Hanoi and surrounding areas

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Good morning Vietnam, I love that saying.

We flew into Hanoi, the North of Vietnam and caught a bus to the Old Quarter where our hotel was. On the drive Dean and I noticed that the driver was going to glory on his horn. We were used to the Thai people's excessive use of the horn but this took it to another level. Thirty minutes in Dean and I were ready to bunch the driver in the head, the driver did not stop honking and for no reason. We were the last people on the bus and the driver stopped, jumped off the bus and started to chat to a guy up the road, the guy then came onto the bus and started telling us about his hotel, we told him we already had accommodation. So we then got off the bus on the middle of a busy highway and had to cross the road. How the hell do you cross the road when a million scooters, cars, buses are coming at you, for those of you that have been to Vietnam you know the mayhem of your first time crossing the street. It was terrifying and basically you have to edge yourself across when there is a small window of opportunity. So we got across with our lives, but we then had to figure out where the hell we were, it was night time, the area looked dodgy and the bus driver didn't give us any directions. Luckily we found a street on the map and finally found our way to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel at 10 pm and asked to check in, but the guy asked us what our plans were in Vietnam and kept making calls on his phone...dodgy, after 15 minutes he told us he has a big group and all the rooms were booked!! Great he double booked us, could of told us a week ago when we booked arsehole. So we moved around the corner to another hotel for the same price where we stayed for the duration of the time.

The next day was planning day, we visited a great little cafe near our hotel and the guy who owned the cafe was actually born in Tokyo but lived all his life in Auckland and now relocated to Vietnam. He was so friendly and gave us so much advise about tours that we ate there another 3 times, that day. Oh and did I mention how cheap Vietnam is. Its crazy cheap, $2 US for a meal and $10 US for a hotel room with all the norm things. So we went to five different tour agencies and finally settled with one company but when we returned to pay the money the girl who spoke fluent English was gone and her colleague who spoke little English was our only man to talk to. I think it took us 20 minutes to get an answer for one question! Anyway we got our tours organised and went for a walk. We headed to the Lake and had a stroll around we found the water puppetry show and booked tickets for our return trip to Hanoi. We then strolled the markets and decided to have a coffee overlooking the lake. I had an apple custard and avocado milkshake, sounds strange and yer tastes strange. We then went back to our little cafe for dinner and then back to our hotel for an early start the next day.

We checked out had breakfast and left our bags at the hotel. We were heading to Perfume Pagoda a cave in the Hunog Tich Mountains (Mountain of the Fragrant Traces) that was used as a religious temple. To get there we drove 3 hours in a mini van and then had to get into a mini row boat where a young Vietnamese women who looked about 25 had to row the fat tourists down the river for 1 hour. Apart from our arses and legs going numb the boat ride was the highlight and the main reason we wanted to do the tour. We saw local men and women fishing in the river and we had beautiful mountains on both sides of us. After the boat ride we took a gondola up the mountain, once again lazy tourists, you could have walked but it was just too hot. The Lonely Planet Guide said that to visit the Pagoda you had to cover up, so we did and what a mistake. We wore long pants and long sleeve shirts and we were the only idiots that took notice of the Lonley Planet, everyone else was in shorts and shirts and to get into the Pagoda they wore their 30c ponchos! We were so hot we both had sweat pouring from our faces, one Vietnamese lady felt sorry for Dean and gave him a baby wipe for his face. After we visited the Pagoda we took our lazy gondola to the bottom had a nice lunch in which we tasted our first Vietnamese coffee. YUMMY, its basically strong coffee with sweet condensed milk. I totally became addicted to the caffeine and sugar hit. We then got back into our boat and headed back the way we came. We gave the young girl a tip and she was absolutely chuffed!

