out of Hanoi

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Halong BAy was a great experience; a minibus of us (15) were driven out of Hanoi through yet more smog and haze towards the sea; but driving through one more town the air was black, really am v. upset at the horrendous pollution in this country as well as China; and worse, that they don't get it; are still building lots of factories with tall chimneys to put more smoke up into the atmosphere. heyho.
I've managed to get laryngitis, am sure it's due to the smog, many folk here wear masks covering nose and mouth to avoid the worst, and lots of catarrh and colds abound.
thankfully the Bay was great, tho we didn't get to see sunshine; we were taken on a Junk out into the bay for 24 hours, I had a cabin to myself, v. nice for a change, lovely seafood, some kind Aussies shared their binocs with me, fab to watch some sea eagles soaring above us, calling and occasionaly fishing in the sea, their huge talons spread ready to catch.
it was lovely to speak english with some americans too, after many days trying to make myself clear to Chinese and Vietnamese folk. after I heard several people had had bad experiences on this trip, I was glad I paid a little more and really enjoyed myself; good to relax in the peace of the bay, surrounded by huge limestone cliffs of thousands of islands, altho surrounded by many other junks, doing just the same thing!
wonderful ingenuity of the locals, lots of boats like floating shops approached us offering goodies, esp. when we were near the floating islands where some folk went kayaking; too cold for me, tho thankfully the temp is finally rising, and we are leaving our great coats here when we leave!
Back to HAnoi for a last night, get packed up and collect more cash (found machine that gave me money after several tries!) - then took the afternoon train to Ninh Binh, only 2 hours south.
We decided to stay in N B after Lonely Planet highly recommended it as a country town, a little bit different from the tourist route. Great hotel, the boss speaks good english, I went down with the sore throat, but today have ventured out on a short trip to the countryside; it was worth it! we took a river boat and saw life on the river as it must have gone on for hundreds or thousands of years.
even v. young kids planting rice with their mums, and rowing boats. they row here mainly using their feet! Phil would love it. the sun finally showed its face, great, for a short while, and tomorrow we set off further south, hoping for proper sun and warmth.

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