Good Morning Vietnam! Hanoi and Halong Bay

---

Helloo all.

We got of the bus from our 27 hour ride and were hurded into a taxi. However it dropped us off at a different guesthouse and so with bags on our bag we were immedietely onto the thick bustleing and motorbike ridden streets of Hanoi. With my "superb" map reading skills I got our group to the guesthouse were we had prebooked. The rooms were clean but by no means 5*material particularly as you could talk to our friends through the wall! Nevertheless it was perfect for what we wanted with a comfortable bed shower and a safe and central location. 3 hours passed Niks feeding time we immedietly went out to get some dinner, and were confronted by a daunting street cross with mopeds flying at you in every direction. Yet bravely and hungeraly we stepped forward to reach the other side. The dinner wasnt nice and I was particularly dissapointed because my Vietnamese spring rolls looked more like vegetable in a plastic bag than what I had expected. Soon after eating and tired after the long journey we scurried back accross the busteling streets to bed.
26th March
The following day we had a relaxing morning before setting of in search of Halong bay Tickets and visiting the Hanoi Hilton Prison, (where Senator John Mcain was imprisoned.) The evening bustle the previous night had blurred our representation of Hanoi and the walk to the prison was an eye opener in the fact that Hanoi was a truly beautiful city with each street having its own speciality, i.e toy street, abortion street! etc. The prison itself was very interesting in terms of how the Viatnamese revolutionaists under French rule and later the American pilots were treated during captivity. The cells were tiny and chains were still evident, the torture equipment was also on show which made it depressing to imagine what life was really like in the "Hanoi Hilton." It was also interesting to see a propaganda video explaining how well the American's were "well treated" during captivity. Later in the afternoon we sorted out our bus tickets to Saigon as well as our trip to Halong Bay. In the evening we opted for a local eatery and found a busy sidestreet restaurant where we were hussled up to a forth floor room which was like the owners bathroom, he we had a banquet of many traditional vietnamese dishes. Following on from our meal we watched an enchanting water puppetry display in a local theatre for some cultural stimulation. A small group of musicians played there traditional instruments to a puppet performance of local story and myth in a mystical yet sometimes comical way. A fun, interesting and productive day and an exciting thought of Halong bay to come.

We were picked up early for our 3 days 2 night trip to Halong Bay, we had planned to stay on a junk boat aswell as the largest island in the Halong area, Cat Ba. However the trip was nothing like we had expected. We arrived at Halong Bay and although we had booked with the 7 in our group we were immedietly told by a smiley yet poor English speaker guide that we had to split onto different boats, unhappy we percervered and got on the same one, yet we wanted to stay on the boat the first night but they tried to get us to stay on the island.. not what we had expected. Then there wasnt enough rooms for the 3 girls in our group to sleep so our male guide offered to share with one of them!!. On top of that we had payed for 4 hours kayaking but only got half hour at the end of the day with too few kayaks than there were people wanting to do it.! A catalogue of areas that dampened our day. On the other hand things werent all bad; the wet and foggy weather forecasted had turned to clear blue skies and so sitting on the top of the junk boat with the sun beaming on us and the enormous limestone formations with small green trees covering the structures of Halong bay was an absoluteley amazing sight. Furthermore fishing boats darted from cove to cove which made the disapointment of the tour a small annoyance at the back of our minds. It was beautiful. We also visited a cave with vast stalagtites and stalagmites scaling a tall spacious cave, although it was a little commercial with various colour lights shining over the smooth limestone caverns. We particularly liked how our guide described an "ancient" story based around a shadow made by the artificial lighting..! Although we were disapointed by a poor kayak, the meals were very good and we also spent the rest of the evening looking up at the clear and starlit night sky to witness numerous shooting stars lighting up the beautiful limestone rocks surrounding us.

