Back on the Busses - Northern Vietnam

Once again we arrived in a city, this time Hanoi, tired, hungrey and in need of a hot shower. We adventually, after an hour or so trudging around in the rain, found a so called guesthouse which had vacancies and was in our price range. Unfortunately our budjet could only stretch to a room which resembeled a giant damp tupaware container! Our room seemed to be a cheap addition to the hotel, the walls were made of thin plastic and the roof of tin. Due to the broken bathroom door it was possible to take a morning shower whilst waving to the nextdoor neighbours!

Thanks to the homely drizzel which accompanied our first few days in the capitol, sightseeing was put aside and we booked our planned excursions. Firstly our boat trip to Halong Bay and secondly, two days trekking in Sapa (in the Northern Highlands).

For the penultimate time in Vietnam we apprehesively boarded the tour bus, this time heading for the world famous Halong Bay three hours east of Hanoi. On the bus we were introduced to the outher 14 people who would be sharing our two day, one night boat trip around the bay. Our first day on the boat went well as we cruised through the emerald green waters marvelling at the hundreds of strange rock formations throuh the eerie mist, we visited a huge cave that any James Bond villan would be proud of and then rounded of the day with a huge feast, a game of cards, a few beers and some cheese and biscuits which we had smuggled on board.

The next day we woke up in our cabin on the boat, peered out of the window and saw nothing, not a bloody thing! During the night a thick fog had rolled in which meant even the skipper got slightly lost on the way back to shore. Even though we saw very little on the second day of the trip we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We arrived back in Hanoi for a day of R&R before heading to Sapa on a night train. We would have arrived at Lao Cai at 5am feeling refreshed and awake ready for our bus to the hotel in Sapa, that is if it wasn't for the encescently loud squeak in our carriage that kept us awake all night! Once off the train we followed a guy with the sign reading 'Richard Burk'! and boarded the minibus to take us through the stunning mountain scenery up to the hotel which looked over the huge valley below.

After a couple of hours rest, we were introduced to our guide for the trek, Minh (or Mike as we ended up calling him as it was easier), and headed through the market passing the little old ladies in their Hamong traditional dress selling their wares and then onto the Cat Cat village. From their we headed over hills through valleys and passed fields until we finally arived at our home for the evening. It was a large barn style building with mattresses on the floor upstairs and kitchen and communal area downstairs. Our first hour was spent fending off the onslaught of lacal sales women and children. At one point there was around fifteen of them crowding around us trying to push everything from traditional costume to bracelets and pillow cases. Some of the children were particually persuasive and we ended up buying a few bits from sisters Lung and Chi. We were really taken buy their grasp of English and sense of humour, all picked up from passing tourists. Lung later took us to her house to meet her mother and younger siblings. It was a real shock to be introduced to a 25 year old women, mother to Lung (8), Chi (6) and two other little girls of around 3 years and 18 months. Later when talking with our guide he explained that most village girls are married by the age of 16 with their first child born soon after. Its only beginning to change with some young women choosing education over marriage although these women will still be married by their early twenties.

Our night in the village was a real success. Minh introduced us to numerous drinking games which inevitably ended up with someone downing shots of rice wine. The highlight though had to be the arrival of the village drunk, a lovely old man who settled himself at the table and found it histerically funny to force feed Rich glass after glass of the local brew! We woke the next morning supprised to find ourselves hangover free! We had a brief conversation about the money making opportunities of a drink like this in the UK but then realised that no amount of clever marketing would get passed the fact that then stuff tastes like shit! Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

The day started bright but buy lunch time the informous Sapa fog had drawn in and we were left to finish the trek under a damp cold sky. That night back in Sapa we met up with Manh and his girlfriend who showed us to the local evening food stalls. Sheltered from the rain under a giant umbrella and warmed by the small BBQ, we tucked into several local treats such as roasted chesnuts, hot sugarcain, 'meat' on sticks and baked sweet potatoes all paid for buy our host Manh (we did try to pay!). In vietnamese tradition the meal was washed down with yet more rice wine!

At this point in our travels we should (if keeping to the plan) of been heading back down south and over to loas but curriousity got the better of us and before we knew it we were heading towards the Chinese boarder!

---

---