Hello Hanoi!
Bangkok airport was a pleasant surprise, exceeding all our expectations! We found ourselves eating a thai green curry for breakfast – all meal conventions have gone out the window!

The flight to Hanoi was nice and straightforward, the most entertaining part was waiting for our luggage, and being amazed at the selection of items people had checked in....the baggage claim conveyer belt resembled a wholesaler’s stock take! Our 2 backpacks looked distinctly ‘normal’ and boring.

Thankfully our guest house had arranged a taxi driver to meet us – reassuring amongst the crowds of people trying to get you in their taxi/to stay at their guest house. So...first impressions. Hanoi made Bangkok look calm and clean! On top of this, it was absolutely freezing! (Okay, freezing by our standards. Bangkok had been 32C it was now 14/15C – fine if you have the right clothes for this change. We of course, didn’t)

En route to our accommodation we were shocked to witness the aftermath of a fatal road traffic accident involving a motorcyclist. We also saw the results of a car crash. Considering the driving techniques here, it is sadly, unsurprising. On one hand the drivers are supremely skilled, making excellent use of their side view mirrors; their spatial awareness is amazing. However the aggressive tooting of the horns takes some getting used to; and ultimately there is still a large element of chaos and ‘luck’. On arriving at the guesthouse in the old quarter, we realised there would be no ‘let up’ in the traffic conditions. With narrow, winding lanes surrounded by tall buildings, it feels very claustrophobic, especially as there seems to be no rules governing where the hundreds of bikes ride! (We’ve come to realise pavement/walkways are a luxury)A little overwhelmed, we didn’t venture far for dinner – just popping to a recommended restaurant round the corner – “Little Hanoi”. The food was excellent – made even better by the fact that a starter, 2 mains and 2 beers came to £5! (It never feels like things are cheap at first, as the exchange rate is just silly – about 4000 dong to the pound!)

Whilst staying in Hanoi we were keen to take a trip to Halong Bay to visit the “3000 islands”, so our task for the next day was to find a tour to join! Initially we planned on doing a 1 day trip, however on learning that it was a 7 hour round trip on the coach, and we would only have 3 and a half hours on the water – it seemed a little pointless. We ended up booking a 2 day/1 night trip that departed the next morning!

For the remainder of the day we explored some of the old quarter. We visited Memorial House – a traditional Chinese dwelling that showed how merchants used to live in the old quarter. It was full of beautifully carved wooden furniture and traditional art pieces; paintings and embroidered wall hangings. Next we headed to Ngoc Son Temple, founded in the 18th century; it is situated on an island in the northern part of Hoan Kiem Lake (meaning “Lake of the Restored Sword” which refers to an old myth about how the Chinese were driven out of Vietnam). Standing on the island it is possible to look out across the lake and see “Thap Rua” or “Tortoise Tower”. It was visiting this temple that we have our first encounter with a strange pricing hierarchy, namely one price for locals and another for “foreigners”. The ticket attendant was a little abrupt when explaining this (surely to differentiate between the two prices; when one refers to foreigners, the pricing sign should be in some other language than Vietnamese?). Our final sight to see – St Pauls Cathedral, an impressive church just outside of the old quarter.

We finished our day of exploration with dinner at a lonely planet guide special – restaurant 69. We are sometimes sceptical of these recommendations, as they have often fallen victim to the “lonely planet effect”, wherein they have gotten ‘too big for their own boots’, losing all character and charm which initially won them their status. Also, the prices are generally inflated compared to other local offerings. Fortunately, on this occasion the restaurant had retained a nice level of character, it wasn’t heaving and not (too) overpriced.

