Hanoi arrival

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After a brief stop in Singapore we arrived at Hanoi airport and were met according to plan by transfer service to the one hotel we have pre booked for the next six or so weeks....Good choice..area outside arrivals was an absolute "Bun fight"! The taxi booking kiosk was closed and "what seemed like hundreds" of disorientated western tourists were cowering under an onslaught of waving boards and the shouts of "what seemed like thousands" of hungry taxi drivers...Aaaagh help!

Trip to hotel was relatively short and let us know what we were in for when it comes to riding a bike on the highways here in Vietnam....Noisy and frenetic...Everyone loves their horn and uses them at every opportunity...Apart from when they are actually trying to hit something and need both hands..

Hotel is Queen Star on Ma May in the old Quarter and is a good choice..great location and very ,very helpful staff..room is tired but functional, which is appreciably more than you can say for me..

As some of you know the plan was to check out the motorbike that Voyage Vietnam (a local tour service) was sourcing and getting prepared for the journey which we're planning to do solo, two up ( on our own with just one bike to you none bikers out there)...I've been in regular contact with the sales guy and had given him an extensive list of what we needed and how we wanted to the bike set up..
Oh dearie me...First F**k up!! THE BIKE WAS A SHED!!!! Nothing had been done..It was covered in crud, brake lights out,bald tyres,A complete and utter pile!!! As per usual I stepped back and assumed a quizzical expression while Rhianydd remonstrated (she is so much more frightening than me!)..The upshot being a second bike was going to be sourced and set up while we take in a tour to Halong Bay..We're also going to check out the bikes at "Cuongs Motorbike Adventures" which was our first choice,( they're recommended by the Minsk owners club but dont have a web site), in the mean time.

Weather here is overcast but warm, occasional fine rain for a few minutes but this beautiful city wears it well......The Old Quarter is pure opening scenes of "Bladerunner"..street food everywhere, bikes and mopes swerving past you, girls with baskets of pineapple and bananas on carrying poles, shop fronts spilling onto the grubby pavements, earsplitting government announcements from speakers on every telegraph pole mixed in with asian pop....(Boppaganda?) ....The whole place is absolutely mindnumbing!

First full day spent just wandering around and getting a feel for the place....Breakfast of "Pho", thin noodle soup with raw chilli and lime....Lunch at Bun Bo Nam Bo where you just sit down and wave two fingers (only if there's two of you idiot) and they bring you the only thing on the menu .."Bun Bo" , crispy shreds of beef on noodles with green leaves and herbs...two huge bowls and two big beers for under three pounds...DeeLish!!!! I can see my new slimline physique taking a pounding while we are here!

It started to rain quite heavily in the early evening so we bit the bullet and went to see Hanoi's famous Water Puppets...We both seized the opportunity for a brief nap....get my drift?

Halong Bay is three and a half hours away by tour bus so seemed to fit into our wait for the bike really well...we plumped for a middle range tour price wise...Food for the two days, one night on a traditional boat and a cruise around the islands, visiting caves and beaches and kayaking..
Weather still overcast (verging on the moist) but in some ways this added to an otherworldy kind of vibe...Incredibly beautiful but curiously "removed", maybe even slightly intimidating...Wish we could have seen it in sunshine as well. Recommend the tour company and boat "Baitulong Bay Junk"...nice people and good service, though return tour bus did not have seat belts..enough to make even the most blase nervous on these roads....

Tomorrow morning we're checking out a bike at Cuongs and deciding on either that or the second one from V V..then ( touch wood) strapping on the sacks and heading south..
Will post again soon..
At the moment having problems uploading photos but will try to get this sorted over next few days..
Drop us a line!!!
Stuart & Rhianydd

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