Good morning Vietnam!

Trip Start Oct 01, 2006
1
49
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Trip End May 17, 2007


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Where I stayed
(Hanoi hotels)

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

Ity was an early start on the 19th Feb.  I was up at 4.15am to get myself ready for going to the airport, with the tuk-tuk leaving at 5am!  We got to the aqirport a little bit early, which turned out to be a lucky thing as I had some problems when I got there.  That fall I had in the cave which soaked my bag also managed to damage my flight ticket.  The reception decided that it was unusable and demanded I buy another ticket.  I didn't really have much choice so I had to cough up.  They were clearly on the scam though, as I couldn't pay by VISA as the machine was "broken".  They then tried to overcharge me, claiming the exchange range had changed.  As if I'm that stupid.  I managed to pay in US$ in the end, but made sure I got the necessary receipt.  After that, they never gave me a ticket anyway, they just told me to go through!!!!  Basically they were making an extra bit of money.

The flight itself was pretty good, despite all the talk that you shouldn't fly with Laos Air due to bad safety records.  Well I survived!  It only took 1hr20 to reach Hanoi, where the weather was pretty grey.  We then got a taxi to the train station, as we wanted to save Hani until the Dutch guys got here.  The taxi itself was a joke, taking us a very long way round and stopping at his friends booking office to try and persuade us that there were no trains.  I told him to take me where I had asked to go, and he did.  When we got there, the price was so high I said I refused to pay that much.  Unfortunately I only had a $20 note and hge gave me hardly any change.  I tried to argue, but hen he just jumped in his car and drove off,  Bastard!  Not the best start to Vietnam!

It turned out that there were trains, and we were on one to Ninh Binh in less than 20 minutes.  We travelled 3rd class and the standard was good.  We even got free food and drink!

On getting to Ninh Binh we didn't do much that day as we were sooo tired.  We walked about grabbed some food, then had a few beers in a coffee shop then back at the Queen Mini-Hotel we were staying at (for $2 a night).  What we did notice was that everyone wanted to say hello to us.  They clearly don't have many foreigners staying there, so I felt like a celebrity!

The next day we got up early to hire some motorbikes to get out to Cuc Phoung National Park.  It was a long and crazy drive, but it was cheaper to get our own bike than do a trip.  The roads are mental here but I managed just fine, so don't worry Mum I haven't done myself any more damage as yet.  Touch Wood.

The National Park was beautiful, and we did a 8km trek arounfd the hills and to see a 1,000 yer old tree,  We als went in a prehistoric cave, which we climbed out the top of, and then through the forest. Not sure that is the recommended route!  Aftewr the park we headed to the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre, which is so worth the visit.  It is free to go to, but everyone buys postcards/posters to help fund the place.  We saw some monkeys that are almost extint so it was amazing.  The conditions they stayed in were great too, so it was a really nice thing to see. We then heaqded back to Ninh Binh after that as it is a 1h30m drive.  The driving was one of my favourite parts of the day, dodging buffalo in the road, cars on the wrong side, all the kids shouting hello.  At one pointy we got lost and some kids came up to me to touch my skin, as they haven't seen white people very much! The evening ws spent taking it easy with a few beers, chatting to a few other travellers. 

We planned to go to Tam Coc by bicycle on 21st but that ended up a non-event as it was raining! It was at that point we decided to head back to Hanoi.  Ninh Binh is a really nice place to visit sights from though, and I recommend people go there if they have the chance!
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