Hanoi and Halong Bay

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Night is still closed when we arrived in Hanoi, and we went to the station to make time, before going to the agency where we collect to go to Halong Bay ; by the way, we heard a couple questions by the police, because they have stolen on the train. Inside the station, there are two Spanish girls who also come from Sapa and we talked a good time with them (which taste can express ourselves in Castilian) until sunrise, at which time we take a taxi, which again makes us? pirula?: circulates exaggeratedly slow (and that the traffic is very rare) and starting to make a detour (we know more or less where the agency). He began to say everything while the taxi driver nor immutable, but when he does leave us in the right place, and I pay less than what the meter mark. It was contest, but more goats we .....
We're going to have breakfast and 7.30, accommodate us in a van that will take us to Halong Bay in the Gulf of Tonkin, on a trip of three hours together with a dozen? Tourists?. Nothing more to get there, go up to our boat in the middle of hundreds of tourists and a misty day, which means that hearings are not too attractive. In the afternoon, and while we go sailing, the weather is clearing up staying a day or excellent. We visited a cave with a multitude of stalactites and stalagmites, we take a ride in kayak and then I a great bathroom. After showering, take a beer on deck to see a beautiful sunset. During the dinner, we share a table with a pair of Belarusians, with which we change impressions, we decided to climb back on deck to enjoy the night, there is a little cold, but with the polar is great. The spectacle of the Bay, illuminated by the boat that, like us, funds in it, is impressive, with the lights reflected in the water and, in the background, emerging as fantasmagóricos dragons, the shadow of the night hummocks (so called the more than 3,000 rocks? inhabit? Halong). We were almost asleep, so we decided to go to bed, early to the next day and see the sunrise.

to Halong Bay
At 5.30 we are again on the outside, where the cold in the morning, do we have to climb the blankets of the cabin. Again, like the night before, we are the only ones on deck and, despite being a bit cloudy, sunrise is spectacular, and what we enjoy with a shocking silence, disturbed only by the creak of masts by mecidos the wind. At 8 pm we will have breakfast and get out of the hammock, drained a camera, and does not fall because the water retains a lifeguard is on one side (Rosi said he has been the guardian angel, either Christian or Buddhist . The I think.) Immediately, the boat is launched and sailed between the hummocks, noting the houseboats, home to fishermen and vendors of fruit and drinks, which are close to the many boats crowded with tourists, to offer their wares . We left the boat to get on a boat rather tatters and take a drive around the area, where, in the middle of the road, the engine starts to smoke and to throw, the ferryman takes a while to fix it, and when we returned, we ask for money, you're all surprised that we were told that everything except the drink, was included in the price, the guide tells us that we had been warned, which is a lie, but all ended up paying. Again on board, we enjoyed our last hours in the sea dotted with small islands and we went to the port, which arrived 2 hours later. After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we returned to Hanoi to stay at the Hotel Vietnam II, located in the old quarter, for which we paid $ 20 per night, breakfast included. After resting for a while, do some shopping and we see a tribute at the Opera House restaurant, for about 30 €.

After breakfast, we go by taxi (the price agreed in advance) to visit the mausoleum of Ho Chi Min. The place is pretty ugly, with a cold communist aesthetic, very much in line with those devoted to other leaders like Lenin or Mao-tse-tung, and is full of people, mingling with Vietnamese tourists, especially the latter, a show sincere respect for the revolutionary hero. After queuing for a short space of time, we are accompanied by a soldier to see the embalmed corpse of a person in 1945, during the French occupation, declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the French accepted it, and after the battle of Bi Diem Phu, where? gabachos? were defeated, the country was divided into two parts separated by the parallel 17, while elections were preparing for their unification. In the north was established a communist regime under the influence China (North Vietnam), while in the south created a republic under the support and interest of the United States (South Vietnam). Not slow in the start of the war which culminated in 1973 with the Communist victory and the reunification of the country under the name of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, an achievement that Ho Chi Min was not able to enjoy because he had died in 1969.

On the inside it's cold and, as we in short sleeves, wearing his arms crossed, which I reproached one of the soldiers who guard the place because it means a lack of respect, if you do and I am almost in a position to firm. After encircling the coffin in which rests Uncle Ho (affectionate nickname by which he is known), came out abroad to visit the interesting museum that pays homage, and which shows various objects that he used during his life. After we take a long walk to see the Single Pillar Pagoda flirt, and the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and the first Vietnamese university. Before lunch, we tested the Bia-Hoi, local beer barrel, which Rosi does not like anything. After lunch, Cha Ca, a local specialty with meat, rice and vegetables, we are quite disappointed, do some shopping and walk all afternoon thinking of going to dinner at another restaurant luxury (the Four Seasons or the Emperor) but it gives us lazy, and as we stand beside the Little Hanoi, local causing us such a good impression on the first day, we decided to repeat.

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