Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
All By My Self :-(
The mist had completely cleared from the bay this morning, the harbour was full of small fishing boats and we suddenly noticed the mountains on either side surrounding the little town we were in. It was still very early and the long road in front of our hotel wasn't busy with mopeds and cars like it was yesterday.
We checked out and ate breakfast before going to the Sun Flower hotel to meet the other people on our tour. We arrived at 7:45am and were told we would be picked up at 8am. We waited untill 8:20, the coach still hadn't arrived so I went to use the toilet. Three old Chinese women were in front of me in the que, they each took so long in the toilet! Then another Chinese woman came along and tried to push in front of me. I had already waited at least fifteen minutes and I noticed the coach had pulled up so I told her to get behind me. I was in and out within a minute, when I walked outside I noticed the coach was gone! I looked about but I couldn't see Chris or anyone else from the tour. I knew Chris wouldn't just leave me so I thought maybe the guide had counted wrong and they were probably just around the corner.
Five minutes went by which felt a lot longer, I started to get angry with the fact that I had no idea how long they would be gone for. What if something happened to the coach?
Then suddenly it appeared from around the corner. I started running down the road towards it and the guide jumped off. As I got closer I noticed he was smiling at me. Pissed off I asked him of he checks the numbers before driving off?! He replied he knew I was left there.
I sat down with Chris and asked him what happened? He said he told the guide I was still in the toilet and to wait, but all he could say was "We will come back" Chris told him to stop the coach but he ignored Chris. Helmit had also told the guide to wait but he had also ignored him. He only had to tell Chris they were picking others up from another hotel then going back for me, or just wait two minutes.
Half hour went by and I calmed down. When we were all queuing to get on the cruise taking us back through Halong Bay, I made a sarcastic comment to the guide. That was a big mistake, the Vietnamese people don't understand sarcastic humour. I asked with a smile on my face, "Have you checked we are all here this time?" he bit back at me with an angry tone in his voice, "What do you mean?!" I repeated myself smiling still, but then he said the same thing but shouted at me. Helmit heard him and stuck up for me saying the coach was already late by fourty five minutes, why couldn't he have waited for one more?
This made the guide even more angry, he ignored what Helmit meant and started yelling at him too. The guide thought Helmit was accusing the coach of being later than it was. Chris came back from putting the bags inside and knew the arguing he could hear was me! He told me not to say anything but I couldn't help myself!
He was so unprofessional and took the argument up on top deck where other people from another tour were waiting. He began asking the group what time he had asked them to meet in the morning. They must have thought who the hell are these trouble makers getting on our boat?
Helmit stayed cool laying on a sun bed while the guide kept yelling at him, then he started yelling at me again. I told him he was wrong for leaving me with no idea of where they went. He started making excuses and blamed the driver which made Chris angry but he still stayed calm. Eventually the guide admitted he was wrong and apologised to me. Then he turned and started yelling at Helmit again! All the while Helmit wasn't saying anything! Then he had enough, he jumped up on his feet, grabbed the scrawny man on the shoulders and through him across the deck, while shouting loudly in German. He was pretty scary, we all thought he was going to throw him off the deck! Some people on the other group that had been watching came rushing over to help the guide but then turned away. None of us were asking for an argument in the first place but the guide just wouldn't stop! I shouldn't have made my sarcastic comment but I really didn't think he would react in the way he did.
The guide threw his phone down and stared at Helmit. Helmit calmly laid back down on his sun bed like nothing had happened lol. Chris told the guy to leave us all alone, that he was supposed to be our guide and not behaving the way he was to us all. Without saying anything he went below deck.
When we got back on shore we were taken to a huge restaurant for lunch. The food was really nice, it was brought out on small plates and placed on a turning table. The guide kept his eyes on us the whole time, I was worried he might have called the police but they never came. Instead he was really polite and friendly to us, Helmit and Werner! He offered us an earlier coach back to Hanoi which we took. We said our good byes to Helmit and Werner then got on.
We arrived back in Hanoi and were dropped off in the same area we were before. The streets were even busier today, must have been because it was a weekend. We left our bags in reception while we collected our Sapa train tickets and then went to the lady bird restaurant for dinner. We don't usually eat in the same places but they do great food at a cheap price.
We had some time to kill so we looked for a bar with a pool table. We found one but the drinks were very expensive. Infact everywhere was expensive compared to what we had been paying. We don't know how the local people can afford it!
We sat in backpacker hostel in the end, I had a martini while Chris had a few beers. We made sure we went back to the hotel on time for our pick up taking us to the train station. We waited over an hour before the receptionist called the company to see where they were. He said it apparently came early and didn't wait. We think they were lying, they would have at least come in and spoken to the receptionist. Anyway, the receptionist booked us a taxi and advised the train wasn't leaving for at least another hour. He also said we would have to pay for the taxi ourselves! I refused of course and he agreed to pay it for us without question.
When we arrived at the station we were met by a really bossy lady. She gave us two tickets for the hotel tomorrow and told us our guide would meet us at the station in Sapa. She said when we get off the train we need to wave our tickets in the air and he would find us.
We're on the train now, the cabin looks very nice but it's not private. We are sharing with two other girls who seem nice. We are so looking forward to spending the next few days in Sapa and seeing Vietnam how we imagined it.
Charlotte & Chris
- comments
Natly You tell him char lol! X