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Hi all, sorry the last couple of blog updates were brief...but here's what we've been up to:
So we have now been in Vietnam for about 9 days and we both love it. We flew into Hanoi from Vientiane (Laos). Hanoi is a very busy but interesting city. The people are friendly, the food is delicious and there is lots to see and do. The only fault I can find is that everyone is trying to run you over…even if you're on the footpath, and you can't even get on there very easily for all the parked up motorbikes and shops/food stalls spilling out onto it.
We checked in to the swanky Elegance Sapphire hotel, which was a little over our "budget" but was very nice! Main feature being that it had a Jacuzzi - oh, and it scored very highly on Gemma's breakfast checklist.
We had a full day in Hanoi seeing some of the sights, including Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body at the mausoleum - a little bit eerie.......before getting a trip to Halong Bay. It takes about 3 hours by bus to get to Halong City, which is basically the docks for catching a boat to the bay. It was very very busy, tourists everywhere including (embarrassingly) the drunk Brit backpacker fraternity. Once we boarded our junk (boat - see piccies), we had a good lunch as we cruised out to the bay. After lunch we stopped at a big limestone cave along with about another 100 junks! It was far too packed for our liking but beautiful nonetheless. We had an hour or so to kayak around the bay before having the chance to swim and jump off the boat - however by this point there was wine on offer so we opted for the latter!! We had a delicious dinner on board, lots of seafood and moored up for the night. There are about 180 sleeper boats and only 3 spots that they can moor at night, so we were surrounded by boats in all directions, including one we named the "disco boat". Not quite what we had on mind for Halong Bay, but still a very cool experience.
The next day was a lot better and quieter. We had booked a 3 day trip and so had a full day kayaking and exploring the bay. It was just us, a lovely Canadian couple (Gordon and Eileen) and our guide so we could do what we wanted and at our own pace. We sailed out in a smaller boat, well away from the crowds and took the kayaks out from there. We visited a floating village and even pulled up next to the school while class was on…I think we were a welcomed distraction for the kids! We kayaked around several limestone stacks up close and eventually crossed an open stretch of water towards some more islands. We negotiated our way through several limestone arches/caves (which you can only access at low tide) and eventually reached a peaceful secluded inlet, surrounded on all sides by steep limestone cliffs and only accessible through the arches we had kayaked through. It was beautiful and a complete change from the packed touristy bits of Halong.
Back on the boat we had another fantastic lunch, all of which the crew prepare at the back of the boat with limited facilities and space. We even had an entertaining selection of vegetable sculptures including a junk made of cucumber and carrot and two doves made from turnip!
We eventually returned from Halong - happy that we had managed to go beyond the usual touristy bits and amazed at the natural beauty of the place.
On the Halong Bay trip we met several people (including Gordon and Eileen) who had been to or were going on to Sapa. Andy had heard it was a great place to visit and so we booked a trip with the same company that took us to Halong. So on Saturday night we got the Oriental Express (spot the deliberate Vietnamese mistake!) night train from Hanoi to Sapa, leaving at 9pm and arriving in Lao Cai (an hours drive from Sapa) at 5am! It wasn't the best night's sleep we'd had but it was an experience! Sapa is a (French) hill station and so a little cooler than Hanoi, which was a welcome relief, especially as we would be doing 3 days of trekking! It's right on Vietnam's border with China, so there was quite a bit of Chinese influence, including fake, poor quality North Face stuff, that people seemed to want to buy!
Sapa was a lot cooler in temperature and we managed to break out the fleeces and gore-tex that we'd lugged about but avoided using till now.
The trekking wasn't hard, we could easily have gone further, but the views were fantastic and it was so nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of city life. The first day was busy with day trekkers and so still seemed to be well on the tourist route, but day 2 was better and day 3 even quieter still. We had a nice group for the first 2 days, 2 Spanish guys and a Belgium couple and our first night was at a homestay - basically like a bunkhouse but part of a families home in one of the hillside villages. It was 'rustic' but a great experience, they were very friendly and welcoming and we had some great food. We had a reasonable nights sleep although we were woken early by the family cockerel and crying baby! Day 3 was just the 2 of us and our guide. It was a misty day so the visibility was poor but still a good day of trekking with lots of pigs/ducks/water buffalo/children to see on the way! After eating far too well since we have been away, it felt good to do some exercise at last!
The night train back to Hanoi was even worse than going out, neither of us slept very well and so we checked into a room in Hanoi at 6:30 am just to get a couple of hours of undisturbed sleep and a shower before catching our flight to Hue...and that's where I will leave things for the next installment.
Wishing everyone at home lots of love, we are missing you all. Keep in touch.
Gem and Andy xxx
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