The following morning on the boat continued as the day before, the girls had snapped there "bent" key in the door and so were expected to pay for damages, but having been messed around aswell as not having enough beds we thought this was unjust. They kept their passports for a short period as ransom before we stole them back, resulting in our guide being punched by the captain and a fast retreat as we were about to board Cat ba island. Held "hostage" for only a short period of time out in the bay we had no option but to pay, and were just happy to get off the boat and be rid of the hassle! The day certainly improved from there on in. As we arrived on Cat Ba we took a short bus ride where we took part in a 2 hour trek. The scenery on our assent was amazing. There was green virgin forest rolling over the ancient island hills one way and beach and island scenery in the other direction. The walk seemed more remote than our trek in Thailand which was welcomed by all. I continued a further climb up a spikey rockface to the mountain summit where I was sat amongst a sea of cloud resting on the mountain sides. Following on from the great trek we checked into our hotel. It was a very idylic spot with nice spacious rooms and a high sea view over a small harbour. Unhappy with yesterdays Kayaking escapades me and Nik decided to take the opportunity to try it again. Fortunately we were in time to join a more expensive tour with a good guide that offered a cheap price to join and head towards "monkey island." Hardly even getting out of our bay Nik started to get tired from the rowing leaving me to keep up with a group of Irish lads racing in front. Then our paddle broke so the limited rowing Nik did was further reduced with only having half a paddle! Nevertheless with biceps burning over the gently waving waters we finally made it ashore on monkey island and were immedietly greeted by a family of Makaks playing on a beautiful sandy beach with there little red bums aflare. They also enjoyed hopping onto our kayaks as if they had new toys to play with. The beach was stunning, an amazing view with the scaling background scenery and junk ships in the distance. After a relax and recouperation from an intense battle to paddle and cloud looming in the distance we set off again. As we were in the middle of the bay we could only stop rowing in ore of a fish eagle gracefully swooping over us then diving to the sea a short stones throw away and with little joy of catch. Further along we calmly paddled through a floating fishing village with there colourful wooden huts moored behind fish nets that seemed far less seen by tourists and exactly what we wanted to see. Later that evening we enjoyed a game of pool against a very good hotel owner. In a bout between couples, myself and Nik were also victorious with Nik the star player! Due to a long walk to the nearest town we decided to stay at our hotel for the evening doing Karaoke with our group and the hotel ower, who was particularly funny when singing in Viatnamese.
- Moral of the story Halong bay is so amazing, but pay a little more for a good tour!.

The following morning we left back to Halong bay with a short stay in a small fishing village which was nothing like what we had stumbled on the day before, we also found that the next group to board our dreaded tour also had an array of issues with the service! After the 3 hour trip back to Hanoi we spent the remainder of the early evening on a hunt for our friends camara, that was left on our bus. Me and the other lad, Jonathan, had to search for a moped number plate in a bike parking lot because his camara was apparently in one of them.! It was like someting out of Grand Theft Auto! As suspected it was a waste of time and couldnt find it. We walked back to our tourist office where we were to get the overnight "Camel Bus" to Hoi an. Our mate (Jonathan) bartered with one of the guides to send his camara in the post and continuing the stress of the previous few hours. This was during Niks "feeding time" so she had to run to KFC to maintain energy! Finally after a hectic day we travelled with rucksacks on laps to pick the bus up. The overnight bus was great. With bunkbeds 3 abreast down the bus it was far more comfortable than our long trip to Hanoi from Laos.! Tired from an eventful but wicked trip at Halong Bay we soon took advantage of the sleeper. After a reasonable nights sleep we arrived in Hue to change buses to continue to Hoi an via Danang, the coastal route was very pretty with well kept roundabouts (reminding me of home!) and a sea view for a long stretch. Once we arrived in Hoi An we unexpectedly stopped at a hotel that was in our price range and superior quality with nice rooms, swimming pool and a good garden, just a little way out of town, yet although cautious of a scam, after the 16 hour bus journey it was exactly what we required. In the afternoon we took advantage of the pool and in the evening we got a flavour of the beuty of Hoi An. We were also circled by a number of Vietnamese boys and girls for numerous pictures of us both, it was as if we were famous! Now were ready to barter for tailored clothes in its 200 tailor shops tomorrow. Nik cant wait!

P.S for those of you that are trembeling in worry about some of things during our trip. There is no need, we are absolutely fine and having a "killer whale" of a time!

---

Comments

[Sal]

Great to hear of your escapades ....
...... can almost imagine being there! Keep up the good work and of course, take care :) xx

[Ben and Nik]

HI Sal + sam. Hope your ok and enjoying the Blog. Cheers for the message, having a wicked time! Hope your ok too x