Vietnam; Hanoi, Halong Bay, Haiphong, Ninh Binh, Hue

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Good morning from Vietnam! We arrived into Hanoi after our flight from Vientiane. The journey was fine and we were even given a meal despite the flight only lasting 2 hours. When we arrived into Hanoi we had a rough idea where we would be staying and where we could get the shuttle from. However when we arrived we found we had just missed a shuttle and therefore accepted a lift in a mini van for the same price. Unfortunately this is where th9ings became a little bit tricky; our driver stopped at one point and told us we would need to pay more to continue to our hostel. We refused and played the waiting game. Eventually he continued and we arrived at a completely different hostel, but with the staff and driver tell us that we were in the right place. We didn't want to start arguing and the hostel was nice and staying meant we didn't have to bother with looking for a new place so we remained put.

The hostel and the lady that owned it were really nice. She was helpful in showing us the major sights and was keen for us to book a tour to Halong Bay. We started looking around the sights she recommended; mainly the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex, which is a large area that holds his body and has a museum that tells his life story. Suz was not feeling too well still, possibly a bug and our stay here was short. We then tried to get a rickshaw to the Hoan Kiem Lake, but after quite a long ride our driver told us we had arrived and we stupidly got out, still a good way from our destination. As Suz began struggling we headed back to our hostel for food and drinks. We went out that evening and had a meal as well as watching the England, Slovenia game. We were surprised after the extremely friendly atmosphere we experienced in Thailand and Laos to find that the locals seemed quite hostile towards us. We would receive looks and stares wherever we went, as well as mutterings, pointing and often blatant laughing and joking on our behalf. It made our stay quite uncomfortable. The city itself is huge and very dense. streets names change constantly on straight roads, and the whole place is full of motorbikes often carrying bizarre loads from entire families to enormous ornamental vases to ladders and various pieces of hardware several times the length of the bikes. On the whole we were left feeling a little disappointed by our first glimpses of Vietnam and sad that we felt that we wanted to leave Hanoi sooner than we would have done.

We rejected the hostel owners attempts to get us to book a tour with her but she did book our bus to Halong City. The tours were expensive and we thought we might be able to find something for better value when we got there. However, we did not know that at the time was the major Vietnam holiday season, with seeming everybody in the country heading to Halong Bay. Once again we felt that we had jumped off the travellers route and found ourselves submerged in pointing and staring locals. We decided that a tour was the best way to get around and just opted for a day trip so that we could see the sites, but would allow us more time to spend further down the coast where we hoped the atmosphere might be a bit friendlier. The baot that we were booked onto had 24 Vietnamese on it. Clearly they were on their holiday, but it seemed we were far more interesting than the stunning scenery which made us think they had their priorities slightly off. The bay itself was stunning and after an early flurry of interest in us we began to relax and enjoy the ride. The boat itself was large and had two levels; we perched ourselves on the top deck to maximize views. Unfortunately the weather was slightly overcast which was a bit of a shame, but didn't really hamper our views too much. The Islands themselves jut our of the water vertically and are covered in dense vegetation. The carved our way between the islands, most of which are uninhabited, and made our way to the Hang Sun Sot cave formation. Inside the cave was really cool, a great respite from the 35c plus heat outside. The cave was really well lit to help show off its natural beauty. It was also vast, by far the biggest cave either of us have been in and contained more fantastic rock formations than GP Joe could shake a stick at. When we emerged again we had a great view from the lookout point of some of the bay and the boats that it was currently sheltering.

After another stint in the boat we arrived at a swimming area. It was teeming with Vietnamese and their buoyancy aids. There were some suspicious looking strokes on show, doggy paddle seemed to be the preferred option. After much splashing we returned to the boat. We got back to dry land in the afternoon and booked our bus to Haiphong city. We were pleased when the weekend was over as it seemed that most holiday makers went home and thankfully took their pointing and whispering with them.

We headed slightly inland and further south to Haiphong, Vietnam's 3rd biggest city, and we found it had a much nicer atmosphere about it compared to Hanoi and Halong Bay. The hotel we stayed in was quite expensive, but we did have air conditioning! Very exciting. Despite its size there wasn't a great deal to do, and we mainly stayed in the cool on the Sunday when most places seemed to be closed. We found an excellent restaurant that had some really friendly staff where we had an "English". It was nice to get away from prying eyes, we felt like we were famous or rather infamous, so a bit of sheltered room time was nice.

After the disappointment of the England match, which we won't go into, we packed up the next morning and headed to Ninh Binh. The place is a little smaller than we have normally been to and is therefore not quite as hectically busy. Although the staring did continue we found the people on the whole to be a lot more friendly and welcoming towards tourists. We visited the markets, which are again slightly different to those of Thailand, as well as shops, which are set in proper buildings rather than on the streets as in Thailand. Our very friendly hotel owners helped us book our sleeper bus to Hue which left at 11pm and took around 11 hours. Also as Mark accidentally stole the key from the previous hotel they agreed to send it back to them in the post for us, which was very nice.

