There shall be a start...

A friend of mine advised me to start writing a blog. I was thinking about doing so for a while but never really got into it... Maybe now is the right time to give it a try.

The question now is where and what to start with? Last event being our trip to lake Ba Be I think it would be nice to share my discoveries.

We've been lucky since we arrived in Vietnam. We've been here for three month and we have already been on three trips: Halong bay, Sapa mountains and now Ba Be lake! Although I like Hanoi (I should definitely make a post about it) getting out of the city is a real relief!

While our first road trip out of the city wasn't quite what I expected, big roads - no countryside greenery - lots of dust, this time I have been fulfilled with great scenery, small villages and most of all real "out of the city" life.

The bus trip started at five a.m. on Saturday morning. Going through the city and seeing people waking up and going on with their morning gym was already a good counterpart to the early wake up but the real joy started once outside of the city and going through small villages and large fields of corn and rice. Although there is also a lot of constructions going on and you will see here and there big advertising sings in front of empty roads waiting for buyers to build their home. This really is strange to see!

Most of the towns are overwhelmed with motorbikes as it is the main mean of transport nowadays, and there are more and more cars as well, but you can still spot many bicycles. I was lucky enough to spot a school entrance filled with kids on their bicycles all of them wearing the same jacket and all the girls wearing their long black hair in a ponytail. It is nice to watch those kids going together to school and laughing/playing all the way.

While many houses are now made of bricks, the richest ones follow a very french colonial fashion with many of them having their construction year engraved, there are still many partly or entirely made of wood and even some made of straw. The further away you get of the city the less chance there are any sewage system. At those places, most houses are built on stilts to avoid being flooded and have a little shed at the end of their garden as toilets. I was amazed there are some as I got the feeling here in Hanoï that toilets are something new to people (I shall elaborate further later).

One thing funny and pretty similar to the city is that meat, fruits and veggies are sold on small planches or tarpaulin on the side of the road while grocery goods (biscuits, cans, chips etc.) can be found in hard build houses. Seeing how much dust is lifted by the traffic, I'm not sure they have it the right way! They also dry their corn and rice on the road side or in front of their house which makes it sometimes tricky to go by, although our bus driver didn't pay any attention to it!

Once in the middle of nowhere, most houses have their own kitchen garden that old ladies water with big ladles our sticks at which a can has been attached. I was amazed at how much we take for granted: I would never have thought that they wouldn't use a hose! I've always been "attracted" to old ladies, but since we arrived here I've grown an obsession for them. They seem so petite and weak but their eyes show such strength they definitely inspire respect. This must partly be explained by the fact that most women work all by themselves in the fields. I haven't seen half as many men as woman working in the rice paddles. I believe that's because they work in towns but my Husband said there are chances that they are drinking their money away! (at least that's what happened in Laos when he was younger). I didn't get the chance to take a picture of it but I found it so funny that everywhere you could fine "Bia Hoi" (pubs) with each of them having at least one pool table. Not something you would find in Brussels!

Those are mostly things I noticed on the way in and out Ba Be. We had a great time there as well and definitely enjoyed every moment but we didn't get much time to explore. However, it was really nice to travel with vietnamese people and live at their pace (what about taking a two hours nap after a seven hours bus trip!). We'll definitely jump on the next opportunity to do it again!