Actually to be fair it was quite fun, looking at all the 'Same Same but Different' things in all the shops, dashing all the shopkeepers hopes nd wasting there time by not buying anything :p and the haggling was fun too, arguing the toss over £1/£2, just cos we could. Though it was a lot d money to them.
We ended up getting quite a lot for not a lot, quite a few bargains (though not as many as Lucy may have wanted, she was better than me at haggling, to the point I was getting her to buy my things, to save that extra 50p ;p)
We visited the markets that day too, although they werent really all that. Interesting, but not exactly what we were after. If you want good fake clothes and a bag or wallet, then you'd love it.
The next day, Lucy was gone :(
But I moved Into Hanoi Backpackers, and soon moved on :p haha only joking. But Hanoi Backpackera was a real Backpackers hostel, busy with travellers who were getting drunk (some starting on Gin from 10am!) and I soon met a few people from my dorm and round the bar - what with it being St Paddys day, the hostel was in full swing. I met a guy who had motorbiked up Vietnam, and he took me for a spin round Hanoi on his Bike - which considering how chaotic the roads are there, was really thrilling! He even gave me a quick lesson down the alley, not that I achieved much. I got into 2nd gear, but then stalled and burnt my leg on the exhaust. Think I'll stick to cars...at least for a bit :p
The weirdest thing was, I ended up bumping into only the 2&3 people I've met who also live in Bristol...a young couple in my year...and as it turns out, they live 10 doors down from me! How mental is that! Yet we've never seen each other before! How bizarre! We ended up spending the next few days (in Hanoi and Hue) together, including St Paddys night, though the massive party under the bridge, as it had been billed, was actually a crap band at a bar next I the bridge. The only thing going in under the bridge was guys using it as a urinal.
I spent the next two days chilling round the hostel, taking advantage of the fact it had everything I needed - wifi, bar, restaurant, pool, cinema (or a big flat screen which showed 3 movies a day, remember the Lion King Blog?)
On the Sunday night however, I took part in one of the most bizarre nights of my life - Snake Village.
Bear in mind, I did this on the advice and guidance of my Friend James, who said it was awesome. He was kinda right.
There were about 20 of us, 18 backpacking Englishmen (and the odd canadian) and a Brazilian couple, who were just as up for it. We were taken to a little village restaurant place, about 10 minute minibus ride (which included a lot of drunken singing, including 'back seat of the bus', for all you Uni people, you'll know this song. Our record was 12! Not bad on a mini bus!
On arrival, we were allowed to handle the snakes that we would be eating, nothing new or exciting there, I've done it in Cairns. But then the big one. A King Cobra. Watching the cobra get angry and flare up and attack at the handlers was pretty cool.
We were then taken to our little room, one of many little bamboo huts on a pond. The room was nice, and would be the scene of a lot of drunken banter...and some barbarity. When we sat down, we were called one by one to a space, where we invited to help cut open the snake, and bite our the heart, which the hosts and scooped out. No this sounds bad, but taste wise it was fine, it was more the thought of it. Not that I particularly wanted to do it, but I couldn't really back, especially with the drunken rabble I had ended up with.
After the hearts, we returned to
Our table, donned in war paint, and we were invited to 2 toasts - one with snake blood, one snake Bite, both mixed with rice wine. That was horrible. We were then treated to 8 dishes, all snake. Snake meat, testicles, rib, liver, skin. It was actually quite tasty I must admit!
The night was made more interesting by the fact that we had to have a shot of rice wine for every toast made by a different nationality. There were 8 nationalities in total. (including the guides). Then, every toast that someone wanted to make. We ended up having about 15-20 shots of rice wine, which was in fact Moonshine, made by the restaurant itself, with no knowledge of how strong it was. I can tell you, friends, how strong it was. Bloody strong. It was like drinking Vinegar and White Spirit. And with a chaser of Beer, it didn't take long for the effects to harvest amongst my peers, who resorted to boyish acts of punching each other in the nuts to see who was hardest. (as in most manly, you dirty minded people, it wasn't that kind of trip)
All in all, the experience was awesome, one ill never forget. It was a lot of fun, if completely bizzare. On return to the hostel, we were rewarded withies
Beer, and with everyone else we headed for a nightclub, where I had yet
More beer. And danced. A great night had by all.
Oh and thank you to anyone that prayed for my Grandma, as far as I know the Op went well as Shes doing great, even better news :)
No comments:
Post a Comment