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Published: July 25th 2015
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Day 5
Good nice sleep and up for breakfast at 8. I organised my bag last night so this morning was easy. Jam and bread, very welcomed. We headed off on a bus to the boat. To board the boat you had to jump about 4 feet down which was great fun! Off back to Ha Long and bus to Hanoi. It's a travelling day today but has still been fun. Lesley and I met up with Jeremy and Annie the honeymoon couple from London. We sat and chatted and put the world to rights whilst sailing through Ha Long Bay. Its cloudy but warm. A Chinese man heard Lesley talking about her travelling and stood and talked to her about where she went in China and what she'd experienced. What I'm liking about my trip is the social side. You find yourself sitting at a table or waiting for a bus with people you don't know but you all just start chatting. Another bus back to Hanoi now. We stopped at a cafe for a prearranged lunch. Rice chicken vegetables and potatoes. Very nice. A new bus turned up to take us to Hanoi - 3 hours. We were all
so excited. It's a sleeper bus. I've never seen anything like it! No seats just beds, air conditioned too. So I'm just sat writing my blog listening to MJ and generally chilling out! I dozed on the bus. We were late. We needed to catch the overnight bus to Hue at 6pm and were supposed to get back to Hanoi at 4pm. We thought we'd have a leisurely meal and get on the bus. What happened next was extraordinary ....... but so exciting! The bus agent said we had 5 mins to get provisions. So we found a nearby shop and bought crisps water and biscuits. It is an all night bus and we ate at 1pm and it was now 6pm but we had no time. The agent said he would take us on his bike for food - bread etc so I volunteered. 2 bikes turned up so we both got on. Oh my god how scary and exciting. I was in the middle of all the traffic and people and horns sounding grabbing the poor man in front of me for dear life but it was great! We lost Lesley they sped off even faster. We seemed
to be going a long way for bread? Then both bikes suddenly stopped they weren't taking us for food they were taking us to the bus ..... but our backpacks were back in the office. We got off the bikes and one man left and the other raced back to get them. I can't describe the chaos getting people onto the bus. They won't wait for you. We stood to one side willing the man to race up with our bags. Were we going to make it ? We weren't sure! Just as the last person got on the bus he arrived with our bags. What a relief! But no food bag or water. Whilst they were loading the bags we ran to a street vendor and bought a bag of crisps and a bottle of water. I thought the poor woman was trying to rip me off and charge me 70,000 Dong and we argued. She was right. It's about £2 but it was all so confusing. We rushed on the bus. Top bunks as its a sleeper. We are both still in shock but what a rush! Ha ha. And the journey continues.... let's see what an overnight
bus is like and Hue in the morning. We've been going for a couple of hours now. I've just watched the film Killing Fields on my IPad. Very moving. We stopped at a bus station cafe and I've just had my first experience of a stand up toilet. My toilet did have a door although frosted glass. The others didn't . The ladies just went over the holes provided. You then get a pan of water and swill away. Thank heavens for wet wipes! To be honest I took it all in my stride. I think after the high speed haven't come down now. We then went to the food. We're very happy now we have food water and beds.
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Debbie
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Looks like you're Having a Great Time!
It all sounds fab! Have a great time! X