Lào Cai, Việt Trì, Hà Nội
I went by night bus from Kunming to Hekou, but we had a breakdown which was great! Because it happened in the middle of a bridge and the landscape was fantastic!! I would have totally missed that… One more reason to hitch and I needed some pushing because transportation is that cheap down here!! This was my second border crossing by foot and after not hitching in Russia, Mongolia and China I instantly started from the Vietnamese border. Its really uncommon and difficult as people here are very helpful, but they don’t know hitching and always try to get you to the bus or train stations. Also there is no information available on where to start best. I had to walk several kilometers till I found a place where only few people tried to take me back to the city… When people stop they will mostly ask for money so its important to know how much buses and trains are to have a comparison. Because of this I rejected two offers, but then even got a hitch for free; after five hours through. But this was an amazing one! We didn’t share any language but they talked to me anyway and I overheard ‘Germany’ so I told them I was German. Which made them very happy, they called their friend Viet who had been in East Germany in the Eighties and I had to talk to him in German (: Later we left the main road and went further and further into the wild which made me feel somewhat uncomfy… it appeared I hitched a beer truck and I ended up delivering beer to bars in the countryside! And the nature and villages are amazing, I was constantly stunned!! Also I got invited for dinner not only once bit a second time at midnight, I was offered to sleep on a 50 cm plank bed just behind the seats and later when we arrived in Viet Tri even to sleep at their home. When I unpacked my air mat the family laughed at me and I ended up sleeping in the second bed in their seeping room. How hospitable it this? The next morning Viet took me and I joined his parcel tour from Viet Tri to Ha Noi, collecting and delivering packages at all kind of places.
It gave me a hard time to bring myself to hitch again but its paying of so much, thanks!! In Ha Noi I enjoyed a last chai with Viet and then looked for a hostel. I just ran in probably the best hostel here, Hanoi Hostel opened just recently, is totally neat, has wifi, internet computers, home made Passion fruit juice, beer is free from 6-7 pm and breakfast included. And I totally forgot how many travelers one meets in hostels. Its great to talk to people who do more or less the same thing, to exchange and share!
But there is also bad news: My shoes, falling apart since I entered Russia and are about to finally give up, same for my trousers btw. I love both because they are heirlooms. The shoes are my grandpas, who died two years before and I would have loved to make it with them through Asia and back. But I’m proud they made it till here!! And I’m still carrying my family with me, in form of other heirlooms. The shoes have been replaced by Converse for only 10 bugs (:
Tomorrow morning I’m going to hitch further to the south, along the coast!! Then I will go to Laos, down the Mekong to Cambodia and then to Thailand. Maybe. Depends on my hitches and moods (: Anyway, as I dunno, I also can’t say when I will be able to post here again or give other signs of life, so don’t worry till December 16th!!
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