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We are back in sunny Bangkok and sadly its our last day! We were very glad to get out of cold, gloomy extremely unfriendly Hanoi! Vietnam was interesting but I can't say that either of us would be keen to return. We completed our trip of the central highlands which was stunning and gave us an insight into rural vietnam. We ate forest vegetation which included ferns at the market! We had wild pig and venison which was really tasty. The terrain changed from rice paddy fields to thick dark deep forest vegetation.
We left our tour guids in Hoi An. Besides having a hell of a lot of tailoring shops the old town is a UNESCO Heritage site and is very quaint and picturesque, Vietnam's Stratford! It was a nice stop over before the journey north. Hue was colder and not much happening in the city centre. The attractions were the tombs around the city which were good but the tour (the only way to see all the tombs) was rubbish!. Hue to Hanoi was an over night bus journey (sleeping bus) and it takes second place for one of our worsed travels. We were advised to take seats near the front, but of course by the time we got onto the bus there was only the back row left. You can not sit up in these buses its like a permanent reclining chair. We shared our cosy space with a French family (the only other tourists on the bus). I got half a seat because the rest was covered by a shelf. Therefore I was curled up for 14 hours!
Hanoi was not any better. It was freezing for a start grey gloomy as were the people. There is not much to do in the city either. Our room had no heater so you were forced to walk around all day to do something and keep warm. Ok enough moaning, we of course went to Halong Bay. We treated ourselves to a luxury cruise, thought we would end the honeymoon trip with a big bang. The cruise was certainly luxury, we were the youngest there, besides a couple of teenagers and so we were called the kids. We dined on oysters, prawns and every other kind of seafood through out various courses of meals. Lots of meat, salads and other wonderful treats (all meals included) Dinner was served in a cave which was beautiful and a rare treat. We're not sure if it was because we were the only government workers /backpackers on the boat or that we were on our honeymoon but we managed to leave the cruise with a $7 bill as others just bought us beer and wine!
Halong bay itself is so beautiful. It was cold and grey but it gave it a mysterious feeling. The kayaking was hmmm lovley in terms of what we saw but we didn't exactly master the steering and got stuck on some coral which was not great. The water was a beautiful green, so clear and underneath was bright orange, pink, and green coral. We enjoyed a couple of days reflecting on our trip and debated whether we should hand in our notice from Bangkok and of course selling the house to fund a life on the road, but alas Darren wanted his slippers and bed!
We have had an amazing time and sometimes we have to pinch ourselves as we really have been lucky to have this opportunity. Which of course is thanks to a lot our friends and family. The wedding money gave us the opportunity to really enjoy our trip. We purchased two keep sakes, a carpet and wall hanging from India. One flight to get us to South India and out of the cold. A night under the stars in the desert (my best experience out of the whole trip). Three nights in a resort on the back waters of Kerala. A week in Koh Samui and our trip to Halong Bay. A big thank you again to everyone.
Well fare well to the blog. Thank you for reading and of course sending us messages. It has certainly been our fix everytime we have been able to get to a computer. We now look forward to seeing you all. Well it will be strange for us not to squat on toilets, carry toilet paper everywhere, use bottled water to brush our teeth, choose from a menu at every meal. Oh god no more eggs! Good bye to the long bus journeys and I am now officially sick of wearing the same clothes. But saying all this we will be sad not to have that excited feeling of discovering a new place, getting a feel for its people and their culture.
Good bye South East and back England! We will be back home on Monday 24th well actually 25th at midnight! oh well we are now off to pack and then take a walk into Chinatown for some spare ribs, springrolls and Singha Beer!
- comments
brownie ahh the memories x
Linda Holtham Wow guys sounds like you have had an amazing time. We all want our home comforts after a time dont we haha. It was an amazing experience for the both of you. Looking forward to seeing you. Hope you had a good journey back home. xx