Pirate Attack

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The train arrived in Hanoi at 5am so we ended up getting an inconveniently expensive taxi from outside the station which took us conveniently the long way around to a really inconveniently expensive hotel. When it was light we wondered around the edge of Hoan Kiem lake watching the locals participate in group sessions of Tai Chi. The only sight open was the Den Ngoc Son temple so we went inside to have a snoop around and enjoy the views of the lake.

Our first impressions of Hanoi was the traffic; busy, noisy, lots of scooters, and absolutely no room to cross the road safely. Whenever we had to cross the road we would try and wait for a local to turn up and then cross with them. My natural insticts when crossing the road is to move as quickly as possible however in Hanoi you can't do that so the best way is to slowly walk across the road, make eye contact with the cars and scooters and hope they will drive around you. Sounds easier said than done when your standing in the middle of the road scooters driving past about an inch from you, you can't help but think your putting your life in the hands of someone else.

The city was a lot smaller than we thought it was going to be however navigating the cities old and french quarters was very difficult and we always seemed to get lost.

Apart from visiting the numerous eateries around the old quarter, we managed to pop in 87 Ma May; an old restored tube house built in the 19th century which was originally a market stall that evolved into a very narrow, long house with a shop at the front.

The war museum was worth the walk however we arrived at 11am just an hour before they were due to close for lunch so we whipped around quickly but wished we had got there a little earlier. The big American tanks and aeroplanes set up in the courtyard were interesting to walk around.

The overnight sleeper trains to Hue were all booked up for a week so to pass the time we shopped around Hanoi for a tour of Halong Bay, we settled on a three day tour booked through Kangaroo Cafe.

I couldn't say the day got off to a great start. The tour bus was due to pick us up at 8am so we thought to check out about 20 minutes beforehand giving us time to do the formalities and chill in reception. As usual nothing works out in our favour and the flapping idiot behind reception couldn't switch the computer on so instead of totalling the bill the old fashioned way with a calculator she crawled behind the desk and paniced until we asked her what was going on. At this point she started crying and would you believe the tour bus turned up. Between flapping adams and the pushy tour guide asking whether we were going on the tour or not I think I was about to lose it so No took the calculator, added it up and we paid. I can't help thinking we would should have just walked out, it took 30 minutes to check out, surely thats a record.

The bus sped out of Hanoi towards Halong Bay and it seemed it was going to be one of those days as we passed by a terrible road accident. A scooter collided with a car and well lets just say we saw a pool of blood, a smashed up scooter and a helmet wedged into the grill of a car.

Three hours later and we safely arrived at the port to board our Chinese Junk. We were quite surprised at the amount of other tourists there waiting for boats however we were quickly whisked aboard our junk and we launched into the wide blue yonder.

As the boat chugged through the limestone peaks we introduced ourselves to the rest of the group and unsurprisingly we ended up on a table with another couple from Britain. The rest of the afternoon was spent eating lots of seafood, visiting the Sung Sot caves and walking around Monkey Island.

As the sun was setting the boat lowered the anchor and attached itself to two more boats. We thought this was very strange as all the other tourist boats around us were by themselves. The crew told us it was to prevent pirate attacks although we later saw the crews of all three boats having a good old knees up together.

We were pleasantly surprised at how calm the sea was and how cosy the cabins were. That night we both slept like logs and were awoken in the morning by the distant sunrise. After a fruit and bread breakfast we began the day with the first activity, kayaking. Before the proceedings got under way there was a bit of an accident onboard involving someone falling into the engine room so as the guide was busy administering first aid two blokes from Germany decided they would get in their kayak and paddle off. Everyone forgot about them and it was only when we had all been kayaking for 15 minutes or so the guide asked us if we had seen them. This is probably a good point to mention that Halong Bay encompasses 1553 square kilometers and as you kayak around the limestone karsts you quickly realise that for such a big area it certainly looks the same.

The guide began to worry where they were so she left us all on a deserted beach while she paddled around looking for the two idiots. In the middle of lunch the guide got a call to say the two guys had been found although when we were reunited with them a little later they were really pissed off and blamed the guide for getting lost!

That afternoon we all took mountain bikes across Cat Ba Island. We had a guided walk through the jungle with a guy who lived through the American war, he showed us the caves where the villagers hid and also plants they use for medicine and cooking.

That evening we stayed on Cat Ba Island in a hotel and after dinner a few of us went out for drinks in a local cafe. No tried the local honey wine which sounds a lot nicer than what it tastes but was certainly more palatable than rice wine.

The following day we sailed back through the limestone peaks and then that afternoon we drove back to Hanoi. We later met up with a few of the people from the tour for yet more drinking. We went to a Bia hoi bar which is basically a load of plastic seats set up on the street, everyone sits really close to together drinking beer and chatting. It was a great atmosphere although due to the proximity to the road everyone has to shout to be heard but you can't really complain when the beer is 15p a pint!

Our last day in Hanoi was spent mooching around the shops and cafes. We boarded the train almost an hour early and we thought at one point we wouldn't have anyone in our booth however just before we were due to leave a couple turned up. As we were sharing their beer, wine, bread and pretzels we discovered they were accountants who lived in Bali who had just bought land on Lombok and were planning on building a resort there. As we were disembarking the train 13 hours later we promised we would one day visit their resort. Well thats one holiday sorted out for the future!

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Photos

Railway
Houses In Hanoi Built So Closely To The Railway