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Published: March 25th 2008
Adam in Hanoi
Don't worry funds aren't running low just yet...In Nha Trang on Thursday the 20th Adam was up at 7am while Nick slept in. Adam met Malin and they went to the shop to pick up breakfast for everyone and also walked along the beach in search of a badminton net, the England Sweden badminton game still hadn't happened! We had breakfast in the rooms and sorted out some sort of plan for the next few days. We wanted to head to Sapa in the north, which ment a flight to Hanoi then train to Lao Cai then bus to Sapa. So we booked our flight to Hanoi for 1.5 million Dong for Friday afternoon which would mean arriving in Sapa for Saturday morning. We then headed out and went around the shops, in seach of flip flops and some swimming shorts. We had an early lunch at the same place we ate the night before, all the food here is really good, and about $2 for a main course at most places. We then walked around some more shops and then headed back to the guest house. Malin and Emma did thier blog, Nick read some of his book (Russel Brand autobio) and Adam tried to translate the
Inside Crazy Kim's Bar
Typical looking backpackers bar with the signed flags! Swedish blog! We then chilled out with some music while both countries sorted out photographs from cameras to storage. Adam went out for a run along the beach, it took about 20 mins and was one of the nicest runs ever! Also on the way into the guest house he met a french man with a badminton racket, who explained where some indoor courts were! We then went out to eat at a nice Italian place, the food was good and the music was mostly English songs but just the tunes on acustic guitar! Some guy came around trying to sell us paintings, we had spoke to him every night and he had improved his opening line to 'can I show you some paintings?', which was a big improvment to his old opener of 'can I show you something?'! We then headed for a bit of a night out and brought bucket cocktails for 20,000 dong each, these were really strong and got us all pretty drunk, not bad for about 60 pence! We then went to Krazy Kim's bar, they played Artic Monkeys for us and we had a dance and somehow ended up with a straw hat! Nicks
Guy who knocked over Drink
We ended up with his hat at the end of the night somehow! drink also got knocked over, but the guy replaced it and veen wanted a photo with us too! We Headed home quite late stopping at the beach on the way!
Friday 21st was our last day in Nha Trang, the girls knocked at 9am and seemed a lot less hungover than us! We spoke to the nice guy on reception that we have named 'happy man'. The french guy from yesterday came downstairs and refreshed us with the directions to the badminton place. It was a 20 minute walk so we headed off that way. Once in the area we couldn't see it buy a local guy saw our rackets and pointed us the way, the people here are so helpful! We payed 50 pence for a court for an hour and you will all be glad to know that England won 2-1, despite an upset in the second game! We popped to the supermarket opposite (maximark) and brought some crazy dried fruits for tomorrows travel. We popped back to have showers then went to our new favourite restaurant (Truc Linh 1) for some food, this place did big portions and was really tasty, we still aren't sick of
Badminton Center
England 2 Sweden 1! noodles. We then went to withdraw some Dong from an ATM but Adam's cards wouldn't work in any of them. Nick saw a funny sign in a travel shop that read ' Your dong is safe in our hands', made us laugh anyway! We headed back to pay Happy Man for our rooms and were picked up to go to the airport at about 2pm. Our driver put on some crazy loud dance music on the journey, they all seem too, and we had a nice drive in the sun. We checked in at what seemed to be the worlds smallest airport and waited for the flight, which left about 30 minutes late. We got some food on the plane which was suprising, we don't know what the meat was though! Adam was reading Malin's girly magazine and trying to improve his Swedish. It was our most bumpy flight yet. Adam accidently forgot to put his pen knife in his main luggage and didn't notice until an hour into the flight, poor secuirty checks going on (Vietnam Airlines)! We landed ok and collected our bags, Adams came down the baggage thing first (2-1). We got put in a taxi and
Nha Trang Airport
