Good morning Vietnam

The bus was loaded full of boxes and bags of rice on top, inside, and underneath. It was miserably packed! I took a seat, and a weird Lao guy sat next to me on an uncomfortable, hard, cramped bench-seat. Outside my window a cute young Lao guy started talking to me, and gave me his passport photo, and then asked for one of mine. hahaha! Too funny. It's in my wallet.
We took off, with half the passengers sitting on the floor. We departed at 6:30 p.m. Throughout the journey I had to keep the Lao guy from trying to put his hard on my leg, and at one point I saw his hand falling through the air towards my crotch. I hit it away, glared at him, but he was unfazed. I had nowhere I could move to, so I didn't sleep. I did, however, use my elbow a lot to keep him away! At 2 a.m. the bus stoped, and everyone was kicked off at this weird little restaurant at the border town of Lao Bao, Laos/Vietnam. Thank god I didn't have to sit by the freak, but... where was I, and what was going on? No one could tell me. I changed my kip and dollars to Dong, and luckily I pre-researched the exchange, because 'surprise surprise' they tried to rip me off. This will happen simply because I'm white. Anyway, things were fine, and the girl was impressed when I corrected her, and she obliged to the corrected amount. The owner was frustratingly persistent that I should pay him to receive a stamp. What stamp? I was confused. I told him I didn't need a stamp because I had my visa, but he proceeded to argue with me on and off throughout the night. He even had all the passengers trying to convince me that I needed this stamp. At 7 a.m. the border to Vietnam opened, and I walked through with no problem, and did not need this stamp. I re-boarded the bus, and chose someone different to sit next to, and when I awoke a couple hrs. later I was in Dong Ha(Central Vietnam. I took a motorcycle taxi to a travel agent to book my sleeper bus to Hanoi(10 hrs. north), which I learned didn't leave until 7 p.m. that night. The guy was really nice, and liked hanging out with me, so when he gave me a phenomenal price($30usd) for a private war tour for the entire afternoon I couldn't refuse. My guide's name was Que, and he took me to the war museums and arranged for me private tours at each location with his favorite guides, all of whom were extremely knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. He took me to the barracks, cemetery, blood bowl, river of sorrow, Ben Xiah(Ben Ha), the central tunnels in Vihn, and then after a day of education with him, we went out for fish soup and beer on the beach. He helped me on the bus, asked me to return on my way south, and sent me on my way with snacks and water(all free). I had just arrived and had already I made a kind and thoughtful Vietnamese friend.
The sleeper bus was a luxury that I had not experienced thus far on my travels. When I arrived in Hanoi(The city of the soaring dragons) I tagged along with 2 other travelers to a hostel in the old quarter. On the cab ride to the hostel I was amused to see the entire city in the streets and sidewalks to do aerobics. How funny! :D Old men doing pelvic thrusts, women gyrating, and everyone was really giving it their all. It was 5:30 a.m., and the streets were alive, and the people were exercising with delight. The lake was surrounded with red and purple trees and in the distance I saw a beautiful curved red Asian bridge. Immediately I thought, I really like this city. I like Vietnam. It is so different and interesting! :)
After my needed shower I made a friend at breakfast. His name is Drew and he's a US military attorney living in Korea. He's my age, and very nice. We explored the city together, he accompanied me while I called my family on skype, found a salon and got a proper hair cut(chopping all of my hair off for real!), then he talked me into cruising up to Halong Bay with him and some new friends the next day(for 2 days, 1 night on the boat), and that night 10 people joined me for dinner to celebrate my b-day followed by drinks on the roof-top bar.
The next morning we left by bus, and took a 2 hr drive to the pier. We boarded a beautiful wooden ship. I shared a room with a cool Irish girl named Deidre. That afternoon we went spelunking in a huge cave with the most unique rock formations I've ever seen. Rhiannon would have loved it, being a geologist. Then we went kayaking in one of the most spectacular places I've ever been. This place is why scenic-loving people come to Vietnam! After kayaking we jumped off the boat into the water and went swimming under the glow of a gorgeous sunset. The scenery looked like something out of Jurassic park, the water was clean with a heavenly temperature, and everyone of the boat got along great. We really had a lot of fun together!
The food was delicious, and everyone kept remarking that they were having the best time! :D
I didn't want it to end, but I returned to Hanoi today. I'll explore Hanoi another day, and then I'm taking the train north towards China to trek, bike, and explore by motorcycle.