Vietnam Trade Union Hotel Halong Bay

Between Hue and Hanoi we stopped off at a small town called Ninh Binh, our main reason for stopping here for a night was Tam Coc. Tam Coc was described to us an Halong Bay on the rice paddies for its huge breathtaking rock formations towering over and jutting out of the rice paddies. We rented bicycles from our hotel and headed out for a 8km ride to the small town (Tam Coc), the first part of the ride was down a busy highway which was a bit scary with all the huge ...

... to be polite. So I ate "wormfish" which is the fat wormlike fish that lives among mangroves. I ate jellyfish (cooked), and squid too. The jellyfish was served with thin rice wrappers and leaves and sauces. The fresh leaves tasted like delicate herbs. But they were flavors I had never tasted before. A Vietnamese meal is different from Thai meals. At the Vietnamese table, everyone eats from a small bowl and uses chopsticks. The food is served ...

... the soon to become regularly frequented Bia Hoi corner. Which is quite a place. It serves the cheapest alcohol I’ve come across throughout the entire world, it’s completely crazy as you sit on little plastic chairs (the likes of which I haven’t seen since I was about 8 and in primary school) on the side of the road in the middle of a busy crossroads and try to avoid, well everything really. Bikes, dragons, beggars, people selling things - for example: books, fruit ...

Today was a rough day. My hosts are concerned that I am spending too much money for lodging and especially, for the taxi to/from Bay Chay to Hong Gai. Tuyen suggested that we look for a cheaper hotel closer to the Indochina Junk office and port. We looked at a hotel and I chose a room even though I felt that it was iffy, and checked in. I felt that Tuyen needed to put in a normal work day. I had a list of things I hoped to accomplish. I found the power strips I ...

... a couple of expat teachers Charlie and Dave who are lucky enough to be based in Saigon and Bangkok respectively. Both places still to come on our itinerary, we&#8217;re looking forward to meeting up with our expert tour guides soon!<br><br>Day 2 started off with breakfast at eight before heading off to one of the larger islands for a 6km cycle on some really funky bikes, the ones with the nice baskets and only one gear. Manly! After a shaky start I was ...

... to such a degree that I thought if I knocked on the stone I would get a hollow sound in return like it was some kind of Disney movie set! Our photo's are a little blurry but I'll try to find some better ones.<br><br>As we only got the 2 days 1 night package for $30 but for the poor French girls they found that not only were they banned from staying on the boat rather than the hotel for a night, it was only because the crew wanted an extra $10 from her as a ...

We came to Hanoi with the expectation of not spending very much time in the city. We had a tour planned to head to Ha Long Bay and spend several nights on a Junk Boat. It took us all week to be able to organize a trip to Ha Long Bay because when we first arrived, so did Typhoon Katsana. It was a really cool experience (for me only) to be able to experience a typhoon though, because of my extreme interest of severe weather. It ...

... zu veranstalten. Wir sind mit einem Schiff nach Cat Ba Insel gefahren und haben eine Grotte unterwegs besucht. Auf der Insel haben wir in Cat Ba City geschlafen, wo die Leute leider nicht so sympathisch im Vergleich mit Sa Pa waren. Deswegen haben wir alles selbst gemacht und haben einen Motorrad am Tag darauf gemietet. Wir sind durch den National Park gefahren und der Wald war eigentlich ganz schon. Am Abend machen wir einen Deal mit einem Vietnamese ab, um ...

... What to do now? My body wanted to run to the front of the bus and ask them to stop but my head was frozen with embarrassment. When your traveling around the world whats the one thing you cannot misplace, got it in one. I would graft it to myself if I could. I swallowed the embarrassment and spoke to the guide at the front. He informed me that the family on the bus were scheduled to catch a connection to Cat Ba island upon ...

... so didnt know what to expect. The bus is amde up of 3 rows of beds stacked 2 high. Your feet are actually underneath the next person as the beds are at an angle so they are never flat. They are also made for the Vietnamese who are generally a lot shorter then the average western person. Couple that with a knee that doesnt bend and you get a pretty uncomfortable 13hr bus journey. It wasnt that bad but we hope the buses get better as we go on.<br><br><br>