I would like to let you all know that I am officially a millionaire...in Vietnamese Dong, at least! Withdrawing 1,000,000 from the cashpoint was the best feeling- although it only equals about 30 pounds, so I think I might spend it quite quickly!
My last few days in Laos flew by and I absolutely loved the country. On Monday, we went tubing along the river, which is effectively a river pub crawl. I spent the afternoon sitting in a tyre, floating along the river and stopping off at riverside bars to watch people swing from ridiculously high ropes into the water. It was brilliant, but I saw some serious belly flops so I wondered if some of the jumpers might have some regrets the next morning...How alcohol makes people brave!
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, was quite a boring city. The main draw was a Lao version of the 'Arc De Triomphe', an ugly concrete monster (their words, not mine!) constructed from concrete donated by the Americans for an airport runway...I can't imagine how the Americans felt when they realised how the concrete had been used!
After the Arc, we visited 'Cope'- a rehabilitation centre for people affected by unexploded bombs dropped by America during the war with Vietnam. It is estimated that 260 million bombs were dropped on Laos, making it the most bombed country in history, and there are still 80 million unexploded bombs in the country. A harrowing documentary was showing at the centre which explained how children are encouraged to search for the bombs to earn money from the scrap metal. Unfortunately, they do not always know that these bombs may explode and serious injury and death occurs. We learnt of a woman who was preparing lunch for her family, when the heat from the fire ignited an unexploded bomb under her house. She would have had no idea the bomb was even there... It made me so sad. The link to the charity is below and more stories like this are on their website.
http://www.copelaos.org/
Yesterday we flew to Vietnam on Lao Airlines and were served a doughnut filled with ham and cheese, which was quite random. After this, we arrived in Hanoi to find crazy traffic and an intense humid atmosphere. Last night, the evening meal was the best meal I have had travelling (pan fried seabass followed by chocolate cake) and today, I took several friends on a walking tour of Hanoi which I had printed off the internet prior to coming out. Yet more efficient use of time!
The tour took in Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, "Hanoi Hilton" aka the Hanoi Prison (where John McCain was imprisoned) and the Old Quarter. Whilst visiting Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, we caused a slight security alert because our tour guide was at another entrance, and we had already gone through security and were waiting at the ticket office for him to arrive. He wasn't sure where we were, so in the space of the 20 minutes it took him to find us, we were kicked out of the site not once but TWICE; the second time causing chaos because the guard was so annoyed at us re-entering the site that he whistled profusely and shut the whole gate to stop anyone from getting in. It was really funny afterwards though!
Hanoi has so many scooters; they are everywhere. Items I have seen strapped to the back of a scooter so far include:
1. A potted plant
2. A large TV
3. 11 medium sized boxes
4. Numerous bunches of flowers
5. 4 people and a sleeping baby (on the same scooter!)
I would like to share two good things that happened this week with my speech because I think I am quite mean to myself and I need to focus on the positives:
1. I led the walking tour around Hanoi with my friends and did lots of reading out loud about specific points of interest on the tour. In the past, I would never read out loud because it reminds me of being at school and the humiliation of sitting in English class unable to participate in reading chapters from whichever book we were studying, so this was a nice step forward towards a total cancellation. (Maybe that will come next year when I am able to go back to my school!)
2. Tonight, I assertively introduced myself and made small talk with 7 new people. Again, something I avoid so I am proud of this.
Fluent speakers: I know these may sound like silly little situations but to me, they are huge! Most of you know how I am so I hope you will be proud of this weeks' achievements.
I'm sorry this blog update is so long but I do pack a lot in. Tomorrow we leave for Halong Bay at 8am so I have my coach stash of M&M's and I can't wait to see the scenery!
