First stop in Vietnam - Hanoi

After a short flight we landed mid afternoon in Hanoi.  We had read many things about how the taxi drivers can be a nightmare so we thought we had done the right thing by checking the price at the tourist desk and then getting into an airport taxi - this was a mistake......  After a mad 40 minute journey with mopeds, cars and trucks all over the place we entered the old quarter of the city.  The driver could not speak any English so we tried to use the map to point at where the hotel was.  He pulled up and pointed at the hotel being near.  He then wanted to charge us 500,000VND instead of the 200,000 quoted!!  He started shouting but we couldn't just go as the backpacks were in the boot.  A man suddenly appeared with a Hanoi Capital Hotel badge around his neck.  He had seen what time we were due to arrive and had kept a look out for us.  He shouted back at the driver, we gave him the quoted price and then went to the hotel.  This is a frequent thing to happen in Hanoi, the hotel would not stop apologising for his behaviour.  We were upgraded to a family suite which had three beds, a massive TV, heating (cold in Hanoi) and our own computer with free use of the internet and Skype!!!  Not bad for being on a budget.

Rocky Mountains!

After getting over the excitement of the room we started our discovery of Hanoi.  The streets were mad with people and traffic everywhere.  We soon found out to just walk in front of traffic was the easiest way to cross the roads. There were cafes and bars on every street so no shortage of places to try during our stay. We went into a local restaurant and tried some fried rice which at less than 2 pounds for food and beer we couldn't grumble.  The hotel manager was very helpful and duscussed the kind of things we might do.  We decided to book a tour to Halong Bay and also to go to the water puppet theatre.

The Boat Trip at Halong Bay

The first full day was spent exploring the city by foot - visiting the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple and wandering the streets of the old quarter. There is a very strong smell of burning incense - sometimes so bad the smoke clouds the object you are trying to look at. 

The second day we went to Halong Bay.  After a 3 hour minibus journey we arrived at the port.  As with most of these places there were many other tourists.  We boarded the junk boat and sailed out around the islands.  It was cold and misty so it was not a beautiful site but all the same it was great scenary and interesting to see the people living on the water.  We stopped at a floating shop where we could see the fish we were having for lunch!!  After a feast of food we then moved on to the entrace to some caves.  We watched the people float buy trying to sell there goods and also living in such remote conditions.  We sailed around the bay and the took a walking tour  into two caves.  This was very impressive with many formations appearing to look like animals, people and even a woman's breast!!!!!  We sailed back to the port and then had the bus jouney home to enjoy.  After a quick snack we then went to the puppet theatre.  There were live musicians illustrating the action and the people made a fantastic job of bringing the puppets to life.  This was a really long day but also very memorable.

The Sleeper Train

We had also managed to buy a musical instrument and a large picture in a bamboo tube so the visit to the post office was quite entertaining.  We had no box to package the things so the assistant made one herself out of card she had under her desk.  She was so helpful and we couldn't of wrapped the parcel any better ourselves.

As we had the skype facilty and free internet we made use of it trying to plan the next couple of weeks and calling home a lot. We checked out the following day to get a train from Hanoi to Hoi An. 

The family at the hotel gave us a meal before we left which we tried our best to eat but struggled with some of the bits floating in the soup!!  The owner got his cousin to come with us and also paid the taxi fare to the station.  He took us to our cabin............not quite what we expected.  We were in a 4 berth soft sleeper - we had the two top bunks and by the time the train was ready to leave there were another 8 people below us.  Claire managed to climb up at 7.30pm and didn't move until 7.00am!!  The conditions were poor and it was really quite uncomfortable having a place to lie when others barely had room to sit. The only positive thing was the lady selling tiger beer!!! 

The Street Containing Our Hotel