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Tomorrow is Friday. To be honest, I feel a little boring still writing about my voyage in Vietnam, but I didn´t have time to write when I was there. After New Year in Ha Long Bay I returned to Hanoi to continue by train to Hue late in the evening. I was actually advised to go by plane since it is safer, but I wanted to see more of Vietnam countryside so that is why I chose train. Drugs are common in Vietnam and I was told that the bus drivers might be on drugs. So no bus to Hue. Hue is an important historical city in Vietnam.
When I got to Hue there was rain. Good to slow down. Just do nothing. I found cafés and nice, Vietnam restaurants. And a Vietnamese shopping mall. Busy streets even though it was rainy. More Vietnam and not so many tourists. I felt safe even though I was alone. I met a Vietnamese family and the children started to talk to me. In perfect English. I was astonished. The family enjoyed their dinner at the restaurant and children played. I was the only foreigner there.
The following day was good. No rain but high humidity. I went for city tour.
I met a lot of people when I travelled, many from Australia. Nordic countries are not so well known in Asia. However, everybody knows ABBA which was very popular New years eve. Once I met a couple from Taiwan. I thought they said Thailand, but they laughed and said that it is very common to mix the countries. It is like Switzerland and Sweden.
I went by bus for many hours from Sapa back to Hanoi. The hotel where I stayed in Hanoi had noticed that I had my birthday so they gave me a Happy Birthday Cake. Very nice. It was late in the evening, but early next morning I continued to Ha Long Bay for New Year. I don´t know, but sometimes I live in a kind of romantic world. I have always had a picture in my mind about beautiful islands in the ocean, with large, slowly moving, sailboats with red sails. Maybe it is from the motion “The man with the golden gun” with James Bond that I saw many years ago.
The cruise was just what I needed. It was good to relax for a while. I was very spoiled with delicious Vietnam cuisine. I often had fresh Ginger Tea, just watching islands passing by. We made excursions to various caves, kayaking, squid fishing and tao chi on the sun deck in the morning. I also saw Ha Long Pearl Oyster Farm where I found earrings.
On New Years Eve there were no fire works in Vietnam. It was a way to save. The ambience was very happy and everybody was in a good mood. The most popular song was “Can´t stop the feeling”, so I will always think of Ha Long Bay when I listen to Justin Timberlake. “I got that sunshine in my pocket….
Yesterday I had a huge craving for exotic tropical forest that made me go to “Fjärilshuset”, Haga Norra in Stockholm. Seeing all butterflies made me relax. I remembered the story about the Attacus Atlas. Interesting life.
