Back in Hanoi

Gosh. It's been 20 days since my last blog entry. Isn't that similar to what they say with Alcoholics Anonymous: it's been so many days since.... So since I made the entry in Greece I've spent some time in Turkey and - a new country - Turkmenistan. Oh yeah and we're having a war. So my plan was to fly from Istanbul to Vietnam. But due to Donald Trump the cost of flights seems to have rocketed. But let's rewind. First, I flew from Thessaloniki to Istanbul. Uneventful flight but I did find out that Iran had fired a missile in Turkey while I had been in the air. I think ... I hope that I was at the other end of Turkey so I don't think I was in any danger but who knows??? And my plan was then to fly the cheapest way onwards to Vietnam. But the prices went up, so I had an unplanned week in Turkey in order to get a cheap flight to Ho Chi Minh, more of which later.

So ... a week in Turkey. After a night in a hotel near the airport I returned to the Cheers Lighthouse Hotel in the tourist area where I had stayed a couple of years ago. As before it was a very friendly place where I met a load of people from all over. Oddly people from Lebanon, and Iran... anywhere currently being bombed... as well as Kazakhstan.

I decided to return to Cappadocia to do the hot air balloon flight which I had failed to do when I was here before. Unfortunately, it was too windy so the flights were cancelled. So I was forced to watch the rugby... and watch England stupidly throw away a winning position against France by kicking away possession with two minutes left. Idiots. So I went on a repeat of the tour I did previously and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

But then I had an epic load of travelling. It went something like this. An overnight bus trip from Cappadocia back to Istanbul. Then 12 hours at the airport. Then a four hour or so flight to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan with an 11 hour layover at the airport. That airport was interesting. As I understand it, Turkmenistan is not interested in tourists - and may still be a Stalinist state. Anyway the airport was very quiet and in really good condition. I would have taken some photos to share but I have a feeling I might have gotten arrested. Half of the airport was literally devoid of people. No one at all. So as places to go to hang out for a few hours it was pretty relaxing. So then onto the plane - Turkmenistan Airlines - to Ho Chi Minh. Arriving at oh I don't know four in the morning or something equally awful. Do I stay or do I get an immediate flight to Hanoi. I decide to push and get to Hanoi - the first flight is at something like 9am, so I book a flight and hotel. And then I fly there and arrive. Spend a day in bed. I think it's been about four days now since I slept in a bed. But time has ceased to have any meaning. Then I stay for a couple of days at Central Backpackers - which is the sister hostel of Buffalo where I was last year? Then a couple of days in Silk hotel in the Centre. And then back to Buffalo where I see lovely Cuc who I hadn't seen since I left last year. Perhaps I'll see Hannah too but she's on secondment in Da Nang. So I'm here for a few days. The plan is to spend a few days a the gym building up my fitness and then to head on to China or elsewhere - I'm still to decide finally. Unfortunately, I've had a cold for a few days as the air here is pretty awful and it's taken a few days for me to adapt.Leer más