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Sorry this has taken so long in coming, a combination of being a bit busy and a bit lazy.
Our first Day in Hanoi was spent generally wondering around the place, getting a feel for it. We stayed in the Old Quarter, an area of Hanoi with narrow streets and a seemingly open sewer system. Water constantly flow down the gutter either side of the road with the inhabitants of the city throwing a whole manor of substances onto the side of the street including general rubbish, fish heads and often parents holding their siblings over the gutter for them to urinate in it! Therefore we had to take care where we stepped in our flip flops! The weather wasn't great, cloudy and not too warm so we realxed, gandering around town had a couple of big meals. This rest was well needed after the back wrenching train ride the day previously.
Days 2 and 3 in Hanoi were spent on a boat trip to Ha Long Bay. We checked the weather forecast on our first day and took advantage of the 2 days of sun that were forecast. Ha Long Bay is roughly three hours from Hanoi; however it is the islands off the bay that draw many people to it. In total there are around 3000 tiny islands, with steep near vertical cliff faces, covered in vegetation; called the '8th wonder of the world' by the locals. We had been informed by fellow backpackers named Kurt and Sam that the trip was well worth doing and let us know a private supply of alcohol was needed for the trip due to the relatively expensive price of beer on the boat. A suggestion we eagerly took on board givgen the fact both were seasoned travellers (Kurt had been on the road from Ireland for 4 years).
We were taken in a minibus to the Bay, however after stopping for petrol an hour into the journey, the minibus wouldnt start due to a faulty battery connection. After much deliberation from the driver including a couple of phone calls and a failed effort by us and the rest of the group to get a running start going marshalled by a man we nicknamed Captain Birdseye; we feared the worst. However after 20 minutes somehow the engine started again and we rushed back on board before the engine got moody again.
We arrived at the port safely and soon boarded the boat which we would spend the next 2 days and one night on. We cruised around on the first day of the trip and visited a couple of caves, before going kayaking around some of the islands in the afternnon, finishing the day with dinner and a bit of drinking. The beds on board were actaully very comfy; more so than our room at the hotel in fact. So comfy Will locked me out of the room when he went to bed; resulting in me crawling through the window with the aide of one of the staff.
I decided on anearly rise on the second day at 8am as it was too light to sleep any further and ended up involved in another drinking session with Kurt and Sam. We cruised most of the day back to the port where we disembarked and headed for Hanoi once more. I paid the price that evening for the drinking that had consumed most of my time and money that day. We had a relatively early night.
We thought of leaving the next evening but opted not to in the end and spent day 4 in Hanoi sorting out travel plans for the rest of the trip up to Bangkok; getting a flight a bus and a vague itinerary written out for us by a travel agent who was very helpful. That evening we chilled and watched a movie and the footy in the hotel. We did set the alarm for 3am to watch England nail France as I was optimistically hoping for but were too tired. We did though end up seing the first 60 mins the next day on ESPN before we left for Hoi An.
The journey to Hoi An did not go to plan. We set out at 6pm for a journey we were told took 15 hours arriving in Hoi An the next day at 11am. This was not the case as the hotel owner in Hanoi had lied to us when he sold us our open sleeper bus ticket. We ended up in Hue at 9am in the moring and told we had to change bus. OK we thought, not a big deal. When we got off the bus and went to the ticket office to ak when the next bus was we were told 5 hours! Very pissed off as were all the other people on the bus, we set out to kill some time so went for a wonder but took an instant dislike for the place. It was ugly and looked shabby. We ended up in a cafe, having a few beers and breakfast before heading back to catch our bus.
We eventually arrived in Hoi An at 6pm. After checking in at a hotel the first thing we did was go to book our ticket for the next day to get to Nha Trang. We were told the sleeper bus was full and were put on the waiting list and got a place (supposedly 2 seats each on the sitting bus). This was extremely irritating given that we weer told we had to book in person and could not book in advance of more than a day. That night we relaxed and went for supper on the riverfront then headed for a bar to let off some steam.
We got up early the day after to make the most of our half day. Hoi An is a lovely small town known for its tailors of shoes, dresses, shirts and suits. Everything is cheap as cheaps (sometimes cheaper than chips in fact when it came down to t-shirts). We ended up going on a bit of a shopping spree to take advantage of the extremely low prices. We ended up with a few t-shirts, a couple pairs of shorts, an umbrella (was raining in the morning) and a tailored suit with shirt EACH! As well as a couple of other bits and bobs. The suits cost 30 pounds each with shirt and look really good. They tailored them in 4 hours for us, then made adjustments as to our wants in 40 mins. We were measured at noon and were fully kitted out by 5pm.
At 5:30pm we went to the bus station to find out we had to go on the sitting bus. The journey was the worst of our trip to date, even worse than the train journey from China to Hanoi. As mentioned earlier we were promised 2 seats each so Will went to the back of the bus to grab us some. However when the woman in charge of making sure the bus was in order had gone, one of the bus drivers invited more people onto the bus with us crammed with 3 other people in the back row with seats that didnt recline unlike the rest of the seats on the bus. We had to sit through 12 hours of extreme discomfort, bolt upright without a wink of sleep throughout the whole night. Even Will who can pretty much sleep whenever or wherever could not catch forty winks and despite the fact I took a sleeping pill never got some shut-eye. The bus picked up locals who had flagged it down in the dead of night, who sat in the aisle and were given pillows; I gurantee they got a more comfartable ride than us, and all for free.
We arrived in Nha Trang, a beach side town at 6:30am and eventaully found a really nice, cheap hotel just off the beach. But god were we pissed off and knackered!!!!!
Nha Trang blog to follow soon. Pictures- you know the story..................
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