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Heading to Nam.....
Entry 13 of 64 | show all | print this entry |
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Mental Mental chicken oriental !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I fully understand why and where this saying comes from. We fell in love with Hanoi but it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. It is truly mental and as yet not westernized. We didn't really fit into their tuk tuks being as they are all 5 foot and smaller than an average western child, so we walked everywhere but this was slightly challenging as the roads were covered in mopeds, we were told there are 3 million mopeds in the city, the mopeds that are parked, park on the pavement and any gaps on the pavement locals cook on or sit on. That leaves the pedestrians to play froggit with the traffic. Luckily I was with an Asian who is well practiced at the method of crossing the road where you walk straight at the traffic and it swerves around you.
The weather was awful raining and cold, it is freak weather that they have not had for 40 years but we loved it so much we decided to stay for a week and do some trips out. Everyday we would see some new and crazy thing, we were eating lunch when we saw a man on the back of a guys moped arms out stretched holding a mirror bigger than himself, and in fact anything can be transported by moped, a pig, even a full size cow!!
The food is gorgeous with the ca cha fish, noodles and rice dishes and the French desserts were out of this world, you think all the skinny people would have put me off dessert but unfortunately not;-) One food culture we decided to abstain from was dog, and snake wine !!. We drove past some eateries on our first trip and I saw a whole dog roasted with honey ( Thet as the locals call it) !! For us this place beat Bangkok for shopping hands down, the paintings, silk scarves, bags and gorgeous liquid wood, lacquered sculptures.........................mum will be receiving yet another box of shipping.....I tell Mufajel it is all in the name of research !!! Our of Hanoi the Vietnamese countryside has some of the most spectacular scenery in the planet. We decided to go to visit two of these areas. The first was a place called Tam Cok, which was where the old capital was, when Vietnam was founded in the 9th century. The weather had turned on us on the way there, and unfortunately we had booked into the 'deluxe' tour which involved an hour cycle ride through the countryside. The problem was it was as wet as a Manchester winter's day!! However we decided we wouldn't chicken out of the trip and got on our bikes. Although the weather was terrible, the ride was very memorable, we cycled through small villages past lots of rice paddies where the locals were working (they all had the traditional Chinese straw hats!) And scattered throughout this countryside were gigantic limestone formations some reaching 50 or 60 meters high! We arrived to meet the rest of our group for lunch, but unfortunately all the food had run out except deep fried rubbery goat! Maybe it was Thet! After lunch we boarded a small sampan (which is the local term for a rowing boat) two ladies rowed us on a river which winds along the countryside again through these giant limestone hills, these were much bigger, some maybe 200m tall. We also went through 3 caves, which penetrated the formations, and were carved out by the water over many years. It was amazing as they were almost pitch black and all you could hear was the sound of the oars. We passed some of the locals who had devised an extraordinary way of rowing, with feet!! We couldn't figure how they did it, but it looked like they were cycling, with the oars on their feet! At the end of the trip we had heard a local scam the rowers do, which is to row you to a load of floating boats, which have loads of food for sale, the sellers then sell the drinks to the tourists, by saying they should give them to the rowers as a tip, only for the rowers to then sell it back to the shop / boat owner! So as they tried this on us, I took their drinks, but instead of handing them to the rowers, I opened the can of Fanta and handed it to them!! The rowers didn't know what to do! They couldn't sell it back! So I insisted they drink it as they were thirsty as they said they were! It was hilarious seeing their faces as they drank it, they really didn't like it, probably too fizzy / sweet for them! Hopefully they will think twice next time!
Two days later, we went to the next trip out of the city, it was an overnight trip on a Junk (a type of Asian boat) to Halong Bay! After a 3 hour trip, we boarded our boat, we had a small cabin, but it was nice and cozy. The only way I could convince Marie to go on the trip overnight was to book into the newest boat, it was built last year. It was also one of the biggest boat at the bay. At the top of the boat was a great relaxation deck, which would have been excellent if the weather was sunny. Nonetheless the trip was excellent, there was a great group on board, from the UK, US and Australia. The bay is about 30 minutes off shore, and it's basically a very large area full of large limestone formations jutting out of the sea. The place is surreal. As you enter, we can see miles after miles of these formations stretching to the horizon. Our first stop was a large island, with a cave inside it. The cave was huge, and made of a number of chambers. The place is lit up with lots of floodlights, to get the best effects of the rock formations. We passed a number of formations which took the shape of things, some more interesting than others! See the pix! At the top you get a great view of the bay with its floating fish farms, and community buildings, such as schools and family homes. That afternoon we got a kayak for an hour and went around the formations. This was even more peaceful than being on the boat. No sound but your own, and the lapping of the waves. We managed to row past large jellyfish, which was swimming at the water's surface. It was pretty large, about twice the size of a person's head! That evening we had a few beers with our friends on the boat! That night it was nice drifting off to sleep as the boat rocked back and forth, until I could hear scurrying sound, maybe it was rats!!! I jumped out and threw all the food we had on the floor into the minibar fridge! Then I started to get paranoid I could hear leaking sounds!! Were we going to sink!! Anyway the boat was fine and no rats! But I think I will stick to Terra ferma! Just as we left the boat the next day, the weather brightened up! Blue sky! The bay is an amazing place, and even in the grey weather, its natural beauty and haunting peace will remain with us for a very long time.
After another day in Hanoi just soaking it up, we got on our budget flight to Ho Chi Ming City, formerly known as Saigon, to catch our flight to Hong Kong. We were heading south to the sun and the warmth. More thumbnails ...
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