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Published: December 30th 2005
Halong Bay Junk boats
These are the kind of traditional boats that take you arounf Halong BayWe made it to Hanoi from Hue by overnight train, which we thought would be better than the last train ride we took (we should be so lucky). We had arranged & paid for a soft sleeper (the most expensive) with a top and bottom bunk, however when we got on we found out that the travel agent's (Banana split cafe- Hoi An) had booked us 2 upper bunks (cheaper option) without giving us the difference back.
The train guard was a pervert and Jason nearly killed him, the air conditioning broke in the night and to cap it all our camera died on us. However the people we shared the cabin with were two lovely old expat Vietnamese from America (who still didn't speak English very well).
The food served on the train is awful but they were trying to feed us up. Bless
Arriving in Hanoi at 5:30 in the morning is not as bad as it sounds, you get the usual hassle at the station with taxi and moped drivers but what you don't get is the constant harassment of people trying to get you to go to a hotel where they can get commision. We
got to a hotel recommended in the guide easily and they took us in even at that time of the morning.
Hanoi is mad but definitely more interesting than Saigon is. One of the trips you have to do in in north Vietnam is to Halong Bay which is a UNESCO world heritage site and definately one of the most beautiful places in the world, hence we had to buy a new camera. We picked a tour from a Travel company recommend in the lonely planet A to Z Queens cafe (anyone planning to go to Halong bay remember this and steer clear of them!!) This company give you a free stay at their place if you book through them however the rooms are horrible. They tried to add extras on tax etc but we wouldn't have so they backed down.
Basically everything we were told about the boat was lies. Apparently a lot of other people were unhappy and had also been lied to. One guy never even got to do Kayaking.
The common problems are:
1) You pay for more for a smaller group size (12-16) however this is just the number of people that
Kayaking off into the sunset
Yes, we only had half an hour to paddle around a karst island before the sun went down, so we paddled hard! sleep on the boat you also get lots of people in the group that are staying on the island, so real group size is more like 30-35.
2) There is only 1/2 (one got blocked) toilets with showers on the boat. We were told cabins were en suite.
3) Our cabin doors did not even shut let alone lock so they did not even bother to give us a key. We propped our bags against the door when we slept.
OK just had to write all that to get it off my chest. After this initial bad start, there were some good things like the food and the kayaking (which we really enjoyed and did twice). We trekked up a big bloody hill the next day which nearly killed me (it's a bit difficult to keep fit out here) but there were sharp rocks and broken paths but the views you got to see were amazing (see piccie). Also on the tour were a Danish couple who we made good friends with and kept us sane.
After the tour we went back to complain at the travel agents we did not hold out any hope of getting some
of our money back but we wanted to upset them. After finding out the rooms they had were complete dives we went and complained while another customer was about to book a tour. Basically after Jason had his rant and put the customer off, the guy (travel agent ) threatened to kill us! However the customer happened to be a Vietnamese speaking Australian cop, who subsequently threatened and swore at the tour agent back for us. After that we were speaking with her outside and Jason managed to blag a drive with her in Melbourne. So not all bad.
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Anna
non-member comment
Kayaking
Love the pictures, bet your glad I took you on that whole one kayaking lesson. Would love to have a go at sea kayaking do they turn in circles as much as the river vesion? The kit looks a bit dodgy. Hope you enjoy Austrialia and looking forward to seeing all the photos happy new year