Hanoi

Je ne sais pas si ce sont les klaxons incessant, les fortes pluies, le trafic absolument dingue, les bruits de la rue, l'attitude des gens, les rabatteurs ou conducteurs de moto (xe om) ou la senteur moite du climat tropical, mais une chose est sure: cela fait du bien d'être de retour en Asie.

Après un voyage assez long - 15 heures - je suis donc arrive a Hanoi. La circulation est bordélique mais la ville, rafraîchie par un lac, est dans l'ensemble très agréable. En fait, on trouve de tout: des temples, des musées (celui d'ethnologie est vraiment super), des bars, et même un club de jazz dans lequel j'ai termine ma soirée d'hier avec des australiens (tous profs et autour de cinquante ans!). Il y a pas mal de touristes, surtout français, et aussi beaucoup d'expats - j'ai rencontre un sous-marinier français parti a la retraite a...42 ans (leur régime est très spécial: 6 mois sous la mer = 3 ans de cotisation) et qui vit ici.

Niveau prix, c'est le bonheur: 1$ la bière, 12$ pour une super chambre, 1.5$ le repas complet...

Au niveau des habitants, l'atmosphère est vraiment sympa, meme si, bien entendu, il y a pas mal de rabattage et qu'au final, on se fait toujours avoir lorsqu'on passe un deal. Ceci dit ils font bien la différence entre les expats types personnel de l'ambassade et les thai ballo (littéralement étranger a sac a dos, le terme ballo est d'ailleurs français je crois).

Ce soir je pars pour Sapa, une petite ville de montagne a la frontière chinoise construite par les français. Je comptais d'abord aller a la baie d'Halong mais la tempête tropicale qui sévit sur le centre du Vietnam nous apporte beaucoup de pluie. Ce sera donc pour plus tard!

FAQ Part V – Costs

How much does it cost to do a tour around Asia ? Obviously this very much depends on your lifestyle and the places you want to see. Here I provide my own estimations of total cost for a four month trip.

Flight
Mine is with Singapore Airlines, price is 1236 Euros. You can find cheaper but quite often it is more expensive to arrive at a destination and leave from another one (Hanoi and Kuala in my case) than buying a simple return ticket. To Bangkok, flights can be as cheap as 600 Euros, but other destinations in Southeast Asia are more expensive (second best: Kuala and Singapore).


If you are travelling for more than two month, it is wise booking with a good company as I did, just to be on the safe side.


You also need to consider ‘internal flights’ to travel from one country to another – for instance there’s no other way to go to Myanmar. I did not book any but will certainly do at a later stage. There are many low-cost companies with uneven safety records. I intend to take one return flight to Myanmar (approx. 70 Euros) and probably a couple of other internal flights – say 100 Euros.


Total expense: Estimated 1400 Euros

Daily expense
The whole area is cheap. Malaysia, Thailand appears to be the most expensive as opposed to Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, but prices do not fluctuate much. According to most books, 25 dollars a day is sufficient in a backpacking mode. On my side, I will for 30 Euros a day but if I spend less, fair enough.
Total expense: 30*120= 3600 Euros

Medical issues
Total price to do my vaccination was around 75 Euros; to do my medical kit I spent roughly 150 Euros (but started with nothing).
Total expense: 250 Euros

Visas
Price may strongly differ. For Vietnam it is 70 Euros, other countries are apparently around 20-30 Euros, except Thailand and Malaysia for which no visa is required.
Total expense: estimated 150 Euros

Other expenses
I already had my bag and appropriate shoes. However, I had to pay for mosquito repellent, sleeping bag, etc., a total of roughly 50 Euros.
Total cost: estimated 50 Euros

Final cost
In total I expect to spend a total of roughly 5,500 Euros everything included – that’s an absolute maximum. Once I'm back I'll see whether I managed to do less as I think I will.

This may sound relatively cheap for a four month trip – but keep enough money on your bank account to find a new job afterwards.

Thanks for the memories...

It is maybe a bit cheesy, but well, I don't care: thanks for the memorable evening yesterday and the time spent to gether these last two years.




Long live Grayling and please keep it a special place!

FAQ Part IV - Malaria & Vaccination

I am sure that at least my mum will read this post and be pleased to see that I am up to speed - so here we go!

Vaccination
I went to do my vaccination about two months in advance (15 days is OK). By the way I strongly recommend CHU St Pierre in Brussels: great staff, competent and fast enough. Main places to do vaccinations in Brussels may be found here.

There are plenty of vaccinations to do before you travel to Southeast Asia, some of which must be done in 2/3 times to be fully vaccinated (i.e. doing it for the first time would protect you for only one year, whilst doing it the third time will work for your whole life).

Main vaccines to be done before departure:

• Typhoid;
• Hepatitis A;
• Hepatitis B;
• Tetanus;
• Polio;
• Diphtheria.

The last three can be done by while single injection covering the three diseases; however, all the others require several injections before being fully immunised.

Other vaccines (that I did not do) include:

• Japanese Encephalitis B: this one is to be done if you spend extended period in Southeast Asian countryside, for instance doing volunteering to build a school in the middle of nowhere;
• Rabies: The doctor I saw advised me not to do this one as the treatment consists in several injections causing significant side effects, and hence this might not be worth the pain. The funny thing is that rabies is widespread in Asia; hence if I get bitten by a dog or a bat I will only then do the (efficient) post exposure prophylaxis.
• Lastly note that there are no mandatory vaccines in the area I am going to.

Malaria
Malaria is present in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and the North of Thailand.

Last time I went to Southeast Asia I took some Malarone (which I recommend: no side effects, bit expensive though) but for longer trip this one does not work. Hence I will go for Lariam, which is cheaper and may be used during longer periods. Hope everything is fine with that one as it is subject to significant controversies on its side effects, such as paranoia and depression. More info on this may be found on the "To Lariam or not to Lariam" website. On top of this I also bought some mosquito repellent of course: preventing bites is always the most efficient way to tackle malaria.

