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Published: December 13th 2013
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Our last few days in Vietnam were spent in Ha Long Bay and the capital city, Hanoi. Due to our extreme hatred for buses, we decided to get the train to Hanoi (I think I mentioned about the old lady prodding me in the line!) Well, the train journey wasn't too bad. We were on a night train which meant we could sleep for most of the journey...well that's what I thought! I woke up in the middle of the night rocking in my bed, thinking that the train was possibly going too fast and was about to de-rail! I think I always think the worst when I am half asleep! This thought in my head made it really difficult for me to sleep so I laid there, not enjoying the occasional strong smell of cigarette smoke coming under the door (It is not illegal in Vietnam to smoke on the train grrr).
Another thing that worried me was that our 'locked' door opened a couple of times in the night and a head would appear looking round (no I didn't dream this!). When it was morning, and Stu was also awake, it happened again. In walked the guard and crouched down
looking under the beds! Our thoughts were that because the sleeping compartments are so expensive in comparison to other tickets, people go in them and hide until the guard has walked past!
Finally we arrived in Hanoi, the train travelling through small alleyways, houses on either side; it was very strange! We went straight to our hostel and booked our trip to Ha Long Bay on the Monkey Island Cruise for the next day. The weather wasn't looking too promising so we weren't overly excited about going there but we were excited to see the beautiful rock formations that made up Ha Long Bay. The next morning, much to our surprise -sunshine!
We had to take a four hour bus journey to Ha Long Bay. Here we boarded our boat - Asia Cruise. Our boat was right at the end of the dock and we walked past many beautiful boats for the Paradise Cruise. Stu had researched this cruise before we left and you had to pay a pretty penny to travel on that boat, something like over $1000 dollars each!! Must be special seeing as ours only cost $109 dollars each 😊
We got on the boat, unloaded our bags and sailed
to a cave. Me and Stu had already been to a cave so we weren't that bothered. It was a smaller cave and it looked a lot older. The stalagmites and stalactites were huge! The whole cave was lit up beautifully in different colours but some elements of the cave were hugely tacky like the man made spring and the mysteriously placed money(fake of course!)
We got back in the boat and sailed to a place to kayak through the rock formations. This was really cool but was a little chilly! I wasn't too good at using my oar so I left it up to Stu to do the majority of the work! He needed the work out anyway!
After the kayaking, we got straight back on the boat for the evening for dinner. We were really impressed with the whole 3 day cruise as we were fed really well, and everyone who knows me and Stu knows the food aspect of the trip is one of the most important!
The next day, we sailed to Monkey Island - and yes there really were monkeys! They weren't on the main becah but were found on a smaller beach, the other side of the
island. To get there we had to clamber over sharp rocks which wasn't too good on my legs but was worth it when I got to see the monkeys. They weren't friendly and didn't like you getting close to them but they did like to steal and this was funny to watch. Some other people had kayaked to the beach instead of climbing the rocks. When they got out of the kayaks they left their belongings behind. The monkeys ran towards the kayaks and one of them dragged out a plastic bag full of clothes and proceeded to rip open the bag with its teeth! We couldn't believe what it was doing and crowded round it. He didn't like this so ran back to the kayak. Stu picked up the clothes and gave it back to the people whom they belonged to. Meanwhile, the monkey was back in the kayak rummaging around and runs out with a full box of Pringles! It stopped still on the beach and starts opening them up and eating them! We all laughed and didn't bother trying to get these back- they were gone forever!
After much fun watching the monkeys, we then climbed to the
viewing point at the highest point of the island. Beauty surrounded us everywhere but I had to be very careful where I placed my bum as some of the rocks didn't look to sturdy and the drop down didn't look too pretty! Thankfully, I had Super Stu to pave the way for me on the way down and help me place my feet in the correct place so that I didn't fall.
The next day, we made our way back to Hanoi, which were really sad about as we really enjoyed our relaxing stay on the island.
We spent the next few days in Hanoi. Here, we went to the famous Water Puppet Theatre which is worth a watch. All the puppets are in water are handled using long rods by people on the other side of the screen. My favourite part was the dragon scene as they danced in the water in unison, I thought this must take a lot of skill to get right. We also went to see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, the man who led the revolution for independence. I have never seen a dead body before so I wasn't sure what to expect. In
my head, I was thinking some decaying body with bits hanging off. Instead, it looked like a waxwork! The body had been preserved so he looked like a small, old man asleep in a glass box. We weren't allowed to take photos inside and had to walk round in orderly lines, walking at slow pace. I was so fascinated by the body I walked a little bit too slowly and got prodded(yet again) by a guard who told me sternly to move!! Oops.
Our last night, which was also mine and Stu's last night together for the next few months, we went to a French Restaurant. It was in the middle of no where so we weren't sure what to expect. Finally, we arrived and found ourselves outside a French style mansion! Good thing we wore our posh frocks! The food was amazing and the service was brilliant too. Our waiter was learning English at University and was really happy to talk to us and practise his English. We talked to him for much of the night and he gave us his email so that he could send us some spring roll recipes. I thought this was really kind and really
reinforced how lovely the Vietnamese people are.
The next day, I said a sad goodbye to Stuart as he had to go home back to England. My next stop - Singapore, and the first part on my own!
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