We're ready to leave!

After our hectic but exciting adventures on two wheels around northern Vietnam we felt the need to chill and relax for a day or two before continuing south down Vietnam. We booked ourselves on to a Halong Bay trip - one of the few 'package tours' of our travels. We were picked up from our hotel (sixteen of us in total) in the pouring rain, dark grey clouds looming and were reserved to the fact that we had paid a small fortune to go and see and experience some of the most amazing sceneries in the world - only to be unable able to see it! After a three hour bus ride from Hanoi, we climbed on board our boat - the 'Pinta Gold' - for our complimentary drinks and sat down for a lovely lunch while we cruised across Halong Bay. Fortunately the sky began to clear, the sun came out and what was a dark and dank day turned out quite nicely!

We sailed to some amazing and quite frankly massive caves for a stroll and to take in some more scenery. We then sailed to a secluded little bay with the plan of going for a swim - this plan was thwarted owing to us being surrounded by jelly fish! We spent the afternoon lazing on the sunbeds and drinking ice cold beer - it was terrible!!!! In the evening we had another divine meal, and spent the evening chatting to our fellow sailors - who turned out to be quite a nice bunch of people to be stuck on a boat with (fortunately!). That evening we were surprised with a complimentary champagne and cake by the crew - on accounts of Gayle mentioning our Honeymoon when booking! After our second 'Cake Cutting' in under three months, we were quite speechless. We were also a little grateful of the 'complimentary' Champagne, along with all of the other guests, as we were all drinking VERY slowly on account of what was easily the most expensive bar in South East Asia!

The next morning we were all awake early and after breakfast, set off on kayaks for a paddle around the bay - it was very nice and relaxing and awesome to see the mountains up close - we all felt that a little longer would have been nice! After another fantastic feed we set off back to Hanoi, exhausted, but happy (if not significantly poorer!).

After a couple of days relaxing - as much as one can relax in Hanoi, we took a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (AKA Saigon). Again we opted to fly over the 30 hour train ride (especially as the flights were cheaper!). It was comical to watch the Vietnamese on the flight - everyone had seats on the plane allocated at check-in, yet when it came to boarding, it was like watching a starving pack of animals get to a small bowl of rice! We were physically pushed and shoved out of the way in the aisles, people were using their bags to hit others. When the plane landed, while we were still taxiing on the runway people were up and running to the doors and being pushed back to their seats by the cabin crew.

We had read and heard many horror stories about Ho Chi Minh City, about scams, thieves, etc. So with some trepidation we opted for the 'local bus' instead of a taxi from the airport to town. Just like in Hanoi, we were pleasantly suprised at how easy it was, although Gayle made the mistake of putting her bag on the seat so we got charged for that too (a whole 10p!), but we didn't realise till too late. Never mind, the nice lady conductor gave us a heads up for our stop and we climbed off about 30 feet from our hotel!

We have been in Ho Chi Minh City for a few days now and plan to head off to Cambodia by bus on Tuesday. Vietnam has been an interesting country, our motorbiking around Northern Vietnam was amazing - we met some lovely people and saw some of the most stunning scenery. We have been to some very poor areas and experienced wonderful friendliness and generosity. We have also had our fair share of hassles - most South East Asians see the colour of our skin and think we're so rich they can overcharge us a couple of dollars and we'd never know. We've got a tight budget here so every dollar counts, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that every dollar probably counts more to them so need to find some compromise that suits both sides.

Off to Cambodia next week for a short visit before heading over to 'civilisation' and some nice cold weather in Oz! We're particularly looking forwards to steak and wine - something South East Asia is lacking!

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