Possible one of the worlds smallest!?!? told not to pay more than $10 to train station. He took us to some hotel (here we go again), who kindly informed us the train would be full for tonight and we would have to stay somewhere in Hanoi and go to Sapa the next day. We had heard all this before so carried on to the train station. Once we all arrived at the station it turns out the train was indeed full, but a nice guy said he would try and get us some tickets, he took us to 'B station' where the train would be leaving froma and told us to wait here, he ran off, and after 15 minutes of waiting he didn't come back, so we headed off to find somewhere to stay. The girls had a flight out of Hanoi in a few days which ment going to Sapa was now not an option for them, so in a quick change of plan we all decided to enjoy Hanoi for a few days, then when the girls fly out Adam and Nick will visit Halong bay and Sapa, this actually worked out better for going to Loas after Sapa. We walked to find
Antique Bar
everything for sale in here...the big budda was tempting after a few beers! some food and found a place called Mea Bon, it was more expensive than usual, but we were tired and homeless and needed a break! In here we had the best club sandwich ever. It was so needed and seemed to make everything ok! Emma's soup was also good but Malin's pizza was the wrong one first then not very nice. But the place were really helpful letting us use the phone. Adam rang about 6 guest houses and hotels but they all seemed to be full, one said he could put 4 of us in a double room, and another said it might have a 4 person room. We headed off to find one, this is when we found Thu Giang guest house and a Lady called Li, who would turn out to be the most helpful person in possibly the world! She said everywhere was full but rang lots of places and eventually found one with rooms, She draw us a map and told them we were on our way. Lots of nice locals also helped us find the place along the way, even the cyclo driver who spoke no english really wanted to help show us. We
Hang Bong Street, Hanoi
1 Moped for very 2 people in Hanoi... found Prince hotel which looked ok on the surface. We got the last 2 rooms, a twin and a double and the girls took the double (how nice of them!) We agreed to meet at 9am the next morning and all went to sleep.
Adam had the worst night sleep ever with some crazy dreams involving been biten by a dog, some cats, and a man with no legs. Nick slept well, despite the place turning out to be flithy, the beds and pillows were not good. We met the girls at 9am and all checked out with our bags planning to find a new place. Adam had been up all night so used the time and poor wireless he found to find some places to try. We first went to Bodega 2 who said he had 2 twins rooms for $20 each, this was a bit pricey so we headed back to the nice lady at Thu Giang, she said she would know if she had rooms at 1130am, and she would look after our main bags until then. So we headed out for breakfast at Kangaroo Cafe, this place was awesome. Really good English style breakfast for
Flag Store...
...and entrance to our hotel on the left a good price, plus they also had a tour office and guest rooms. Here we decided to go for the $20 rooms at Bodega 2 and went back to collect our bags, Li was happy we found somewhere and wasn't bothered at all about looking after our bags for nothing, she said if we needed anything to go back and see her. We went back to Bodega 2 but it turned out they had given the 2 rooms away that they had left. But a phone call later they had found us one at thier sister hotel about 50 meters away. The nice guy carried our bags over their for us despite us telling him he didn't have to! Kim's Do Hotel was a much better place and was $18 per night so we settled in here. We had issues with the aircon but they soon got it going for us. The girls somehow had a balcony and we didn't, we were a bit jealous but we probably wouldn't use it anyway! We then walked around the shops and Ho Hoan Lake taking in Hanoi, this place was a bit manic. Hanoi has 4 million residents and 2 million mopeds,
A cyclo driver
Seats are upfront here rather than on the back like in India... and a very dense population! Adam had wanted an army style vietnam hat for a while so when a lady walked by selling one he asked how much, she said $4. We said too much and walked on. She said $3 and we said still too much, then she asked how much we would pay and we said $2, she said final offer $2.50, we politly declined and walked away. Then she grabbed Adam's arm and pulled him back saying 'ok - $2!'. Good deal! We looked about the shops and considered buying some chop sticks, Adam can now eat a meal easily with these, while Nick is about as good as a horse with them. We found a nice place to eat and relaxed in here planning what we wanted to see in Hanoi. The 'Water Puppet Show' is a cultural must so we headed to buy tickets, turns out it was full but we managed to get some for tomorrow night for 4pm. Adam and Nick went back to see Li at Thu Giang and booked a trip to Halong Bay for in a few days time, when we have finished with Hanoi. We popped back to the
