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This must be a record....two blogs in two days! We arrived in Hanoi yesterday, and are staying in a really nice hotel....kind of by accident, and kind of too much money for us... We were told to be very careful arriving by plane, as as soon as you have got your baggage you are accosted by taxi drivers offering to take you to a hotel. Even if you have a hotel booked...they have a back up plan...set up fake hotels, by the same name of the backpacker/vaguely budget hotels recommended by lonely planet and trip advisor, and take you to those instead, where the prices are immediately hoiked up just for you, the rooms are horrible and tours are aggresively forced upon you. As a total stranger to a city, you have no idea if you are being taken to the real hotel, or the fake hotel. So we opted for a slightly more expensive hotel, which offered a free aiport pick up, and did take us to the right place...but nearly killed us several times along the way, as there are literally no road rules whatsoever...at junctions, all traffic goes in all directions with no lights and miraculously dont seem to hit each other.
The hotel is deceptively called the Ritz...it's not quite the Ritz, but it is nice, and the staff are lovely, and have already managed to sell us a 3 day tour as a result! We have booked a 3 day and 2 night tour to Halong bay, with one night on the boat, and one in a hotel.. all food is included, and it works out at 13 pounds a day...which is less than we have been spending when we are left to our own devices!. We have to get up at 7am tomorrow...yuk! but I am sure it will be worth it (apart from the advertised karaoke as the "evening entertainment"oh dear....and as drinks arent included, I have a feeling we may be going slightly over the 13 pounds a day...)
Today, Craig was the tour guide and took us on a walking tour of the old quarter of Hanoi (with a helping hand from the Lonely Planet), which was really fun, despite the heat...It is so much hotter and humid here than Bangkok was. We started off at a parisian cafe which sold yummy pastries, cakes and coffees... there is quite a french feel about the place in certain areas, and then started walking. The atmosphere is even more crazy and chaotic than Bangkok, the roads and pavements are totally clogged with kamikaze motorbike riders going in all directions, so you have to walk along the side of the road and hope you don't get hit. Crossing the road involves shutting your eyes and going for it, even in 3 lane traffic, the traffic avoids you (supposedly) and there is no point being british about it or you would never cross the road, and only be able to go round the block in circles.
Each street of the old quarter sells different things, taking up the entire road with the same shops...a section for Buddhas, clothes, metal work(you had to avoid fires and red hot metal being worked on on the pavement), extractor fans, mirrors, Packing tape(!)(rooms filled to the ceiling with huge rolls of Sellotape and ropes!) ,spices, buckets of crabs, live fish (one jumped out of the bucket at my feet) lizards, eels, food stalls, shoes...every street smelled different...some nice, some totally foul.. it was definately not a relaxing city tour, but pretty amazing chaos.
In the afternoon we decided to go and see a waterpuppet show, which is famous here...apparently started when the rice fields flooding and this was how they entertained each other... It was like an asian punch and judy in a theatre, with live music, a beautiful set, and really clever puppets, which all took place in a bout 2 feet of water, with the puppeteers hidden out off sight by a curtain, they have 4 shows a day, and it seemed very popular.
Anyway, thats enough about 1 day! we have just got back from dinner and need to go and pack!
Lots of love
Emma and Craig xxx
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