Wogolin

Our train arrived in Hanoi at about 0430 and we caught a taxi to our hotel. Once there, we waited in the very luxurious lobby of the Luxury Golden Lotus Hotel as we were told that check in time wasn't until 1400. We've been in Vietnam long enough to know that they will bend over backwards to get you in earlier. So we only had to wait an hour and we were in. As the name suggests, it was one step up from the regular Golden Lotus Hotel. The rooms were more luxurious, spacious, with windows of which one has a view over the city. We took some time to regroup and round up our gross, smelly trekking clothes to take to the laundry. I have a mutiny on my hands. Brendan has given up the ... read more

At 0915 we started our trek from Sapa. It was pretty tough going as we started with some rain making it so, so humid. I didn't even bother with the rain coat and just used an umbrella which was much cooler. Most of the trail was very rocky and muddy making it difficult and it wasn't long before. Our guide is called Mi and she kept up a good pace. These ladies do it every day. Apparently the men stay at home to look after the kids while the women do treks and sell things to tourists. The families make enough rice to feed their families most of the time and they thier own produce but still need extra money to buy meat etc. It wasn't long before I lost my balance on a stream crossing ... read more

Waking at 0600, I get up to take some more pictures as the light is completely different without the haze. Some other passengers are doing Tai Chi on the front deck as it is so much cooler this morning. It won't last long. I have about 3 cups of coffee to make up for all those days without any. There is also an assortment of tropical fruit and some cereal as a precurser to brunch after we do a tour to the floating fishing village. We get on the tender boat again and are transferred to wooden boats where an oarsman takes us up close and personal with the limestone karsts and floating village. We are hot and sweaty upon our return to the boat and wearing the life vests makes it worse. Luckily there is ... read more

A fantastic night's sleep. Not being sarcastic but the gargantuan groaning, clanking and clickety clack of this prehistoric Russian train lulled me to sleep. Actually Brendan's snoring was way louder than the engine. We are scheduled to arrive in Ha Noi at 0430 so when we woke up to find out it was light outside, Brendan was convinced that we'd overslept and ended up in China. I said "don't be silly, we would have had to pass immigration first". Anyway, I had more urgent matters on my mind. I am having to visit the manky toilet where I discover I have lost the hardcore backpacker balancing act in a swaying train toilet somewhere in the last 20 years. My legs aren't what they used to be, and as there was no discernable feacal matter on the ... read more

Finally, a sleep in and up at 7am. No rushing and no packing. We did some washing by hand yesterday and it was all dry this morning due to my chinese laundry system of hanging clothes from windows, travel clothes lines, rails, backs of chairs etc. After breakfast, Bobby needs some more sleep so he sleeps, I blog and Brendan finally starts reading the LP guide. He also gets around to telling me that he was propositioned in the street yesterday. A bloke grabbed his arm and asked "you want girl?". He slapped the guy's hand and told him to f#*k off. Good job we are slumming it in a double bed tonight (refer previous post). Brendan and I set off down the street while we left the boys to their own devices, namely their ipods ... read more