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Published: November 17th 2006
We have just finished a run of busy, but very enjoyable days.
On our last day in Hanoi we took a day trip to the perfume pagoda. This involved a 2hr minibus journey there, then an hour in a piece of metal they called a boat, rowed by a tiny lady for an hour. All we had to sit on was a small plank of wood. The first 20 mins was fine as we were taking in the views, but then we really did have numb bums! You could't even shift your weight as this caused the boat to rock!
Once back on dry land we then had a 4km walk up to a grotto - this was quite hard going in the heat as it was basically just a series of steps. We couldn't complain though as we had chosen to walk instead of taking the cable car! The journey was then completed in reverse, and we returned to Hanoi late afternoon. That evening we then boarded the night train for Sapa.
The journey to Sapa took 10hours overnight. The train kept stopping so I think it could have been done in a much shorter time - the guards kept coming around and shining the torches in the windows - that didn't help with us trying to accumulate some beauty sleep!
5.30am we arrived and transferred to our hotel. We then met our guide and set off on our first 15km hike. That day was pretty hard going as most of it was uphill - I don't do uphill!
The scenary was beautiful, lots of hills with terraces, and rice paddies. We met some of the villagers from the minority villages. The children were grubby with snotty noses. You saw young children carrying their even younger sibling on their back.
Everybody was friendly, but mainly for one reason - they wanted you to buy something. We saw some small children across a field who were shouting hello. We then thought we heard them say 'mummy', which we all thought was a bit odd. But silly us, of course their first english words do not include mummy, but money!
The second day was another 15km trek through the villages, seeing the school and the hospital (perhaps the NHS has got something right!). This day was easier going on the legs!
We returned to Hanoi and 4.30am, and then we started our trip to Halong Bay. This was completely contrasting scenary to Sapa, but beautiful all the same. We were on a junk boat cruising around, and then kayaked in the afternoon - I don't have a clue about steering these things!! We slept overnight on the boat in comfort. (Not the kayak!)
The next day we went to Cat Ba island. We were taken to a cave which was amazing. We were a little concerned when our boat driver jumped back after walking into the cave - He had spotted a poisonous snake. Likewise we all took a few steps back!
That brings us to yesterday - We headed back from Halong Bay, to Hanoi again, and yes you guessed it, we waited for yet another night train. So far we have spent 3 nights on trains, 1 night on a boat and only 3 in hotels. We have yet to spend 2 nights in the same place but are determined to do that now!
We caught the night train to Hue, which is a nice relief from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. We are now for the first time taking out a little time to relax and do things at our own pace!
We have just had loads of photos burned onto cds, but at the moment the puta still says no - we will try and upload some in the near future.
xxx
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Jan
non-member comment
Mummy!
So it's not just our house where the words Mummy and Money are muddled........ Now you know the true meaning of 'trains and boats and planes'. Hope that they all came 'en suite!' All sounds wonderful. I love these blogs. x x