If I Did It

(Reference anyone?). Anyway, here's the story:

I had been planning to meet my girlfriend, Ngoc, in Bangkok last Friday. We were going to travel from Bangkok to Hanoi (her home) by land over about two weeks.

Unfortunately, the American embassy in Hanoi decided to take its sweet time with her visa renewal, so instead of taking the usual 3 days they informed her it would take two weeks.

She was forced to miss her flight to Bangkok (they had her passport). I told her that the game was up, and that I was going to continue on the route we had pre-selected (first being Koh Chang) and then meet up with her a couple days before she returned to the US for school.

In that vein, I had to make it seem convincing that I actually was headed to Koh Chang, so I wrote about it on this blog. And by the way-- the story about the British guys is true, it just happened at a cafe in Bangkok, not on a bus.

In reality, I had purchased a very cheap Air Asia ticket from Bangkok to Hanoi about five minutes after Ngoc told me that the embassy said it would take two weeks.

So I came to Hanoi Saturday morning, had Ngoc's friend pick me up and take me to her house, and surprised her there. Very satisfying.

Anyway, Ngoc and I are off to Sapa (in northern Vietnam) today. We'll be there for a couple days and then come back for Ngoc to pick up her passport before heading into Laos. Fun times.


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Oh, I should add one bit of honesty:

Last time I was in Vietnam, I hated it. Especially Hanoi. And with a flaring passion.

The touts are just unbelievable, and you get the distinct feeling (except it's real) that everyone is trying to rip you off.

Heck, even Lonely Planet (the guide book!) suggests that backpackers should 'pace themselves' and 'escape to rural areas' to maintain their sanity.

So we'll see if this time is any different, now that I have a native guide...