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A comfortable nights sleep in our cabin on 1st deck ( tastefully furnished with timber panelling and marble bathroom in an oriental flavour) and pleasantly surprised to wake to blue skies! After a cuppa and pastry Tai Chi instruction began on the upper deck at 7am! Quite a unique experience!
By 7.45am we were being transferred by tender to Titop Island. We were allocated less than an hour but enough time to hike up the 400 odd stone steps to the top to witness amazing panoramic views of Halong Bay. Though cloud cover and haze developing, still very hot and humid. Were thankfully for a quick swim at the little beach below to cool off. Once back onboard The Jasmine there was time to shower and check out of our cabin before a leisurely buffet breakfast as we cruised back to port. Overall a remarkable and definitely worthwhile experience. (I purchased a beautiful picture book after seeing it in our cabin by French-Vietnamese artist Sandrine Llouquet).
Our Buffalo Tours driver was ready and waiting for us at Paradise Bay for our return journey to Hanoi. As today was an Independence Day holiday in Vietnam the roads were less congested and trip was reduced to only three hours! Really amazed by the sprawl of residential towns linked together between small pockets of rural areas. Approaching the city, specific commercial ventures seem to be located together - furniture, tiles, hardware, clothing - all on small scales......but incredible number of massive premises in state of desolation, disrepair and abandonment.
Back at the Church Boutique Hotel we made some plans with hotel staff for our next couple of days. First decision was an evening walking food tasting tour in the old quarter. We wandered around ourselves for an hour or so before meeting our young guide, Binh at the hotel. Was quite an interesting experience giving us an insight into some Vietnamese delicacies and specialities. No doubt we were fairly conspicuous balancing on those little plastic chairs of the street stalls amongst the locals but it was fun and has given us more confidence to have a go ourselves. Enjoyed the sticky rice cake with pork and beans and the pork and noodles was delicious. We tried dragon fruit, green papaya, jack fruit and longan (from lychee family) with ice cream which is served with a bowl of crushed ice. And, an "egg coffee" was a really tasty experience.
Binh also took us to one of the many local street bars where, again sitting on little stools, we tried the Beer Hoi - brewed from rice and barley and costing VND5,000 a glass - about 25 cents! Not bad!
With drizzly rain starting we decided to take a cyclo (pronounced "sick-low"- like a rickshaw) ride for half an hour - definitely a different perspective for checking out the old quarter. Crowds were starting to build up for an impending fireworks display at the lake area but we decided to avoid it. We are becoming more familiar with the narrow maze of streets, each one specialising in something particular - toys, shoes, haberdashery, manchester, leather, religious items......Then of course the food areas, bars and nightclubs. And must mention the thick tangle of electrical cables looped and hanging overhead.....OH & S not an issue here!
Found our way back to the Prague Bar for a couple of beers and Mojitas before heading back for the night.
- comments
Megan Selwood An 'egg coffee' sounds interesting!
Maria Lolis Sounds amazing so far Jen!