14th January – Hanoi to Halong

To board our bus we had to be at the tour office at 7.45am! We had a lovely tour guide called Lien, who accompanied our group on the 3 hour bus journey to the ferry terminal. Intermittently offering us information on the areas that passed by, she also told us about the history of Vietnam and the division between the north and the south. To be honest, Andy and I are still a little confused about the involvement of France/USA/the division/the war etc. – but we had a little more understanding of some of the influences on the countries development! Although allot of guide books (including lonely planet) state there are 3000 islands or so within Halong Bay, we are informed that the official documents state there are actually 1998 islands! (Of which, only a very small proportion have been named). Now listed as a world heritage site, the huge limestone islands tower over the calm waters of the Gulf of Tonkin - a beautiful sight! The word “Halong” actually means “where the dragon descends into the sea”, which refers to the legend that states the islands were created by a dragon living in the mountains.

After our 3 hours bus trip (including a toilet stop – phew!) we then had a 2 hour slow cruise from the harbour, out into the depths of the bay. As it was now lunch time, we were served a selection of seafood for lunch. So engrossed in our meal, everyone kept forgetting to look out the windows at the mystical scenery that was now appearing before us! (The power of food when people are hungry eh)

One we were well into the bay, and surrounded by these islands of varying size, the anchor was dropped and we transferred from our large boat into 2 person kayaks, so that we could go and explore some of the surrounding caves/waterways. The water was so calm; it was thoroughly enjoyable to kayak in! Very different to our previous experience of sea kayaking in NZ and white water rafting in Oz.

Our residence for the evening was on Hon Cat Dua Island, opposite Cat Ba Island (the largest in Halong Bay) so we had to take another boat to transfer there. Unfortunately, when we booked the tour, they had failed to tell us this transfer was 2 hours – each way! Usually this wouldn’t be a problem, as it is very calm and serene out on the water, unfortunately in this climate and with the sun going down, it is pretty cold! (By the way, Andy and I are wearing 5-6 layers each, mine includes 2 cardigans and a scarf, plus woolly hats) Had we known this, we would have taken the option of staying on board our large boat instead! We stayed at Ocean Beach Resort in a beach bungalow. This is definitely a place geared towards hot, summer weather. Having dinner outside on the terrace was a little chilly! This is all summed up by the fact we were given electric blankets to use in our bungalows. This would really be the most perfect place in warmer weather! Luckily the staff lit the fire-pit for post-dinner, I’m sure some of us felt tempted to ignite our own clothes for warmth.

Not a great night’s sleep, the electric blanket didn’t really contribute much warmth, but at least we knew it was just for one night. We had an early start the next day, leaving the island at 8am, reaching the big ship at 10am, back to the harbour for 12pm for lunch and finally reaching Hanoi for 4.30pm! It is a tiring day of travelling, and when we eventually disembark our bus back in Hanoi, we have completely forgotten how to deal with the traffic madness (not just the two of us, but the whole tour group – we stumble across the roads en masse, our tour guide marching on ahead of us!)

Halong Bay was really beautiful to see, the only improvement would be if the weather had been slightly better. The scenery reminded us of our trip to Milford Sound as there was the same feeling of tranquillity and mystique.

After a brief mix up with our accommodation, we eventually reach our bed for the night. We meet up with Sarah, who we met on our Halong boat trip, for dinner – discussing the boat trip, our travels so far and plans for the coming weeks. It turns out we may see her in Thailand which will be good!

It is early to bed for us, as we must be up at 5.30am the next day for our flight to Ho Chi Minh. Our stay in Hanoi has been a real eye opener, very different from all the places we have been so far. “Organised Chaos” would probably be the best description, although I am sure we would be inclined to say “less of the ‘organised’...” Somehow, it seems to work for the locals though. We have found some of the people to be a little overly aggressive, particularly tuk tuk drivers and old ladies selling food (who would of thought these little grannies would be so persistent!), which becomes quite annoying, especially as we always make a point of being polite and friendly in turning them down. All in all, it has been a tiring few days, as you feel the need to “psyche” yourself up before venturing outside and everywhere you walk requires about 10 times more concentration than usual (particularly apparent after close encounters of being knocked down on the PAVEMENT)

We are intrigued to see what HCMC will be like as most of the reports we’ve heard suggest it is allot more manic. Perhaps we will just stay on one side of the road for the duration of our stay......