HANOI & HALONG BAY

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The trip was fine in the end... it was a sleeper bus and I'd heard more than enough bad stories about sleeper buses so I think I was expecting the worst. In the event it was pretty cosy really and I had an almost fully reclining seat and just about enough space so that even a lanky bugger like me can relax. I still didn't sleep a wink though! Anyway, we got into Hanoi at around 10 in the morning on Tuesday and I checked into Friendly Backpackers' Hostel - 6USD a night getting me an A/C dorm and free breakie. My plan was to get the wheels turning on my Chinese visa as soon as possible since I wanted to go with the cheaper (and slower) processing option, so after unpacking a few things and getting breakfast I headed over to the Chinese embassy on the West side of town arriving just before midday only to find out that it closed at 11am! In fact, the guard outside told me that it opens at 9am meaning the busy folks work for a laughable 2 hours, which makes even the Spanish seem hard-working and productive.





So back I went the very next day armed with everything I thought I might need; flight ticket from Beijing, insurance documents, hostel confirmation mail for my first destination in China (Nanning), a couple of passport-sized photos and copies of my photo page and Vietnam Visa page from my passport. The forms were predictably long-winded but I got them done on time and chose the cheapest 4 working day processing time meaning I was to go back to collect the visa on Monday morning.





To pass the time I booked a tour with some folk from the hostel to go for a 3 day/2 night-tour (leaving Thursday morning, returning Saturday afternoon) to Halong Bay (120USD). The price included all of the food, boat (obviously), tour guide and 2 nights accommodation on the boat in private twin rooms. From the pictures in the brochure at the hostel it looked amazing, but as we approached the actual boat from the pier at Halong City people in the tour group began to look at each other as if to say "what the hell is this!". From the outside it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing boat I've ever seen and certainly not as shiny as it looked in the photos, but luckily for us it was all cosmetic and in fact on board it was a different picture. The twin room, which I was sharing with a German dude from the hostel, was comfortable and had A/C, the common areas were all cosy and nicely decorated and the top viewing deck complete with sunbeds was awesome.





Thursday was spent cruising around the bay and also stopping at some caves where we were shepherded in with many other tour groups (there was a fair few) and our guide led the way giving us explanations about the various formations within the caves. Coming out of the other end, we jumped back onto the boat and sailed over to a nearby beach where we could jump off the top deck of the boat, swim around (avoiding the jellyfish) and then enjoy a cold(ish) Tiger beer with our feet in the sand and watch the sunset over the bay. After dinner they gave us free shots of rice wine and we spent that night drinking on the top deck of the boat with a view of Halong Bay's silhouette drifting by and a handful of other lights coming from other boats. These kinds of experience really depend on the people you're with and I got a slice of luck with this tour group as almost everyone was friendly and down-to-earth. The crew were also great, especially our tour guide, and the kitchen staff cooked up enough food to feed a small army and keep even a fat boy like me content! Everything was going swimmingly until we woke up on Friday only to find out that a big storm was coming and that the third day of the tour had to be cancelled. It wasn't a huge shock as I'd read that this can happen, but given that Thursday had been perfect weather, I was obviously disappointed. Only a handful of people on the boat had actually booked the three-day tour so the majority were heading back to Hanoi later that day anyway, so instead of separating from the group to go and see a gem museum (part of the three-day itinerary), we were all taken to do a spot of kayaking around the islets. It was great fun although it has to be said that the volume of boat traffic in the bay isn't being too kind on the state of the water. Everywhere we went there seemed to be a thin film of diesel floating on the surface and in addition there was a large amount of rubbish drifting around thrown from boats - is it that hard to just leave it on the boat and dispose of it in Halong City?? It was a far cry from the beautiful turquoise waters seen in the brochures and on the front of postcards. Perhaps eventually visitor numbers will be regulated.





After a good hour rowing around (enough exercise to last me till the end of the trip) we were back on the boat and heading (sadly) back to Halong City. There was still time however for our tour guide to give us a wee cooking class - showing us how to prepare and make fried spring rolls. He explained the process and then let us make our own and eat them (and other peoples' in my case, obviously). I was good at making them and even better at eating them. It was fun and a cool little add on to the tour. Then we had our final lunch (another 4-course feast) before docking at the City and jumping back on the same mini-van that had brought us just the day before back to Hanoi. Of the group who had booked the three-day tour I was surely the one with the short straw even though they did refund us all 30USD which was more than I was expecting. However, whereas the others had the freedom to change their plans I was obliged to stay in Hanoi until at least Monday if not Tuesday. It's not such a bad place, but it's fair to say that five and a half days are more than enough! Friday night did at least go some way to make up for my disappointment though. The same folk from the tour regrouped and we spent the night playing cards on the side of the street whilst drinking the cheapest beer on the planet - a whopping 4000VND per half pint - roughly 13 pence.





Given that I'd spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday either sleeping or trying to sort my visa out, I hadn't actually seen many of the main tourist sights in Hanoi. In fact, I think all I'd managed to fit in in that time was a stroll around the Hoam Kiem Lake and the Ngoc Son Temple just to the south of the Old Quarter where I was staying and also a visit to the Tao Hao Prison, which was used first by French colonists and then by the Vietnamese Army during the war to hold American soldiers who apparently (and amusingly) dubbed it the "Hanoi Hilton". So to kill some more time in Hanoi I swung by Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and adjacent palace grounds which include the basic wooden stilt house where he apparently lived for spells during the war. I also had a look at the funky One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature and impressive St. Joseph's Cathedral.





Monday finally came along, the Halong Bay group had long since moved on. I got to the embassy early - I was taking no chances this time! I knew that the process of paying was anything but straightforward... it's not simply going to the counter, paying and leaving. First, at the embassy they give you a receipt which you then have to take about 5km west of town to a Chinese bank where you pay the amount quoted in USD. They then stamp the receipt and you take it back to the embassy where they'll return your passport (visa included)! So, I picked up the receipt from the window and it said "single entry visa - 30USD", despite the fact that I'd clearly marked the double-entry option on the form and been quoted 45USD on Wednesday when I was there last. I queried it and they agreed to change it surprisingly swiftly perhaps realising that they'd ballsed it up after actually looking properly at my application. With the (correct) receipt in hand I left the embassy and bargained with one of the moto-taxi drivers who wait outside. I got him down to 100,000 Dong (5USD) to take me to the bank, wait outside a few minutes and then bring me back. It seemed a fair price to me. He did exactly that and I got back to the embassy in good time (around 10am) where I returned the stamped receipt and picked up my passport, complete with double-entry Chinese visa. It was all a bit of a hassle but I did only pay 45USD when I had expected to pay more like 70 so that was a pretty good result.





I finally left Hanoi on the morning of Tuesday 15th catching the 9:30am bus. The "station" from where the bus departed was conveniently close to the hostel on Tran Quang Khai street just 10 minutes walk south. The ticket was 25USD. I said goodbye to the great staff at the hostel and left for the final country and final border crossing of my trip. My destination - Nanning, China.





Suerte

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Comments

[Apple Tree Asia]

Ha Long Bay
Great view of Ha Long Bay