Other medication
Having proper medication is of course indispensable, heavy and sometimes expensive. Here is what I have (please note this is my personal choice; not official recommendation):

• Zitromax: an antibiotic without penicillin (to which I am allergic);
• Imodium: to treat diarrhea;
• Blephagel: against eye infection;
• Cetirizine: against allergies;
• Nufofen: anti-everything :-)
• Erceflora: antibiotic against food contamination;
• Products for ears;
• Spasfon – also in case of food contamination;
• A needle – just in case you need one.

Hygiene and Food
Having been to India with my girlfriend were both of us were sick, I believe it is difficult to avoid sickness during a four month trip. We will see, but in any case here are some (basic) recommendations:

• Never use tap water on contact with mouth - do not drink or brush your teeth with tap water;
• When eating vegetables always eat them once cooked;
• No ice and no ice creams;
• Observe basic hygiene rules, for instance in the toilets; don't go to dodgy restaurants;
  Wash you hands before and after eating, and after toilets (you should be doing that anyway, shouldn't you?).

See you later
Manu

Eight days later...

Bon.

Plus que huit jours avant le départ, et les choses s'accélèrent. Et pourtant, quatre mois dans une vie, ce n'est pas grand chose ; les 'au revoir' ne sont certainement pas des 'adieux' ; ni l'amour ni les amitiés ne vont se briser ; le monde ne va pas s'arrêter de tourner ; Sarkozy sera toujours Président à mon retour ; et vraisemblablement cette période de quatre mois ne sera dans ma vie qu'une accélération du temps, un court moment de rêve et d'insouciance.

Voir la baie d'Halong...

Et pourtant... ces derniers jours passés à Bruxelles et Paris ont une atmosphère de fin - si j'étais souverain mégalomane je dirais fin de règne. Malgré toute la bonne volonté du monde, aller au boulot n'a plus de sens. On prépare le voyage, on enchaîne les dernières choses à faire (sac, pharmacie, lentilles de contact, etc., bref que du terre à terre) avec stress. En fait, tout tourne autour du départ : on passe la maximum de temps avec celle qu'on aime, on essaye de voir le maximum de monde, on repense aussi à ceux que l'on a pas vus depuis longtemps... alors même que l'on aurait pu les contacter bien avant.

C'est à la fois excitant et réducteur : on s'apprête à vivre une expérience fantastique, mais on peine à le formuler ; on part pour l'inconnu et en même temps on se sent de moins en moins utile à la société, que de toutes manière on est sur le point de quitter.


Dans huit jour, je serai à Hanoi, où la mousson se termine, il pleut des cordes et il fait 30 degrés. Une destination autour de laquelle finalement toute va vie tourne depuis quelques jours. Parfois j'ai envie de dire quelques années, même si, somme toute, être de retour en Asie est plus un doux rêve qu'un désir métaphysique profond. Dieu soit loué.

FAQ Part III - Packing your stuff

After the FAQs on "Why doing it?" and "Itinerary", here is the one on how to properly select the items to bring for a long trip. Indeed I started to do my bag today, partly to force me to realise that I am leaving in less than 10 days!!

Hope this will help those who fancy a trip somewhere exotic..

First of all, choosing a reliable, solid bag is critical. In terms of quantity, aim for 60 litres minimum - mine is 65+5. As far as quality, I strongly recommend to take a comfortable one, hence do not go for a cheapie...It also needs to be strong enough to resist heavy rains during the monsoon, and have several different pockets.

As a complement I will also take a smaller bag, for instance to go around cities or trekking.

Lastly, it is imperative to have a belt to be put underneath your trouser/shorts, in which you will keep your money, passport, and plane tickets. On that note, do not forget to make copies of everything, ideally scan your passport and send to your e-mail address.

In my previous trips I realised that one always tend to bring too much stuff. Hence this time I will try to be moderate with the clothes, taking only 10 days - which is already a lot according to many backpackers' websites. It's not worth bringing more: not only will you buy clothes over there, but there are also many cheap laundries all over the Asian continent!

Here is my own list - with comments:

- roughly 10 'days' of cloth, i.e. 8 T-shirts and 2 shirts, 10 pairs of socks and underwear.

- three trousers, one short;

- 2 bathing suits - at least :-)

- 2 light jumpers - mainly because I am going to the mountains in Vietnam (Sapa), and in view of possible rains; obviously if you're going during the rainy season you should take more and add water-resistant cloths...

- Footwear: a pair of walking shoes, some thongs, and I took another pair to run around the country..

- Headwear: I took my communist 'à la Che' hat, in addition to sunglasses;

- key docs: Passport, Driving License. I will not take my French identity card as I already lost all my stuff once and it was a pain to re-do everything...

- at least 4 pictures of you, necessary when doing visas at border crossings;

- 2 towels: one for hotels; one for the beach;

- toiletries: no specific comment, don't forget your sunscreen :-)

- Medicine: I will do a separate FAQ in a couple of days, but obviously this is crucial!

- A Swiss knife: in my case it is in fact a Swiss card given by my uncle some time ago..much more fashionable;

- camera, battery charger, universal adapter, flashlight;

- Mosquito repellent;

- a 'light' sleeping bag (French: sac à viande).

That's it for now - if I add anything before the departure I'll change this post...

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Just a bit of advertising for the blog of a friend who is currently doing a tour in India: http://www.xanga.com/MarieAnneRouget
We did the same Master in lobbying three years ago and had been in touch only a couple of time since then - I heard about her trip recently. Funny we had the same idea almost at the same time!