We arrived at 6:30 am. I was still climbing off the bus when I have a piece of paper shoved under my nose. I pushed it away and then realised it had MY name on it! Our hotel in Hue had sent our name through to their sister hotel in Hanoi and it was a tout from the hotel holding it. Grief these guys really irritate me!!!!! When I get off a bus after Hours of travelling the first thing I need is a damn cig and try to get my bearings 'cos you can rest assured Frank will be asking me shortly, "Where are we?". Anyway we hummed and Hahhed with this guy until he told us he would take us by taxi to the hotel at his cost. The hotel wasn't too bad so we stayed - $15 for the room plus breakfast.
Walking back to the hotel we found a guy making 'souvlakia' sort of buns. They were quite dee-lish!
We went out later and got horribly lost! Oh dear, we walked for miles. The two maps I had were useless...... half the roads weren't marked or else they weren't even on the maps!
10/07
Oh yes..... getting out of Hanoi for two days. We are going to Ha Long Bay.
We wet off to Sinhtourist office to catch the bus with ample time to spare. Ooooops, what with walking on pavement, off pavement, dodging moving motorbikes, trying to squeeze past parked motorbikes, we walk right past where we are supposed to be! Only the MentalMantles!!!!! We walked 'hell 'n gone' down the road before turning around and eventually finding the office, a few minutes late! Then we are told that the bus is waiting at the other office for us. No Chance! They came and fetched us!
Oh what an amazing place. The beauty is indescribable. All I can say is, if one is ever in Vietnam and you don't go to Ha Long Bay then you cannot say you have seen Vietnam.
We were dropped off on Cat Ba Island where a crazy mini bus collected us and took us to our hotel. What a nice surprise! We had booked a 2* hotel but were taken to a 3*. Mmmmm I could get use to this, it was a lovely hotel. We had an awesome view of the small boat harbour and on the side was one of the mountain type rocks. The weather was not quite as hot as usual.
Our tour-"aunty", Viet, came and had a shower in our room as she was unable to get a room with a shower as the hotel was full. When she finished Frank & I went walking in the street. It was a real party-like atmosphere down there. No vehicles, people were hiring tandem bicycles and riding up and down. The market-like stalls were all there as well. A stage was set up where different singers performed. The lighting in the trees and along the boardwalk was brilliant and the boats in the harbour also had all their lights on. Oh it was stunning!
11/07
Awake early, made coffee and went for a walk in the daylight. how peaceful! We went back to the hotel for a buffet breakfast. Ooooooh decent breakfast, bacon, eggs, sausage and all the different fruits and of course coffee.
The bus trip back to Hanoi was uneventful. Booked in at our hotel and went looking for our 'souvlakia' guy. After chow we walked through the streets, which had materialised into a Night Market. It was rather pleasant as the vehicles had been blocked and you could walk without dodging all the crap. Unfortunately all the other tourists had the same idea.
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