Scooters and Goodbyes

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Hoi An was a beautiful city, or the old quarter bit was anyway. That's the only bit we really visited. Lots of history and nice places to eat. We went out one night for a few beers and some shisha. The hotel was good too, it had a massive pool with a swim up bar. The only problem was the day we were leaving there was a big wedding at our hotel. They had the after party at about 12pm and started singing very loud Vietnamese karaoke. They really love karaoke here.. I don't understand it myself!
We got the bus to Hue. Hue was a bit boring really, not much to do. But we went out for dinner and celebrated Kimberley's birthday with sparklers and shots. We then went out to a bar called Brown Eyes. Reminded me a bit of Karma Kafe for those at home. We started a dance off with a group of Vietnamese break dancers which was hilarious. The next day we got up late and went for pre overnight train and beers. Although this train was a killer. 14 whole hours! But we got to share with our roomies Adrienne and Matt so it ended up being a fun trip anyway. Matt wore his custom made silk pajamas and looked very dapper!
We arrived in Hanoi at 5am the next day. It was still dark and pretty chilly. We got straight on a bus to make the 4 hour trip to Halong Bay. Was the bumpiest bus journey ever! But we got there safely. We checked into our hotel after a bit of breakfast. Halong Bay seems to be a bit deserted, they've started a lot of buildings and not finished them. A bit like they were expecting a bustling tourist based holiday destination but they ran out of money. In Halong Bay we got on a boat to visit the islands. There are 1969 limestone islands in the bay. It was beautiful. We had a brilliant seafood lunch on the boat. We stopped for a bit to go canoeing into the lagoons. Large shallow pools in the middle of the islands. That was good fun. We then got back into the boat and went to a cave. It was huge!! Was all lit up and very beautiful. They had lots of bins in the shape of penguins. We then got back on the boat to travel back to the mainland. That night a few of the others went with Lop to his favourite "local local" restaurant. He'd scared most of us off with chat of live seafood and rats round your feet. Me and Sally decided to have pasta at a nearby Italian restaurant instead!
The next day we got back on the bus to make the 4 hour return trip to Hanoi. We got back at about 12 and checked into a really nice hotel. We all then went for lunch at another "local local" restaurant for a really cheap lunch. It was delicious! We then went for a wander round the busy streets of the Old Quarter. The traffic here is mental. So many scooters. They all insist on beeping at everything, so it's a constant wall of noise with the threat of being hit all the time! We went out for dinner at a restaurant called Gecko and then to Local Bar for BOGOF cocktails! We were all so tired so didn't stay out too late. The next day we had a lay in, Sally thought she was coming down with a cold so we just chilled out. Did a bit of shopping in the afternoon and then went for a couple of beers. We all met up for dinner in the evening and met the new additions to the group for the continuing trip to Laos. Lop kept asking me and Sally to stay..! We then went for more beers as a final goodbye night out.
The next morning some of us (me, Christina, Hulda and Kimberley) got up at 04:30 to try and do Tai Chi by the lake. We walked all the way around the lake and couldn't find anybody doing Tai Chi, but we did find a group of middle aged ladies doing a very energetic aerobics regime. We joined them for a bit until we were all so out of sync/sweaty/out of breath! We were back in bed by 6am! It was amazing to see the streets so empty though as they're usually so crazy. Sally and I got up at 9am and went to breakfast with everyone then went back up to our room to get ready for the day. We'd paid for an extra night in the hotel so we didn't have to check out and move, but the hotel had other plans! They rang us at half 10 and said they had overbooked and we had to go to one of their sister hotels nearby and that we had to leave now! They then had the cheek to try and make me pay for the taxi! Obviously I kicked up a fuss and they paid for it in the end. The other hotel wasn't too far away and was by the lake. We met up with a few of the group and went for 'shit coffee'. Coffee beans that have been eaten by weasels and then pooped out. It smelt horrid but tasted delicious! The Vietnamese also use condensed milk instead of fresh. But overall it was a really good cup of coffee! The group then went to get Bunh My (pronounced bun me and is a sandwich in crispy bread) for lunch. All too quickly it was time to say goodbye to our group as they had to get their plane to Laos. I hate goodbyes and cried!!! Everyone left apart from Kimberley, Hillary, Breanna and Ben. So we went for beers to calm my nerves! Me and Sally then finished our souvenir shopping round the busy streets. The small remainder of our group went for a last meal at a local restaurant before we all too had to say goodbye. Hopefully we'll see Hillary, Breanna and Ben in Thailand though so merely a TTFN.
A fond farewell to our group:
Adrienne
Matt
Hillary
Breanna
Ben
Christina
Fran
Emma
Wendy
Triene
Tora
Kaolin
Karoline
Kristina
Peter
Mikala
Kimberly
Emma
Hulda
Axel
And of course our tour guide Lop!
This morning we're up early again to get our flight down to Koh Samui. So I finish this post from the airport.. Waiting to go back to the sun, as Hanoi has been great if not a bit chilly!!
Love to all as always. Xxx

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