We arrived into Hue at around 10.am after a long but relatively comfortable journey. Luckily the sleeper bus had air conditioning. The bus contained three columns of beds, each a double bunk, with the legs of the person behind slightly under the rise of your head. The bus held about 30 or so and was full. We decided in Hue we go to the hostel we had picked out no matter what, and after turning down a few hotel sellers we found our hotel. The owner was again very friendly, which seems to be a feature of Vietnam hotels, and we made ourselves quickly at home. We immediately decided that it was best to see the city, which is quite large by the means of a tour which we booked for the following morning. Our hotel is situated down a street full of tourists which makes a nice change. We had lunch the first day, and despite feeling a little tired as sleeping conditions weren't perfect the night before we went for a walk around the town. With the major sights planned the next day we did a short walk visiting the local market, again different to the ones we were use to, as well as walking through the huge outposts that mark the remains of the ancient City walls. We crossed over the river that splits the city and were pleased to find the locals were friendly, the streets are not as busy with traffic which makes the city a little bit cleaner than others.

We booked a tour for the following morning. We hopped on the back of two motorbikes and were led by our hotel owners brother and mate. They could both speak English quite well and first took us out of the main city to look at a monk village and temple. When we arrived the monks were going through their daily ritual of singing followed by a walk through the surrounding trees and around a small lake where all the monks followed in single file without talking, deep in contemplation. We were able to join in with this walk and Suz was lead away by a lady monk that took her by the hand. These monks were in different dress to most we have seen in brown, our guide telling us that this was just a slightly different form of the faith. It was very peaceful and we both found it quite a calming experience. We were then able to watch in on monks at worship. These monks were dressed in the regular orange and gold colours.The temple grounds were secluded and covered by the trees. It was a very quiet and relaxing area surrounded by beauty. After visiting the temple We got on the bikes again and after going through a village that made cinnamon scented burning sticks we arrived at the Tu Duc tomb. This area was built in 1864 for the emperor at the time. He seemed to be a bit of a strange man as he spent a lot of time here 'contemplating and writing verses'. It was quite a large area that was surrounded by a stone wall and had inside his eventually tomb as well as some of his family members. It was a really nice area with a large lake that was covered in lillies. It was a bit of a shame that the actual tomb area was under some reconstruction, but there was still plenty to see and do.

After we were taken back into town where we stopped for some lunch in a small eatery, not nearly big enough to be called a restaurant, a had some noodle soup which was delicious. So far we have found that the food in Vietnam is excellent and the portions seemed to be more satissfying. Anyway, we then headed out of town through the countryside and the rice fields. It was a huge expanse of land, with a few lonely farmers seeing to their crops. We finally reached a small town that had a really intricately built brdige made in 1794. It was amazing to see such a old bridge in such good condition. After staying for a drink we headed back to town and into the citadel. This is a really big area that has lots of different old buildings and temples that is all surrounded by a high wall and a moat. The further we explored the bigger it seemed to get until we eventually reached the other end about a km away. We stayed for about an hour and a half, looking round the reading room for past emperors as well as large temple like areas and places used for relaxing in yester year. It was strange to find such a different stunning and secluded place in the middle of the city.

The next day we left Hue at around 12pm heading down to Hoi An, the place for old French architecture and finely tailored suits - exciting times! We were a little disappointed that Northern Vietnam wasn't as friendly and easily commutable as we had thought, but were pleased that the further south we got, the nicer the poeple seemed, and we had a lot more fun. We are looking forward to southern Vietnam.

Were having problems with the net here, so Hue photos will be put up shortly. Hopefully..

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Photos

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Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

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Single stilt Pagoda

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Ho Chi Minh statue

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Riding on a rickshaw

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Halong Bay

Comments

[caroline and george pickard]

Glad things are going well
Good to hear that things are going well for you now.You are certainly seeing an awful lot. The photos are amazing especially Halong Bay. Love from us all at home. xxx

[caroline and george pickard]

ps
PS Forgot to tell you about the wildlife at home. Mr and Mrs Robin are busy on the patio feeding their young. They love to perch on the washing line before they fly to their nest. Dad makes us vacate the table and chairs when they are around! It has been so hot that we have been sitting outside to eat. Last Monday a baby bird flew into your room Suzanna. It was stuck behind the curtains that were closed. I could see two little legs on the window sill. Managed to open the window and it flew across the road to a tree.How does it compare with what you have seen? Bit tame I suspect but interesting. Mum.xxx

[maureen & richard saunders]

Good to hear your news
Sorry to hear north vietnam was a bit disappointing but glad its improving as you travel south. Glad you liked Halong Bay, we found it pretty amazing too! Mark, have you had a suit made like Jeremy Clerksons? Knowing you it will be even more whacky! Take care, much love mum and dad xxx