Goodbye Laos and Good Morning Vietnam

As a French Protectorate up until 1949, Laos was always going to be a relaxed affair. The influence is strong with every street name written in Laotion and French and every street corner offering baguettes and a cafe!

So after spending a night in what is really the beautiful yet undeniably quiet capital city of Vientiane, I made my way to the backpacker town of Vang Vieng. Not knowing what to expect I found myself on a street with a few bars and restaurants with Limestone caves offering a backdrop to the surroundings.

Now if Vientiene was laid back, Vang Vieng was bloody horizontal. Backpackers laid out in the cafes and bars watching endless reruns of Friends during the day with the last vestige of the hippy era running the nights! It was good for a few days and during that time I earned my spurs as a backbacker by going tubing which appears as a bit of a right of passage. Essentially everyone gets their own rubber ring and then floats along the Mekong River stopping off drinking the cheapest beer in the world, Bear Laos .

Having had my fill of Laos, I made my way into Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. I suppose this is what travelling is all about...going from one extreme to another. It was a real shock to step onto the streets with the roads busy with cars, buses, pedestrians, motorbikes and street vendors all trying to grab your attention.

Anyway, on my first day in Hanoi I visited the Ho Chi Minh museum which was a collection of essays, pictures and art dedicated to their revolutionist leader. I then made my way to what was known during the Vietnam war by American POWs as the "Hanoi Hilton" of which John McCain spent 6 years between 1967 and 1973. Two really interesting places which has given me a much greater and necessary understanding of where Vietnam has been and where it hopes to be.

With my fill of history for the day I turned my attention to trying to bag a ticket for the sold out Vietnam-Brazil game in the evening. One way or another I managed to get a seat at the game and it was a great experience with the Vietnamese mental for their team. The game went as expected with Ronaldinho and Co. running out 2-0 winners but the The Golden Stars definately didn't disgrace themselves.

One final thing, the local motorbike taxi called the Xe Om, which literally means "Motorbike Hug", is an extreme sport in itself. I spent the day buzzing around on one of these scared most of the time but getting a bit of an adrenaline rush as well! It's a kind of organised chaos that works!!

Anyway, I think I'll spend another day here in Hanoi before making my way down South with the end point being Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Until then.....