Malin
Posing as a fruit seller! Who wouldn't buy some? hotel and got ready for our evening out. Its slightly cooler in the north here and everyone got excited about being able to were jeans, which may seem odd, but its strange what comforts from home you miss! We went out to Pepperoni's Pizza Cafe as recommended in Lonley Planet, the food here was good and after we found a bar around the corner. This palce had the nicest lady ever in it, she seemd so happy we were there (and it was only us there). We got to sit upstairs and were surrounded by antiques, turns out they were all for sale in here, we also got our own little bell for ringing when we wanted some more drinks, which was rather fun! We had cocktails including b52's and got some advice on where ot go next. We ended up in a nice bar on the lake front but it closed at midnight, the same as everywhere else. Turns out the police drive around at 12 and close everywhere down. However we had some good drinks here and highly reccomend the strawberry kiss! We went back and chilled in the rooms before going to bed. Adam performed his amazing
Food!
We keep talking about it, more photos to come of it! card trick that cost 7 pence at the market! Maybe more practice is needed with it.
Next day we were up at half 8 and handed in some laundry to be done by the hotel, hoping that it would be better than our 'sink washing', and maybe get our white socks white again. We met the girls and went for another breakfast at Kangaroo Cafe, this place is a must if you ever visit Hanoi! We went around a few shops and then headed to Ho Hoan Lake to walk around, here we saw Turtle Tower, which wasn't that interesting to be honest, it was just a small arch in the middle of the lake, that you couldn't get too! We walked past the 'Spotted Cow' bar that we had been looking for, and made note for later. Then we went to Thap Rua Island, which is the only island on Ho Hoan Lake, and houses a small temple. On the way over the bridge to it we saw some local guys trying to hook up a baby turtle, probably for a local restuarant, it wasn't nice and we quickly walked over. The island wasn't too exciting, it has
a giant turtle moulding from one apparently found in the lake - its big! We had been slacking on photos over the past few days so today we had to see some sights, and Adam had been trying to get a photo of a vietnamiese street selling lady with a cone hat. We were walking down the road towards the puppet show when the perfect street seller lady appeared, Emma got her camera out as we walked towards her, before we knew what had happened Malin had the ladies Hat and Shop hung on her! We got some funny photos of her and Adam wearing the full kit! Then obviously she put lots of fruit in our hands and sold them too us, probably for too much, clever lady! However we were happy with our photos for a dollar, and the fruit was a bonus! We had some more good noodles in a little back street cafe looking over the lake then headed to the 4pm water puppet show. Water Puppetry is an accient art practiced in Vietnam, it originates from shows performed in the rice fields centuries ago. We got 1st and 2nd row seats and had a great
view. Paid 1 dollar extra to take photos (just for you readers! - donations welcome!). It was a reallly interesting show, the puppets are controlled by men and women behind a screen in the water using bamboo sticks. The show lasted an hour, and was mostly about vietnam history and traditions, including the famous story about the turtle in the near by lake, and some other stories including a boat race, catching a frog and some dragon fights. The live music performed with local instruments was also good, and at the end all the puppeteirs came out and bowed, good show. Tickets sell for this quick so buy them when you first arrive in Hanoi! We then got our laundry back, complete with white socks, and repacked our bags ready for leaving tomorrow. Adam and Nick will travel to Halong bay, and say a sad goodbye to Malin and Emma who fly of to Kuala Lumpur. We went out to eat but Malin felt a bit sick so she went home, the rest of us decided an early night would be a good idea, Nick had to pack, Emma could look after Malin and Adam was a bit behind 'blogging'.
