Hello Hanoi

Vietnam is not like China.

So on Thursday, Becka and I escaped Qingdao as the sun rose and landed in Guangzhou airport a few hours later. We were due to head straight on to Hanoi a few hours later so weren't able to go into town but I am revisiting Guangzhou in late February so will give you my opinon then. From the air it looked rather promising as it was filled with trees and the buildings seemed older and more picturesque than Qingdao. The green was rather a shock to us Northerners as obviously everything has lost its leaves back home. As we landed there was a gas blowing from one of the wings. And a funny smell.

Then we messed around in Guangzhou airport for rather a long time. We would have retired to a cafe but the cheapest one was around 6quid for a coffee... there were television screens everywhere, all showing The Karate Kid. Which is about a kid learning Gongfu. And a piano being advertised for sale with a man bashing away playing scales because, I suspected, he couldn't actually play anything else.

Eventually, after having our passport and visas inspected about 5 times, we boarded a plane. Which went nowhere for over an hour due to "excess traffic". Becka and I passed the time learning Vietnamese from my ipod. I tried to use this Vietnamese to order apple juice and it was not entirely successful. English worked great though.

Finally we landed in Hanoi. It was dark by the time we started to descend but I could tell by the lights that Hanoi was not on the same model as Qingdao. And when we had finally wrested our passports back from the Visa Men and were being driven to our hostel, the differences soon became apparent. China loves broad boulevards and lovely modern skyscrapers, all shiny and new. Hanoi is quite happy to wear the same old clothes it has for decades and is a warren of narrow streets, with a jigsaw of small buildings lined up either side. The buildings are all covered in fading green or yellow paint, with vines curling down from the windows. Trees line all the streets, great big green ones not China's neat poplars. The pavements are stuffed with parked motorbikes, stalls, people eating, people fixing motorbikes and, once, a basket of puppies that I had to tear Becka from. There are old women carrying produce using two baskets hanging off a plank over their shoulder.

There are also a lot of motorbikes in Hanoi.

Which brings us to crossing the road. In China there are, at least, an attempt at rules. And whilst when there is a green man, cars are still coming atcha, there is,at least, a reduction in the number. Hanoi doesn't even do green men. Instead you take a deep breath, check that the nearest vehicles have time to see you, and walk slowly and steadily across the road while motorbikes whizz around you.

And it works pretty well, actually. Becka and I are now daring to walk across really quite packed streets. Although we do pray first.

Another thing that has become apparent is that Vietnam is not what I thought it was. I thought that Vietnam, in many ways, would be behind China. It's not. Western food is easily and cheaply available. Many people speak English, and well. Some even speak French. Toilets are Western, filled to the brim with loo roll, and clean(ish). The street sellers take your first "no" for an answer and don't follow you squeaking "taxi! taxi!". They don't stare, or take photos of me.

However this is partly because Hanoi has a large number of tourists, both families and Gap yah students. Which brings me to the Gap Yahs...

Gap Yah is a phrase from a popular youtube video mocking students who go travelling around the world to "find themselves" and get trashed on cheap beer. There are a lot of them here, beclad in shawls and ponchos. Why can't people wear normal clothes? None of the Vietnamese are walking around with waterproof trousers, complete with pockets and detachable lower legs, clutching their rucksack to their belly... They wear jeans and carry handbags. I think a rather Orientalist perception stills persists in Western countries when in fact these places are really, rather Mundane...

Becka nearly lost $100. But we found it phew. Then we had an embarrasing argument with the Hostel over whether we'd paid them or not. Becka and I were in the wrong, as we finally worked out, but the man wa very nice about it and gave us free beer. *Shrivels inside*

Shall write more about today and yesterday soon.