Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay and Hanoi

After Hue we went to a place called Ninh Binh on one of the fabled 'night buses'. these are normal coach style affairs but with little beds instead of seats. We had a couple of games of scrabble but it was an uncomfortable journey as the beds were built for 5 foot Vietnamese not 6 foot westerners like us. We managed though and got into Ninh Binh knackered at 5:30am. We booked a tour around the area with a really nice guy called Huan. We took a boat ride through a place which was like Ha Long Bay but on land (I forget the name), stunning. Crazy mountain goats balancing on sheer cliff faces munching away and kingfishers darting about. Really peaceful place with no motors, just paddles. Next we went to a mountain with 500 steps up to the top for a view of tthe area from above then a trip to the tomb of the first king of
Vietnam who was a great guy on all accounts, Huan loved him! Everything in his tomb was 1000 years old with the thick smell of incense and big drums and gongs aplenty. It had all been looked after well and could have been brand new. That night Huan took us to a cafe on a lake where we ate and had a chat then Kate went to bed and Huan, myself and a guy called Luc who worked at the hotel went for some Bia Hoi. Bia Hoi translates as 'Local Beer' and has a 24 hour shelf life and its cheeeeeap! 3000 dong per glass which is about 8p! Loz and Em had mentioned it to us before we went away and Id been keen to get on it since getting to Vietnam. It was great to have some time with the boys over a few jugs of ale and even better that they
payed for it all as I was their 'good friend'. In a country where most people are your friend because of the dollar in your pocket i went to bed with a happy heart and a pissy head.

The next day we missed our train so joined Luc and Huan for more ales to watch the Asia Football Cup final between Vietnam and Malaysia. The Vietnamese love their football so if they win they flood the streets on their mopeds and party hard. Bit of a bummer then that they lost to one scrappy goal from Malaysia and the bar we were in was empty of locals within a minute of the final whistle while we consoled the boys! We went for snails after which were a bit dark but at least we tried them! the next day we left for Hanoi to get our trip
to the magnificent Ha Long Bay sorted out.

We booked through a well reputed place called Kangaroo cafe and spent a fair whack on the trip. It was really worth it though as the boat was proper luxury with incredible food. Plenty of squid, fish, clams and fruity salads. On the 1st day we visited a place called 'the suprising cave', loads of crazy stalactites and stalagmites and even more tourists unfortunately. What was most 'suprising' about the cave was one of the stalagmites looked like a 6 foot c*** and balls. Kate hid her head in shame as i took about 20 photos. When we got back to the boat our lock was broken on our room. Our guide spoke to the captain and after 30 minutes of effort with several metal rods, a foot long knife and a meat cleaver they descided to sort it with a good booting! Job done but hilariously our guide seemed to think that we had broken it because we
didnt know how to use a lock and key so we got a free lesson in how to open a door - cheers fella! The next day we went to Cat Ba Island for more cave action. This time there were no tourists and at the end the guide turned off all the lights and played an amazing, tuneful drum solo on the stalagmites for about 5 minutes. Echoing round the pitch black caves it was an incredible sound and experience that will stay with us forever. We spent 2 nights and 3 days in Ha Long bay. Obviously the scenery was incredible with 2000 islands looming out of the still waters, junks gliding by and sea eagles as abundant as seagulls at blackpool. As usual the photos will do a much better job at explaining then we can in words.

We got back to Hanoi the day before xmas eve and relaxed and then on the eve itself we both went our separate ways to get presents for each other. Kate got me a great laughing buddha and she got a t-shirt and Boney-M's Xmas songs on CD. That night we got ourselves a santa hat each and a beard and got hammered on a combination on Bia Hoi, Lager and Galliano. The photo album entitled bad santa has a few pics from our night. We bought the balloon because we missed Mumbo but we had to buy him twice as some b****** popped the 1st one with a fag about 30 seconds after getting it. He's getting a lump of coal from Santa this
year. On Xmas day we went for a big breakfast then later on went to meet Vincent and Marleen for dinner. They had found a restaurant which served 'jumbo ribs' and by god, they were JUMBO! the waitress tried to talk us out of buying 2 portions between the 4 of us as she thought it would be too much for us to handle! When they came out they were bigger than my head with couple of fistfuls of chips chucked on the side. ACE! We did struggle towards the end though and i felt like I was sweating out minced pork for a few hours after. it was good to spend time with the guys on Xmas day and have some friendly faces to get festive with. Our
remaining time in Hanoi was spent relaxing in cafes drinking our last sweet drops of Vietnamese coffee before taking our flight to the Bangkok madness. Goodbye Vietnam, we will miss you.