I feel feverish aaaaand sluggish

Humm I wish I had learnt this phrase not only in Engrish but also in Vietnamese...

After realizing that some facts cannot be reinterpreted and that I am surely sick, I decided its high time to go to bed. I was shortly joined by Jamlasica on our honeymoon bed expecting some hot action, but all I got was a brief "I feel sick too". 

At 1 am in the morning both of us desperate with our current state, decided to start experimenting.

Experiment 1. Burping was a success for me which was followed up by a "I'm so jealous" by Jamlasica

Experiment 2. Force puking ended in a miserable failure for both of us even though this had our highest hopes of success

Experiment 3. Sleeping worked more or less but at least helped to get through the night without any extra attractions.

The next day was sightseeing caves and riding bikes through one of the islands. Fun fun fun especially since the overnight drama was more or less completely gone by that time.

Ha Long do we need to stay here?

The trip to Ha Long bay started with a 4 hour bus ride. Then we boarded a ship to the bay. Got served touristy food, which our companions remarked as "fantastic vietnamese food" while me and Jamlasica were like "this was the worst crap we've had ever since we landed". After lunch sightseeing the bay started.

Well.... I was quite disappointed. I did not see James Bond gettitng out of the water. Actually I did not see anything, as the fog was so thick, we barely could see the closest islands.

After the cruise we did some cayaking. My impression - trash.

Then we got transported to an island for the overnight stay. The accomodation was awesome, food was ok too. Thing is, I already had fever and was looking forward to the night of my life :D

The mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh

The mausoleum is open between 8 and 11 with the last visitors entering at 10:15. Hmmm the guy must be a very busy person...

We went to the mausoleum but failed miserably, as it was closed on that particular day. Bummer.

Traffic rules for the Foreigner

Hanoi is an awfully vivid city. Primarily due to infinite numbers of motorbikes that roam through the area. It is almost incredible how people manage to drive in this traffic. 

Here are a few simple traffic rules translated to western:

Red light: it is advised you stop, but should you wish not to stop, you just need to pay attention and honk if some other vehicles come from the sides

One way street: a street with decreased chance of a vehicle coming from the other direction. DECREASED.

Roundabout: a funky construction where vehicles go around a pile of rock with a palm tree for no apparent reason

Pedestrian: a moving lively object that needs to be avoided as it can damage the motorbike disrupt to movement 

Pedestrian crossing: everywhere

Woop!

I made it! I didn't even get run over by the motorbikes. Seeing Jamlasica was awesome. Really excited to go out now! Our hotel room has a bed the size of 2,5 normal beds and that's about it when it comes to room furniture. On the other hand - the bed is what I was dreaming all 24 hours about.

Hanoi at last!

Arriving in Hanoi is quite easy if you take a taxi. What if you don't want to take a taxi? Well things get a liiiiittle more complicated. 

Step 1. Figure out if there is another way to get to the city. Of course there are no bus stop signs in English. Why would those tourists take a bus anyways :D

Step 2. Find the bus stop. A bus stop is where busses stop, not where the sign is. So just go for the place that has the most busses in the area

Step 3. Find da bus. A bit tricky but research prior to arrival definitely helps.

Step 4. Get on and go.

The ticket master is the person wearing a golden chain, a jump suit with some bus company name and holding a pile of cash in one hand and definitely looking like a baws.

The ride was long, but hey, I paid 0,3 USD instead of 18!

Meeting in Hanoi

I think we have made the ultra spoilt kid thing, when we decided to meet up in Hanoi for a chat about life. 

Day Zero

Omg finally here. On a plane to somewhere weird and uncivilized. I gotta admitt the last few weeks were indeed a horrible time with shines of light in between when I had a chance to take my mind off work. 

I finally realized that I am going somewhere yesterday when I was hanging out in town getting the last minute shopping done. Go new camera! And... go McDonalds! I guess the Paleo dinosaurs are rolling their eyeballs now but hey - it was really yummy!

Now today - another dreadful morning under the theme "ugh I cant". But hey! I could!

I made myself an "all you have in the fridge" breakfast which included: steak, salad, goat cheese, natural orange juice. +1 for team Paleo. Although it did feel weird to eat a medium rare breakfast :D

Work was fine, although a bit hectic. And then it started - the texting:

Going to the airport

aaaaaaaa

I know, so cool!

Aaaaaaaaaa

.....

Aaaaaaaaaa

Aaaaaaaaa

And those were about the 3 last hours of my stay in Berlin :D