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Published: August 14th 2012
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Day 23 - Leave Hanoi, go to Halong City
My alarm didn't go off this morning! I woke up naturally at about eight. It wasn't a problem though as I had got all packed last night. Had the obligatory scrambled eggs and bread which I was really ready for because I didn't have dinner last night.
It was good to see Thanh again. Today we are all set to leave for Halong Bay. We have two guides this week, Thanh and Son (AKA Steve). I haven't met Son before, he went with the trekking group to Sapa. We were about to leave when the skies opened. I have never seen rain like this in Hanoi. With minutes it was ankle deep outside the hotel. We all got geared up with our raincoats and ponchos over us and our rucksacks to head off for the bus. It was unbelievable! We all managed, none the worse for the experience, just a whole lot wetter! As we drove through Hanoi some places we're ankle deep, and some were knee deep. It reminded me of the floods we had in Hull a few years ago. Such damage the rain can cause! The bus journey
should be about three and a half hours, not sure if the rain will slow us down or not!the bus journey was ok, a bit bumpy, but that is normal here!
The further away from Hanoi we got, the more the weather improved. Thank goodness! When we arrived we just dropped our bags and went straight into lunch. I must confess, I didn't eat much, really pleased that I had the egg and bread this morning! It was a special meal for visitors!! Prawns, tuna (not out of a tin....lol) squid stuff, and the usual rice, noodles, cucumber and carrot. Although we did also get prawn crackers which were a nice change.
After lunch we went straight off to the beach. It was such a refreshing change. The air hear feels clearer too. When we all got sat on the beach, it caused the usual stares from the Vietnamese, you can't believe how mesmerised they are by our skin, particularly, Britty, Roisin and Jess, who are particularly pale! They constantly place their kids in shot of us, but some don't bother to hide it, they stand in your face...... And snap! At the beach there were some mad
Vietnamese youths having a great time playing crazy games. They were a laugh to watch.
We go to the building next door for dinner, then probably a mooch round the night market I guess. Well, dinner done; Matt, Hannah and I all ticked a box
tonight, we all ate clams for the first time! Dinner was ok
tonight; noodles, rice, clams, spring rolls and fried pork. I did give the fried pork a miss though. After dinner, a small group of us went off to the bakery. The cakes on display were amazing. Renske and I shared a double piece of cake. It was huge, even when split in half; it was really nice. Even though there was too much, we both still ate it!A slow walk around the night market, which is endless stalls featuring the exact same items, then on for a cold drink before going back to the hotel.
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hiya mum
Aaawww mum this pic is real nice u look so well!! aww how was the clams?? i can see ur now at the beach, it looks really nice! can u belive how time flys by, cant belive you have been there 3 weeks!