When we returned to Hanoi we went back to the hotel to get changed and get our luggage, but we noticed a shower in the toilet and with all the sweating we had done and the thought of an overnight train without a shower, well we took advantage. It was so good, but as soon as we got out we were sweating again, gotta love the Vietnam weather. Our next tour was to a Northern Vietnam village called Sapa. To get there we took an overnight sleeper train at 9pm, it had aircon and was really comfortable, but once again I didn't sleep very well. We arrived in Lai Cao at about 6 am and scrambled to get ourselves off the train, there was the usual hassle for accommodation and tours but we ignored them and went to out hotel representative. To get to Sapa you have to take an hour long mini van up the hills. The driver slowly drove up the hills, winding and twisting close to the edge of the cliff, Dean and I were both so tired that we didn't really notice the drop into the valley. We did see the incredible landscape, the hills were lush and green and so picturesque and this was just the beginning. We got to our hotel, got changed, had breakfast, got our itinerary for the next two days and waited to be put into a group. Outside the hotel was about 20 local tribe women and children, I thought they were waiting to sell stuff to us as soon as we stepped outside the hotel but they weren't they were actually our guides. I can't remember what our guide's name was but I do remember she had a gold tooth like an American gangster rapper and she wore her traditional outfit for her region. All outfits vary depending on the region they are from, they are really beautiful. So we headed off and as soon as we left women and children followed us and started talking to us. I was wary at first but they were so cute and spoke such great English. So we chatted and walked through town and towards some villages. Then as we approached the entrance to a village those beautiful local women and children all turned on us and began to sell. It was an incredible transformation and if you bought from one then you had to buy from the other. I bought a silver bracelet because I really loved it, but the others were selling pencil cases and some kind of traditional belt thing that we just weren't interested in. We gave them a bit of money and gabbed it. They also have a system as soon as you leave the hotel one or two girls will attach themselves to you, but if another girl comes to talk to you or God forbid sell to you, mate they get mad. So after the bombardment we continued our walk to the local villages. I will let the pictures tell the story, I just can't describe the beauty of this place with words. We went to one village called Cat Cat village which is home to the H'mong hill tribes minority people. The people were beautiful! We then returned to our hotel and finally got a chance to have a proper shower. Dean relaxed and I headed out to the local market to get some more photographs.

The next day was more walking (but very easy) we headed to small tribe villages called Lao Chai and Tavan and we walked to a beautiful waterfall. Along the way capturing the local women, men and children. We walked for a good few hours and then we had lunch by the river with all the other tourists. After lunch we continued walking through tiny villages where children at the age of 7 were working in the rice fields. We got to our pick up point ordered some beers and waited for our transfer. When we got back to the hotel we had showers, had some dinner and headed back to Lao Cai to catch our train back to Hanoi. Our train was at 7:30pm and I think it was the worst ride I have ever taken in my life. All the sleeper compartments were full so we had normal sitting seats, we got into the carriage and I thought great! It was so hot and there were pidly little fans trying to keep us cool and to top it off locals where sitting in our seats and refused to move. So we sat some where else to be told to move, so we moved again and again. Finally I went back to the Vietnamese man and told him to get out. Its funny it takes one person to sit in the wrong seat and screw it up for the rest of us. The seats were worn and dirty and you couldn't recline them so sleeping was impossible. It was the worst 9 hours of my life! Haha such a Princess I know, but it truly was awful. When we finally got into Hanoi Dean and I were first off the train and into a taxi, it was 4 am and we had arranged to stay at the same hotel, but when we rocked up they said no they were full. Great. So we wandered around trying to find a hotel but all of them were shut, then I remembered this nice hotel a few streets down and we were in luck, we paid double what we normally would pay, but it was a nice hotel and I think I needed a little bit of luxury.

The next day we checked out and headed to Halong Bay for a 2 day one night tour on a boat. We got onto our old school wooden boat and headed out with the other 20 other tourist boats. We journeyed to a cave which was pretty cool and then we got back onto our boat to head to the next location. We stopped off and went kayaking but it was getting dark so we could only go for about 30 minutes. The staff prepared dinner and we started chatting to the people on the tour. After dinner we all got stuck into beers and played cards. It was a great night and we met some really cool people.

The next day we relaxed on the boat and enjoyed the sea breeze. In the afternoon we returned to Hanoi for the last time. We went and saw the water puppetry show, which was crap but it only lasted 20 minutes, bloody Lonley Planet! Then we headed South to Hue...to be continued.

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Photos

Local tribe kids in Sapa
Or shall I say professional sales kids