Our approximate itinerary is to go from North to South, to Ho Chi Min and the Mekong Delta. The first steps in Hanoi are a shock: hot (37\u00b0C) , humid (90%) , a thin rain and millions of cars, trucks, motorbikes, scooters and bikes: Vietnam has 80 millions inhabitants, and to us it looked like they were all there at the same time! Chaos apart, Hanoi is really beautiful to walk through: the old quarter, the lakes, the buddhist temples, the markets, the puppets shows\u2026 the only challenge is to survive crossing the streets! Two days later we head off to Sapa by night train, on the north west mountains near the China border. From the station of Lao Cai go get to Sapa on a minibus crossing mountains, forests, rice fields, clouds\u2026 We are now in a valley stretched between China and Laos.<\/p>\n
Sapa is a little but very touristy town: walking its streets we are surrounded by a moltitude of\u00a0 <\/span>H\u2019Mong women and girls dressed in traditional costumes who try to sell us everything.\u00a0 <\/span>We cross an ethnic market full of handycrafts and a traditional one which sells never seen before fruits and vegetables. On the streets we meet cars, scooters and buffalos<\/p>\n The next morning we head for a trek which will bring us to a H\u2019Mong village; it\u2019s a 4-5 hours walk between rice fields, forest paths, mud, rain, sun , rain and sun again. but it\u2019s breathtakingly\u00a0 <\/span>beautiful.\u00a0 <\/span>We finally ariive to \u201cour\u201d wooden and mud village where the women light a fire in the middle of their hut to prepare us a meal while we play with a lots of kids who pop up from every corner around us.<\/p>\n On the way back to Sapa we take a lift from a couple of kid\u2019s scooters but the one with Valeria has a little accident which turns out to be serious for our trip: she gets a severe burn at her right leg. The next day we realize that we will probably end our journey earlier than we had planned.<\/p>\n We decide to try to go on anyway to Dien Bien Phu with a minibus: nine hours through a wild and off the beaten track part of Vietnam. The discomforts are mitigated by the raw bauty of the surrounding landscapes. Dien Bien Phu is a town which sees very little tourism, a bit rough for the same reason, but that\u2019s what we are looking for in our trips, so in the end we have a nice memory of it.<\/p>\n Back to Hanoi (a flight, given the conditions of Valeria\u2019s leg), we decide to go to the most famous place in Vietnam: Halong Bay. Three days in a boat between hundreds os island-mountains emerging from the sea, one of the most stunning bays in the world, despite the unbelievable number of people and, as a result, a very polluted water.<\/p>\n Then the situation worsened for Valeria’s leg, and after a short stop in Hue’, and a visit to a doctor, we decided it was too risky to stay longer, so we arranged a flight to Ho Chi Min and from there we flew back to Italy with our hearts broken.<\/p>\n So long, Vietnam…. we will be back another time !<\/p>\n 6 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 from Torino to Hanoi via Paris \u2013 Air France flight<\/p>\n 7 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 arrival at 15.30 \u2013 around Hanoi City<\/p>\n 8 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 around Hanoi City \u2013 old town \u2013 Literature temple \u2013 city lakes \u2013 puppet theatre on water<\/p>\n 9 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 around Hanoi CIty \u2013 to Sapa by night train<\/p>\n 10 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 arrival in Lao Cai \u2013 to Sapa by bus \u2013 around Sapa<\/p>\n 11 august 2009\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 trekking on Sapa surrounding mountains – H\u2019Mong villages<\/p>\n 12 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 from Sapa to Dien Bien Phu by bus \u2013 around the city<\/p>\n 13 august 2009\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 iaround Dien Bien Phu \u2013 back to Hanoi by plane<\/p>\n 14 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 around Hanoi City<\/p>\n 15 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 from Hanoi to Halong Bay \u2013 by bus and boat \u2013 tour of Halong Bay<\/p>\n 16 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 arrival to Cath Bay Island \u2013 trek and tour of the island<\/p>\n 17 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 back to Halong Bay by boat and to Hanoi by bus<\/p>\n 18 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 from Hanoi to Hu\u00e8 by plane<\/p>\n 19 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 around Hu\u00e8<\/p>\n 20 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 around Hu\u00e8<\/p>\n 21 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 from Hu\u00e8 to Ho Chi Min City by plane \u2013 around Ho Chi Min City<\/p>\n 22 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 around Ho Chi Min City \u2013 night flight to Paris<\/p>\n 23 august 2009<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 flight back from Paris to Torino<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vietnam: a long short trip. Diary of a trip which started beautifully in the lush hills around Hanoi, and ended sorely because of a stupid accident<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1639,1379,1627],"tags":[1494,1492],"yoast_head":"\nITINERARIO<\/h1>\n
![\"map](\"..\/..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/map_of_vietnam.jpg\" "\\"mappa")
<\/p>\n