The 'Pirate' Boats
Heading for Halong Bay We paid for the room and watched super sunday in the room before sleeping!
Early start on Monday the 24th, up at 6am and left the room fully packed at 7am. We saw the Swedish girls off into thier taxi and said goodbye. It was sad to see them go - we had travelled together for 2 weeks now and been through 2 whole countries together. We may be in Bangkok at the same time in a month or so, so we may see them again, we hope so! We headed to see Li at the Thu Giang guest house for our Halong Bay trip, she made us tea and dairy lea in a fresh roll for breakfast! We got picked up at 8am and had a small group, only 7 on our 14 person minibus, a nice change! Our tour guide (Sy) said Hello and then we all introduced ourselves to each other, we had 3 people from Belgium who seemed nice, they were a travelling couple and one of their mums (she was visiting them). Turns out they were doing a similar route around SE Asia to us but the opposite way - which was great for
Heading in
First views of Halong Bay swapping information about where we were all going next. We had a 3 hour drive to Halong, and by Midday we were on our boat, again only 7 of us on it, and this boat was big! There was a lot of these boats all doing the same, and they looked like pirate ships (see photo)! Halong Bay is a World Heritage Site, and has over 2000 islands, over 2/3rds of Vietnams Islands. We cruised around the bay for a bit then stopped at a floating fishing village, we got off here and looked around. Turns out they also picked up our lunch from here to cook on the boat. They place had lots of types of fish plus some squids, crabs, shirmps and other stuff we didn't know! We then boarded the boat and sat down with the Belgiums for lunch, it was an inersting one. We had some mackral soup served up first, followed by a plate of chips to share. Then they brought our noodles and squid which was actually really nice, then we got more rice and salads brought out. Then some tougher fish meats that we didn't know, and finally we got a whole fish
Fishing Village
Where we collected and ate lunch brought out in front of us to eat, it was yummy. Then we got oranges for dessert brought from one of the ladies who sail around the bay selling fruit from thier small boats. I don't think we will ever eat food with a view as good as this meal. We then headed off to visit some caves on one of the islands. They were very very big and made too look very nice inside with some fancy coloured lights, to some peoples disgust it seems (Hippies!!!). If the lights weren't there it would be pitch black! The second cave was a little less 'Disney' and was lit by natual light. We then cruised back to port and got back on the coach, oddly with more passengers, probably people who had done a 2 or 3 day tour, which is apparently much better, but we didn't have time for that! We both fell asleep on the coach and arrived back about 7pm, thinking our train was at 10pm, that Li had booked for us. We were dropped somewhere we didn't know but eventually found Thu Giang and Li had our train tickets with her, for the 9pm train. We quickly
Caves in Halong bay
Nice lights if you ask us! got our bags and headed for the train station, stopped for some quick food on the way. We got on the train 20 minutes early and shared a cabin with 2 Dutch people, we had soft sleeper cabins this time, which ment only 4 beds to a berth rather than 6. We didn't notice the difference much as we both went stright to sleep on the train!
Our train journey is 9 hours long and we will be arriving in Lao Cai, which is where the Vietnam/China border crossing is, however we are heading for Sapa in Vietnam, which is a 1 hour minibus trip from Lao Cai. Here we hope to do some trekking for a few days and see tribal villages, before we heaed off to Loas. We are unsure of the border to Laos as it has only just opened to forigners, so we will enquire in Sapa, if not we'll be heading back to Hanoi first.
Hope you all had fun in your snow in England! The messages we have been getting are appreciated! It can be lonley out here with just us two, espically now we have no Swedish models with us now!
Part of Halong Bay area
Where we stopped to enter caves Keep in touch all and take care! Don't work too hard, and if you fancy a holiday we recommend Vietnam!
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Adam Gibson and Nick Burke
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Caroline (james & lauras mum)
non-member comment
Great Photos
Enjoying your blogs sounds as if you are having a good time keep posting the photos they are great, you will be able to write a good book by the end of your trip