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Published: September 22nd 2009
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Entry number 2 and I'm now writing to you from our hotel in Hoi An, and I have some stories to tell! Ok so the day after my last post our next stop was Halong Bay, and what an incredible day that was! After an early rise we boarded onto a bus that was to take us on the 3 and half hour drive to Halong Bay. As it was 8.30 in the morning naturally everyone on board the bus was sleepy and it was half an hour into our trip when everyone was just dozing off that our guide decided to wake us up in a forceful but not rude manner. Everyone on board naturally assumed that he was going to give us some information about our day ahead, but he simply said "Hello... how are you? My name Bay", after which there was a long pause until he then said, whilst shaking his jazz hands "Just like Halong Bay!!" Tom and myself found this absolutely hilarious, but the rest of the people on the bus didnt appreciate it as much, and for the rest of the day our guide Bay's limited but forceful english proved incredibly funny. Whilst the
ride to Halong Bay was a long hot and bumpy ride, when we arrived there it was more than worth it, as we were presented with one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. Halong Bay is a Unesco world heritage sight and 2000 small islands baked in the sunlight with some rising to around 250 feet lay before us in the sea. We were to spend the day sailing around the islands in a junk boat first taking us to a small fishing village. Again it was another amazing sight, as amongst many islands were these small houses on man made floats in the sea. We then got to walk around one, and if you wanted too you could buy a live catch of the day and have it prepared for you on the junk. On board the junk we were fed a huge vietnamese feast, with squid, cuttlefish, spring rolls, prawns and various other delicious seafoods. Next up was kayaking, where Tom and myself made it our mission to find a hidden beach and we did so! We left our Kayak and sun bathed for a little bit on 10 feet of hidden sand on a
tiny island, it was absolutely amazing. Just when we thought the day couldnt get any more impressive, Bay took us on a tour of one of many caves on the islands. It was like walking inside a natural cathedral, with high ceilings and limestone hanging from the roof like massive chandeliers. Many of the caves have religious importance, and Bay pointed out to us many rocks that were supposed to resemble various animals, although i have to say i struggled to see many of them, see if you can from the photos. Halong Bay was a truly incredible experience, and something that everyone must do if they come to Vietnam, truly breathtaking.
That night we returned to Hanoi and we tried the local speciality called Cha Ca. The restaurant was fairly easy to find as it was called Cha Ca, and it was on Cha Ca street. We were then given a menu on which there was only written Cha Ca. I was tempted to ask what other options there were but resisted the urge and ordered Cha Ca. Made for you on the table it was filleted fish slices grilled with onions, leeks and fennel and you then added
noodles, peanuts and a secret family fish sauce recipe and it was delicious, probably my favourite meal to date! That night we then went to a bar to watch the spurs chelsea game, which the less said about the better, and met a scot an aussie and an essex boy who gave us some good tips for Nha trang and Cambodia in the future.
Our final Day in Hanoi we spent wandering around, going to Hoan Kiem Lake which is in the middle of the city. The lake itself has an awesome story behind it. Legend has it that in the 1400's Emperor Ly Thai received a magical sword from heaven which he used to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. One day later a giant gold turtle took the sword from the emperor into the lake and restored it to the heavens, and Ho Hoan Kiem actually means "lake of the restored sword". Apparently today a few giant turtles still live in the lake (which is probably twice the size of the lake in St James's Park) but sightings of them are extremely rare, the last one seen in 2007. If you do see one though it is supposed
to be incredibly lucky, and obviously Tom and myself desperately looked but had no luck... The monument and temple to the emperor and the golden turtle was set in the middle of the lake and was beautiful. We also walked round the garden complex and mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, which i have to say was pretty disappointing. Everything was closed despite it being 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and Ho Chi Minh himself is off at the moment for his annual clean in Russia. Perhaps the most bizarre thing to happen was meeting up with my mate Harry and his girlfriend Sarah in Hanoi! We hadnt seen each other in a year and by chance we happened to be in Hanoi at exactly the same time! So yeah we had a great catch up and exchanged our stories with each other, many of which had me in stitches!
That night we took the sleeper train to Danang, which whilst it was basic with four people in a cabin, it was pretty comfortable. Although we did end up sharing with this weird Vietnamese guy who insisted on just staring directly at me with a massive smile on his face and
not saying anything. He also insisted on sitting incredibly close to me at times. I have found the orientals seem to quite like the look of westerners around here, with some women just randomly asking for a photo of you, but this was definitely a little too much... I slept with one eye open that night!
But we arrived safely in Danang and took a taxi ride to the charming little town of Hoi An which is FULL of tailors! Genuinely it is impossible to choose where to go! So just now I got measured up for a cashmere suit and a winter jacket which came to just over 100 pounds! Im looking forward to seeing how they turn out tommorow!
As Ive been writing this a storm has just started outside with heavy winds, we were planning on heading down to the old town center but that might have to be put on hold for a while, when it rains here it generally pours, Ive been caught in a few and afterwards it does feel like you've been standing in a shower. We're here for one more day, and then we head down to Nha Trang, which sounds like
a party kind of place so am looking forward to that!
Lots of Love to everyone!
xxx
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Iris
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HI again
Hi Sam and Tom Sounds like you realy are having the most amazing time. Can't wait to see you in your suit. Don't forget to post a picture. Safe journey.