Goodbye Hue, Hello Hanoi

09/07
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.

We freshened up and then went for a walk to explore the surrounds.  Unbelievable!  They drive even worse than in Saigon city.  Can't say we are too impressed with what we saw.  The "Old Town" is dirty, dusty, busy and Ugh.  We made our way down to the lake which was pretty.  We sat and people watched, drinking overpriced Cokes.

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!

Eventually we find ourselves in familiar territory so we sit at a corner stand and have a coke.  I had heard that the Vietnamese eat dog but I don't think I really believed it!  Unfortunately now I know it as a fact!  Probably a bit of information that I did not need verification of.  Went back to the hotel in a very sombre mood.

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!

After approximately a four hour trip we reached Ha Long Bay.  Now the real frustration started!  Most of the people on the bus had opted to sleep over on the boat.  They were whisked off to their boat and we went to the "Day Trip" side.  A Very good reminder of why we had steered clear of most tourist attractions - The crowds were like overcrowded tins of sardines!!! Ok we finally get on board a boat with us both extremely irritated.  We are served a very local lunch on board, the famous fish head, overcooked squid, Tofu and gluey rice.

As the sailing went so the irritations disappeared. 

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 stopped at Thien Cung cave.  Ok back to the cattle line of tourists.  Our guide tells us it is about a 25 metre climb - HAH! - Definitely more like a 50 metre climb, almost straight up.  We were exhausted but boy are the caves stunning.  Our guide gave us all the folklore stories of the Dragon and Fairy who were in love and had 100 sons (or 1000).  They couldn't stay together so split up and the sons, half going with Dad Dragon and the others going with Mom Fairy.  The hole is there where the Dragon and his share of kids flew through.  Mom Fairy left one of her breasts in the cave in case her sons came back etc, etc.  So I imagine the Fairy become a little lob-sided?!

We then continued sailing for a few more hours.  The other people on this boat were sleeping on board and had just been given their cabin keys.  Oh boy there were an awful lot of unhappy people.  They had all paid $60 each for "Deluxe" accommodation and the sleeping quarters were nowhere near expectations.  They spent the rest of the afternoon arguing with their tour guide, who in our opinion was in on the scam!

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.

After a shower I went downstairs to find our tour-aunty only to be told that she had gone out.  The concierge told me that we needed to go to the second floor for dinner - Another surprise!  We had some soup (scrumptious), then the all familiar bowl of rice appeared, with a dish with fish (not head), 2 battered prawns, bowl of "Tender" beef, salad, bowl of green beans and vegies.  What a delicious meal!

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.

8:30am oh dear time to leave this paradise.  Another crazy mini bus ride.  As you are driving along you look up and see these enormous rocks balancing and you wonder if one is going to fall on top of the bus.  Oh well back on the boat and we start sailing back to the mainland.  Oh I wish we could have stayed longer!

Right now lunchtime, we were taken to a restaurant with all the other tourists - Another VERY local meal, similar to what we had on the boat, the day before.

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.