Strolling around Hanoi

One of the best places to meet up with friends is Joma, a Vietnamese cafe equivalent to Starbucks. After tons of schoolwork I met up with friends there and tried out the carrot cake and caramel latte, YUM! Afterwards we just strolled around taking pictures of random things, here's some of mine:

Sapa

This last week I took a trip to Sapa, recommended by all the guidebooks because of the tribal people living there and the beautiful countryside, perfect for hiking.

You can take an overnight train from Hanoi sharing a cabin with 3 others in bunk beds (since I was with friends it was fun on the contrary sharing a room with a stranger is not my idea of fun) and then you arrive in Sapa at four in the morning.

Staggering through the train station onto a bus you travel on these horrifically vomit- worthy winding roads, the sunrise is a welcome distraction.

I was in the 'Action' group where we did a 7 hour hike passing through four different valley sections. All the way I hummed Taylor Swift songs and it was amazing to see the people there in their traditional tribal outfits. We didn't go up Fan xi pan the highest peak in Vietnam but the walk was extremely tough with knees aching, thighs burning and sunburns all around. We saw so many interesting things and I took a ton of pictures along the way and the women we were walking with weren't tired whatsoever!

We were talking to one of the women and she told us that she dated her husband one week before he asked her to get married. They now have a son so she was extremely happy as sons are important here like in China to support the family.

There are many ethnic tribes in Vietnam including the H'mong people wearing these colourful outfits.

If you want an overview of the place check out the Lonely Planet website:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/vietnam/northwest-vietnam/sapa

History

Here is a great video if you want to learn about the war and if you want more information I've put some affects of the war below on the people:

How people in the USA were immediately affected by the war:

Money was wasted and the people of America lost faith in the government. Those returning were not congratulated and many had fallen into drug addiction since drugs were extremely easy to get hold of in Vietnam.

Long term effects on America:

The Americans are still embarrassed today about the failure of not just their policy of containment but of their decision to become involved in Vietnam.

How people in Vietnam were affected by the war:

Vietnam became one unified communist country.

There were Vietnamese refugees who had migrated to other countries trying to get away from the war.

The environment and people had been affected by bombing and chemicals used, houses had to be rebuilt and Vietnam didn't have a strong economy to rebuild everything quickly. Many of the plant life had been destroyed because of the chemicals and weapons used hurt not only soldiers but also innocent civilians.

Lasting effects on Vietnam:

In the countryside there are still unexploded landmines and bombs which still endanger people today. As well as this many of the children being born still have disabilities due to the chemical used: Agent Orange.