Wonderfully decorated and filled with buddhist statues, ancient poetry, the waft of people giving incense and writhing with dragons that decended from pillars set into the rooftops it was a place of awe inspiring beauty.

After visiting the temple I parked my bum on one of the many street vending stalls and had my first taste of Vietnamese food. It turned out to be both variably in cost and flavour, ranging from the exquisite to the awful (as fitting a metaphor for Vietnam as you'll as likely to find).

I felt the need for something a bit more laid back after this so I headed for one of the many lakes in the city of Hanoi. It was an ocean of calm in an otherwise hectic city and I spent a good hour or two there relaxing and watching the comings and goings of the city.

I felt by the time I left Hanoi that it was time to go somewhere more relaxing so I decided upon the verdant hills of Sapa.