Decisions Decisions
so, i'm feeling better than last time, my mid travel crisis is over and for once i've made a big decision. Have been growing increasingly frustrated with the beaten track since getting into Vietnam which definitely is an indication to get off it. So that's what i'm doing. Instead of my previous plan to head up the coast of china, i've decided to ditch Hong Kong et al and to head northwest from Hanoi into Chinas deep dark centre before with the eventual target of Tibet, hopefully by bus over a 5000+ meter pass. Its gonna be chilly. To this end i'm getting a 2 month china visa and canceling my flights out of HK, now its India by land or nothing....I left Hoi An on Wednesday afternoon, fleeing its markets, tailors, tourists and multitudes of bothersome: 'sir sir! where u going?' (ignore this icily) 'sir sir! where u from' (resist urge to point out that since you arn't interested in buying tiger balm your origins are hardly relevant and keep walking)'sir sir! later then?' (never agree to anything 'later', unless you have a penchant for being a stalker victim) The road north to Hue snaked up into the mountains that run right up to the coast, up a couple of thousand meters into the pine layer and then zig-zagged down the other side onto the floodplains sandwiched between mountain and sea. After an hour long journey, checkered with paddy fields to the left and salt pan patchwork to the right I reached Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam. It was that evening I realised that i'd far rather be marching around the Himalayers in the middle of winter than sipping cocktails in Shanghai - i knew i dragged my walking boots halfway round the earth for a reason.The next day i explored the ruins of the ancient city, a smaller version of the forbidden city in Beijing, the purple city was a collection of palaces and pavillions in a walled moated compound. Although i tried to get into the spirit of the place my mind was already wandering the wide open spaces of central asia. Last night i caught an overnight coach into Hanoi. Once i got used to the constant swerving,to dodge in and out of the oncoming traffic, and the Vietnamese obsession with proving that the dopler effect really does exist, i must have enjoyed a good 2 hours sleep (out of 16). The sunrose this morning as a huge red ball sending light streaming over my shoulder through the back window. The prarie like rice plains of the red river delta stretched out to the right, the fields seemed endless, fading into hazy and orange sunlit mist. Hanoi is far more full of communist imagery than its southern comrade Saigon. The old town, rather than the grand boulevards of Saigon, is maze of sundappled avenues. The trees on each side of the street merge into a single canopy 12-15 foot from the ground creating a tunnel like effect. Vietnamese flags, a yellow star on red field, hang from flats and shops at regular intevals.I spent today sorting out a visa, which will take a few days to come through, and getting my boots fixed by a friendly street cobler. This leaves me with a few days to kill before i can head north to Sapa and into China, so will take in Halong bay and what will be my last glimpse of the ocean for some months.
posted by justplainnigel @ 2:01 PM
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