around the world...: 2012-12-02

hello world and good morning vietnam

oh man... it's freaking december already! time is one fast son of a bitch.
we are pretty exhausted right now cause we were shopping for some things in the old quarter in hanoi. bloody hell that's a hassle. makes sunday christmas shopping back home look like a piece of cake. but we were more or less successful and so i'm writing the blog before we go out for dinner and drinks on our last evening in hanoi which was our home base for exploring the north of vietnam.

i ended my last report in da lat. we had another cool two day there cruising around on a motor bike with our guide cong. the scenery is amazing up there. we visited flower gardens, the elephant waterfall, a silk factory, a crazy house (that's the name of the house... mainly because it's crazy) and lots more. all in all it was nice, especially because the last day was all sunshine and helped us forget it had been raining the last three days.

after that we went back so our home base at astrid's in saigon for one night before flying to hanoi...

we got here and headed to the sofitel plaza after we landed. that's right bitches!!! high class shit we're talking about.
we could of never afforded a place like that, but is was a pre-birthday and xmas gift from my parents. they were there too... and that was so awesome! we met them in the lobby of this ultra flashy hotel with a grand piano and stuff, bonda and myself looking like homeless people. but it was really nice meeting them.
we spent three nights in this nice hotel, exploring hanoi all together. we wandered around the old quarter, had a look at the ho chin minh palace and visited quite a few art galleries. oh... and we had tons of margaritas. since i'm travelling i don't drink that much any more, but my mum showed my how it's done. the margarita queen and the prince had arrived in town.

after that all of us went on a three day trip to the ha long bay, which is one of the seven new natural wonders of the world. and once you get there you can see why. it is an absolutely stunning place. gigantic rock boulders sticking out the ocean, forming a maze of islands. we spent two nights on a nice boat and met a few nice people. it was a pretty cool trip, and spending time with my folks made it only so much better. there's not much more i can say... it was great! if any of you ever go to vietnam go to ha long bay. just look at the pictures!

after that we went back to hanoi and spent a last night in the posh sofitel plaza with my mum and dad. the next day they had to leave. they joined us on our quest to find a hostel (with success), we had a last meal together and then we set them on two scooters which made it a very funny good bye rather than a sad one. mum and dad (soon -in law) thanks again for everything. we wish it could of been longer. but here we are on our own again and i have lost my margarita drinking partner.

after that bonda and i had two days of detox before we headed off to sapa, a small town at 1800 meters above sea level. in this mountain region there are lots of minorities like the h'mong tribe. all of them are very tiny people that can run around steep hills like mountain goats. we trekked along small paths surrounded by rice terraces. we were in a small group of other young travellers and had an awesome time together. the weather was rather shitty, but we managed to get a few sunny moments and it wasn't raining to much. we spent one night at a home stay which was pretty cool. the family that lived there cooked for all of us and we played cards and drank happy water (rice wine) till we all went to our beds in the little wood house. the second night we spent in a hotel which was not as spectacular but much more comfy.
then we went back to hanoi by bus just like we got to sapa. but the ride back was one of the worst experiences yet. we broke down, had to get new breaks, there was a russian just behind us with stinking feet that should be classified as lethal biological weapon, the bus stopped constantly and switched the air con off which meant it was about 200°C, there was this american chick that could not shut her stupid face and kept on producing an annoying high pitch blaaah blaaaah noise and on top of all that there was a freaking crying baby. 14 hours of hell! but then again... i guess things like that are part of the deal when you travel.

anyhow... we are back in hanoi, alive, have got some new stuff we just bought and are about to go out for a pitcher of margarita and pizza. no more rice please...

so take care all of you and please give me a feedback on all this writing on facebook.

love for all
bonda and dee

ps: the story of bonda, flip and flop...

princess bonda has a pair of flip flops she truly loves. one time princess bonda and price dee got of a bus in saigon and took place in a taxi to go to their castle. after they had departed, princess bonda noticed she was missing flip, which made flop sad and no good for bonda. you loose the flip, you toss the flop. by chance princess bonda and price dee where actually driving behind exactly that bus they had just left and poor old flop was still in there. so prince dee, being the hero he is, jumped out the taxi, ran up next to the bus and started banging on the window (yes, traffic is slow in the city). the driver stopped, opened the door and let prince dee in. he retrieved flip and reunited him with flip and princess bonda who were waiting in the taxi.
a few weeks later princess bonda and prince dee had stayed in hanoi and left for sapa where they were going to spend three days. after these three days, when princess bonda packed up all her belongings to head back to hanoi, she noticed both flip and flop were missing. she had forgotten them in the hostel in hanoi. she never stopped hoping she would once see them again, also because they were returning to that same hostel. so once they got there she asked the friendly man at the reception if he knew the where-abouts of flip and flop. he told her he would check with the guy who does the rooms. later princess bonda went back to the man at the reception hoping for good news. but she got disappointed. the guy that cleans the rooms didn't find anything. so the princess was sad, and the friendly man at the reception noticed that. he said: "fear not beautiful lady. he look, no find. i look other place, maybe find." but princess bonda had lost hope and kept on staring at the ground. the man at the reception stepped in front of his desk. and bonda stared at his feet... he had indeed found flip and flop...but that was a few day ago and he was now happily waring them. he returned them to the rightful owner in shame and the princess walked away, happy to be reunited with her beloved flip and flop.

... and they lived happily ever after...

cong our easy rider in da lat