Vietnam part 1

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30/01/12 - Vietnam - From calm to crazy

Up early and we walked straight to the Vietnam consulate ready for when they open at 8:30. I had prepared myself for a wait of a few hours and a huge queue to get our visas considering they have been closed for a week due to the Vietnam New Year.

There were a small group of Asian people speaking to a clerk and a couple filling in a form. We had our passports scanned and collected the relevant forms to fill in.

We rejoined the queue with our completed form and handed over our money ($55) and were done. A grand total of 10 minutes to get visa from walking through the door. We were both a bit taken aback and didn't believe it could be so simple.

We relaxed in Vientiane with our new found free time until it was time to head to the airport.

The airport was small and very calm. Check in and security took around 15 minutes and was easy (even though Bobby had lost his departure card).

The plane wasn't full by any means and seemed very shiny and new. The plane took off 10 minutes early!!! Almost immediately after we left the tarmac the air hostess crew were up and giving us all a lunch box and drinks which were included in the flight. The food was simple but very good.

Goodbye Laos.

50 minutes after take off we were in Hanoi (the other travel option was a bus for 30 hours).

As soon as we collected our bags we were being hassled by taxi drivers. The cost was steep but was a set price.

The traffic is crazy here! Thousands of scooters everywhere and there seems to be no right of way at turnings or roundabouts. Motorists honk their horns frequently just to let others know they are there and not to pull out in front of them (that's what we use mirrors for).

As we were driving on a very busy road we came face to face with a guy on a bicycle cutting diagonally across the traffic the wrong way and the taxi driver laughed at our reaction. Strange how whatever traffic system there is here seems to work.

Hanoi is fast and furious and it's best to hold on and shut your eyes when on the roads (so long as you're not driving).

Our plan was to head to a hotel in our guide book and walk around to find somewhere cheap, the taxi driver had a very different idea. He pulled over apparently at our hotel and someone opened the door to say they are full but have he has another hotel 2 minutes away. We didn't look at his hotel as it was a clear scam but we had the problem that the driver hadn't dropped us at the hotel we said and we were completely lost.

After 30 minutes of walking aimlessly with our heavy backpacks we finally found a map and asked the lady where we were which took a while to get our message across as she spoke no English (I think I'd make a good mime).

With a map in hand and our whereabouts known we felt like we had won the lottery. We discovered the taxi had dropped us quite far north of where we wanted to be and it took around 30 minutes to walk to the right area.

We found a cheap hotel for the area (still the most we have paid in Asia) and our room turned out to be a converted cupboard but it had a hot shower so i was happy.

So far first impressions of Hanoi weren't fantastic, it was noisy and busy and there are scams and over charging lurking around every corner. We decided to do the self guided walking tour to try and get a better feel for the city. The lake in the old quarter was less noisy and pretty with lights changing colour all around. As we walked passed monuments and temples we found most of them were closed.

When we came back to our hotel we booked a trip to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island for 3 days and 2 nights. It was expensive at $107 but worth it for lack of travel worries.

Quote of the day from Emily and Bobby 'that's how you cross the road by using a local as a shield', 'that's against the Geneva convention', 'i didn't do it physically'.



31/01/12 - Ha long bay - Boat trip

A bus picked us up to head for Halong bay. Our tour guide (Lilly) told us of Vietnam and that Hanoi became the capital city after a king dreamt of a dragon which landed in Hanoi. Believing this to be a sign he moved the capital to Hanoi which translates as descending dragon.

Around 4 hours on the bus and we arrive in Halong Bay and caught a ferry to our boat. The bay was full of wooden brown boats which looked aged but well kept.

Our boat (imperial cruise) was fantastic. Our room was large and luxurious. I had expected the boat to be crammed with tourists but there were around 20 of us and plenty of space.

Shortly after arriving on the boat lunch was served and we set sail. The food was delicious and seemed to keet coming. There was fish, shrimp, rice, vegetables, dumplings and other things i can't remember.

As we were eating we set daily and the beauty and magnificence of the thousands of rocks and islands really took my breath away. The sea was a spectacular turquoise green colour and perfectly calm.

We had lunch with a Hassan who is from Germany and travelling alone.

Sitting on the top deck after lunch i really got a sense of the surroundings. With thoughts of hectic Hanoi forgotten i just sat and smiled.

We sailed for around 3 hours and came to a stop near a cave known as 'the most amazing cave'. As sounds the boat stopped it was almost surrounded by women in row boats with food to sell saying 'you buy something'.

A ferry ride over to the cave to have a look around. It certainly lived up to its name. The cave contained 3 main chambers, the first was the smallest and would have swallowed my house and gardens whole. The second was larger and lit up all around which gave it an eerie glow. The last chamber was enormous and clear to see how the Vietnamese used this as a hiding place during the war.

After the cave we had the option to try kayaking. I was starting to feel a bit poorly but wanted to have a go. As we pulled out of the area the kayak was stored in we came face to face with a ferry boat which seemed to turn towards us. We didn't have time to move out if their way and they crashed into us, we had to duck to miss their anchor. I was surprised they didn't crack our kayak.

Undeterred we carried on and explored a few of the small islands around us.

We got back to the ferry and i started to feel very unwell. By the time we got back to the boat my stomach was in agony. I spent the rest of the day and night either on the toilet or leaning over it. I couldn't eat any food and i couldn't keep water down. I was glad to have seen so much today before all hell broke loose.



01/02/12 - Cat Ba Island - Desert island

I was exhausted from being so ill yesterday and couldn't stomach the thought of breakfast. We checked out of the main boat and were picked up by a smaller boat to take us to Cat Ba Island. Not everyone had booked for 2 nights and our group is as small as 9 now.

We arrived on the east side of the island and the first thing we were doing was a cycle ride to a local village. I wasn't feeling great but had been looking forward to Halong Bay and Cat Ba for so long that i didn't want to miss anything.

The path we cycled on was mostly smooth and the bikes we used were fantastic. It took around 45 minutes to cycle to a small village. I had expected wooden huts here but there were quite a few modern homes around (I think they have done well out of tourism).

After a short stop at the village we left our bikes there and our guide took us on a walk through the jungle. He picked a few plants along the way one of which smelt like TCP and another which was good for bad stomachs (i wasn't tempted to try that!).

Our walk took us to a cave which had huge spiders on the roof and vines growing on the outside which our guide used to climb up the side of the cave and said we could have a go, which Bobby did.

A short walk back to the village to pick our bikes up and cycle back to the tiny harbour.

Lunch was served on the boat and looked delicious. I had a fork full of plain boiled rice

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