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Published: January 27th 2006
hi my fellow followers - well arrived in Hanoi, and its manic! Similar to Ho Chi Minh but not in a way.
Same Same but different they would say over here!
The first day included some sightseeing which included a visit to see the legendary Ho Chi Minh mosaleum (ok forget the spelling). This was a wee bit bizarre as the security is something only a communist country could display - lined up fiercley in pairs like when going to the library at pre-school. Then we made our way past a large number of guards and had to give in camera bags - all but your clothes and even then i wasnt sure if i was going to have to strip down to my calvins and strut around the place of worship. We eventually entered a room where in front of you HCM is preserved in an open cabinet with arm guards surrounding him. He seemed to look a little wax like as he lay there with a wry smile - well he had like 600 wives? Tobi was whistled at by one of the guards and had to be searched, i havent seen him since!
A thought went through
my head and i wondered why they had so many guards around - its not like he could be assasinated?
From here we went into the HCM museum which me and Tobi managed to string out to about 10 minutes before we had to leave. Dont think that we didnt enjoy it - its just a bit full on for the stage of the trip and the thought of a hamburger.
That evening we went to a travelling water puppet show which i have to admit was pretty good showing scenes of rural vietnaam and waterdragons.
The next morning we headed off to Halong Bay which took approx 2 hours by bus then 4 hours by boat. The scenary was breathtaking and like nothing i had seen before. A mixture between Milford sounds/ the whitsudays and Phi Phi islands. On the way we stopped of at an underground vietnaam hospital- a huge network of caves with a place for everything.
That evening we arrived on Cat Ba island and got ready for the nights activities.
Now on my trip ive jumped of sky scrapers/ swam and surfed in shark infested waters/ rafted and abseiled into the black
abys/ wreck dived to 30 m but nothing scares me more than.............................................................................................................................
KAREOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tonight was kareoke and after a dodgy seafood meal we hit the local bar! Tobi was very reluctant at first - but within1minute of entering the pub was halfway through Imagine by John Lennon
We duo'd that night in many songs such as New York / Hello / and a few others which have conveniantly been blanked out of my mind. Hey dont laugh i wasnt bad - compared to some that is!
The next head thumping morning we headed off to one of the best attractions to date - a Vietcon hideout shown round by a crazy vietcon veteran in his old uniform. He sung songs they used to sing and showed us where they played table tennis and watch the cinema, even where the swimming pool used to be! It was a five star cave! He was a great character and a pleasure to meet. We then went on a very steep treck up to a lookout high high high!!!!!!!!
At the top the views were among the best ive ever seen . 3 of us plucked the courage to climb the rusty
old lookout ladders that went on forever- see through, with missing and moving slats of wood - ive never seen Tobi so grey!
At the top it just didnt feel safe so we quickly took pics trying to look like we didnt even notice bits of the floor were missing and headed back down.
A
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DOES IT REALLY TAKE THAT MANY TO CLOSE MY SUITCASE?
Inpatient pater and mater
non-member comment
A weeks a long time travelling
Pity I missed the Kareoke, its my kind of thing. I could have emptied Vietnam of the rebels in approx 24 minutes. The Viets hideout sounds quite luxurious, with TT Tables and Cinema. I wonder what the menu choice was. Glad you managed the dodgy wooden staircase. I should warn you that the landing floorboards now creak, and late night entry sets off the smoke alarm and turns on the kettle. See you soon, but not soon enough. XXX