Where in the World Are Magda and Brent? A Recap of Their Experiences in Hanoi, Vietnam
Check out the video below for a quick recap of Magda and Brent’s journey throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Europe so far. In this video, Magda and Brent talk about their experiences as they travel in Hanoi, Vietnam, from buying and learning how to ride their new motorcycles in preparation for their road trip north to Sa Pa, to trying strange and delicious foods in the old quarter of the city.
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Video Transcription
Brent: Hi Everybody!
Magda: Hey Everyone! So we are in Hanoi, Vietnam and we have been here for a couple days, three days.
Brent: Our quest here in Hanoi has been to buy motorcycles because our plan is to ride throughout Vietnam and eventually all the way to Cambodia.
Magda: Since we’ve been living away from home for quite a while now, neither of us have owned a vehicle for a while.
Brent: It’s kind of a weird feeling that we own vehicles now, that we have some freedom.
Magda: Not even cars, we bought motorcycles!
Brent: Yeah! We bought motorcycles. I’ve never owned one. Have you ever owned one?
Magda: No.
Brent: I’ve ridden bikes a little bit and Magda has never ridden at all so we’ll see how this goes. We’ve been staying in the old quarter of Hanoi, which is sort of a backpacker area. There’s lots of stuff there, lots of food.
Magda: Lots of restaurants, bars, pubs…
Brent: Yeah, and some temples and things like that. It’s quite a nice little area. So we looked around for bikes and a lot of people recommended going to Craigslist or something like that, but we’re only here for a short time and people weren’t really responding. We found lots of ads but nobody emails you back so we ended up going to…
Magda: This little shop, Vietnam Motorbike, and we bought to bikes for $500.
Brent: Yeah. $500 American, and they set you up really well, they give you…what all do you get with it?
Magda: You get a helmet, you get a bag rack, you get bungee cords, you get an oil change, you get a free little lesson and…
Brent: And when you buy a bike you get a free beer! So you can start drinking and driving right off the bat [laughs]. And, the best part actually, they have an office in Hanoi and in Ho Chi Min, and they will buy the bike back off you if you drive to the end. So that’s kind of a nice bonus as well.
[footage of Brent and Magda getting ready to ride]
Brent: And then we took the bikes across a six lane highway at rush hour.
Magda: It was terrifying.
Brent: Yeah that was our baptism by fire on motorcycles in Vietnam. We’ll see how it goes from here. So what’s our plan for tomorrow?
Magda: So we’re going to be waking up at 5:00am and heading up north to Sa Pa!
Brent: We have two routes we can take. We can take some major highways and get there a little bit faster…but I think we’ll probably die.
Magda: So we’re going to take a scenic route.
Brent: Yeah, [we’ll] take it a little longer, a little slower and see more of the sights, which is the whole purpose of this adventure. So we’re all ready. We’ve got our bikes. They’re fueled up and we’re good to go.
Magda: We’re going to go get some food now. We’ve tried some deep fried milk.
Brent: Pho, lot’s of pho.
Magda: Banh Mi sandwiches.
Brent: Banh Mi sandwiches are amazing! Street food, kababs, Vietnamese coffee. Come to Vietnam just for the coffee. It is phenomenal!
Magda: So check out our little videos.
Brent: Yeah! And we’ll keep you up to date on where we’re at in the world!
Written By Magda and Brent
Magda is an Oxford Seminars graduate with an honors degree in biological sciences. She loves traveling and has been to nearly twenty countries, with plans to see them all! She spent a year and a half teaching English and Science in Incheon, South Korea, and is looking forward to many more opportunities to teach and travel abroad on the horizon.
Brent has been involved in ESL as a teacher, Oxford Seminars TESOL/TESL/TEFL instructor, and writer for much of the past decade. His teaching exploits have taken him to South Korea, the Czech Republic, and most recently to Taiwan. As both a teacher and avid traveler, he looks forward to every opportunity to explore new cultures, sample new cuisines, and meet new people. There’s no better way to see the world!
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