Harmony Guesthouse Hanoi

... only increased, until we found ourselves heading down a slip road onto a motorway, surrounded by lots of cars and mopeds, where the driver decided inexplicably to weave in and out between his current lane and the centre of the road to the right. Cars were swerving past and beeping. He was agitated and kept nattering away to his mate sat next to him. I had absolutely no idea what was happening, and didn't understand the rationale behind his unpredictable manoeuvres. He kept ...

... a mini bus journey to the port which was so different from hanoi it seemed like we were in a different country i cant express how much it went from one extreme to the other, we got on our boat which was a lovely huge wooden boat there was only 7 of us (3 people that we already knew from vang vieng) the boat could of held at least 20 and we had it all to ourselves, we sat down for lunch which was a 3 course meal of the most ...

... aside, our inconvenience of not having a pool was miniscule compared to the hardships and damage the local people have suffered.
The lower areas near the river are still full of contaminated mud and debri. As usual its the poorer people who live in the lowest areas that suffer the most.
It was heartbreaking to see an old fragile woman clearing the mud away from her familiy's home BY HAND.
The perseverance, tenancity and 'just sort if out' attitude ...

Sleepless night last night on the boat as the aircon didn't work & there was no fan. We had the windows open which was lovely looking out at the moon shining over the karst mountains BUT no breeze & it was HOT!!! I tossed & turned most of the night & really tired today!






Had brekkie & went around the bay some ...

... lightning inside them combined to create one of the most unique evenings i've ever had. Definitely a place to return to.

The journey back the next day was long and slightly sad as most of us would have loved to spend more time there but China beckoned to us and Sapa beckoned to many of our friends so after a great dinner at al fresco's in Hanoi (amazing giant ribs!) we exchanged email addresses and parted ways to prepare for our respective journeys.

... were the only English speakers there, the driver didn't even speak English. As soon as the bus left the station they put on some Vietnamese Kung Fu Fighting movie that seemed to last the whole night. As usual, Will was about 2 feet taller then all the other men on the bus, so needless to say, he was pretty crammed in there. And then to top it all off, it started raining at about hour 11 of our journey and the roof over my little bed started leaking. Not just a little trickle ...

... an excellent knowledge of Vietnamese history and didn’t stop talking passionately about his country all day. He was married with one daughter and wished they could have more children but explained that the cost of living in Hanoi meant that most families have only one child now. His siblings had only daughters as well and Chi’s father is still hoping that Chi would have a son to carry on their family name of Ngyuen ...

... city, alive and buzzy it's dragging itself out of the poverty created by several decades at war. Despite being on the winning side, the cost of the war was devastating, not to mention the after effects of living under a strict communist regime as opposed to being exposed to the effects of the American way. It's all taken it's toll and heaven forbid ordering something before getting an explicit answer to the question 'how much is this?'.

Hanoi, Ha Ná»™i, Vietnam dolly_would...

... in the south, since there are many domestic tour choices for southern residents. Approximately 2,000 travelers in groups and 1,100 individual travelers have booked domestic tours with Saigontourist. Apply your vietnamese visa online, then pick up your visa upon arrival Vietnam at the airport Vietravel said that it will serve 5,000 travelers with domestic tours, and 2,500 travelers with tours abroad this May ...

... s-midi s'est déroulé a l'ambassade du Canada. Madame Néron noua a recu (Ben oui, une francophone). Acueillante, elle nous a fait remplir le reste de la paperasse (2" d'épais, en passant...). Reste a Shipper les formulaires a Singapore demain par Fedex (ambassade qui émet l'autorisation pour le passeport). Pas mal d'organisation... l'Estomac, lui, se porte mieux. Gravol me tient toujours par la main, mais on va se séparer bientot...je l'espère Bon, repas bien mérité pis, dodo. Pat