Halong Bay

 "25/05/2013-27/05/2013"

I was up early this morning for my really amazingly exciting trip to Halong Bay.
This was going to be the highlight of my trip and it was not going to rain.

The tour guides in our minibus had exceptionally good English, and were incredibly friendly, joking all the way to Halong Bay.

I'd checked out the weather forecast and it seemed to be okay...fingers crossed.

When we arrived in the Bay it was crazy, so many buses, so many boats, so many tourguides.
I did think that it would spoil the pictouresque nature of the bay, but very quickly we found our boat, and were pulling away from the harbour to much quieter surroundings with hardly a boat on the horizon.

First stop was to some caves, which provided some welcome respite after our enormous lunch.
Later in the afternoon we stopped off for some kayaking.  Having kayaked in crocodile infested waters in the Northern territory, Australia I was sensing this might be slightly less nervewracking.
It was still pretty tough-going, kayaking isn't that idealistic thing you might picture on a Sunday afternoon, it's really hard work, and the girl I was paired up with struggled with the concept of which way to paddle (and the language barrier) so I had to work twice as hard.

After a good amount of exercise we made our way back to the boat for sunset.
It was now that I had a chance to get my perfect sunset picture, and oh yes! It was a beautiful beautiful one.  I probably had enough, with the different island formations to fill a whole new album.

I love sunsets on water, there's something about it that is just so magical and mystical.

I'm glad I got all my pictures in today, because the next day was a lot more overcast.

I had to change boats and guides for a visit to Catba island, the only inhabited island, and also a trip to monkey island.  I wasn't expecting this, but the "hike" was worth it for the views and was a nice break in the scenery.  I wasn't a fan of the monkey part, monkeys are rather devious, vicious creatures and I kept my camera very close to my person.

The evening was filled with karaoke, and was a lot of fun, before we enjoyed further rock formations en route back to Hanoi and then the long flight back via Bangkok to home.

Halong Bay was such a perfect end to my South East adventures, and although I'm sad to be going home no doubt I'll be hitting the road soon.

Hanoi

 "23/05/2013 - 25/05/2013"

Urgh that bus journey was horrible, although I had a much nicer seat.

I opted for a seat at the back of the bus and that meant I actually had a double seat, which also had substantially more leg room.
I would have had plenty of sleep if it wasn't for the fact that we stopped a couple of times early into the journey for a puncture.
Generally speaking you are meant to disembark if you are fixing a puncture.  Not here, no, they proceeded to "fix" the puncture, twice with everyone still on board.  Hmmmm.

I'm not entirely sure what they did either, because for a long duration of the journey I swear I could hear the sound of air coming out.  I'm sure I wasn't imagining it either.
I must have nodded off, because we did all make it in one piece to Hanoi.

I was slightly scared of Hanoi, because Ho Chi Minh freaked me out with the traffic and I'd heard that Hanoi was crazier.

When I arrived at the bus station I tried to consult a map for my hostel, but in the end caved and went for the motorbike option deciding that a) it was the end of my trip and b) I was so tired and couldn't be bothered to deal with the traffic and getting lost.
It was about 15mins walk about so I probably made the right decision given my history of getting lost and I didn't get ripped off either. (Mostly because I went with...well I could just walk there...)

The hostel was again really friendly, told me to help myself to breakfast before worrying myself with my details etc.
Having been nice and relaxed they showed me to my room, so I could get some sleep.

I love how everywhere I've been (or nearly everywhere) the rooms have been ready for early morning buses, this should be standard everywhere as a lot of buses to get in early.
It was so refreshing to have a nice sleep.
I was planning on heading out for some exploration, however when I woke up the sound of thunder and heavy rain greeted me....nooo the cyclone that had been making it's way around Thailand/Myanmar better not be coming this way, at least not for Halong Bay!!

I man-ed up, and decided to do some site seeing as I only had two days in Hanoi and half the stuff wasn't open tomorrow.
The main area where the museums and sites were concentrated around did require a taxi to get to (or it would take me about 40mins to get there...or actually an hour given how long it would take me to cross each road...eeeek)
So I hunted for a taxi.  So the thing is when I want a taxi there isn't one???

Eventually I found someone willing to take me, and actually for a decent price.
WOW

It took me a while to find Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum (I got the museum and Mausoleum confused).  The Mausoleum is like only open at certain times, you have to pay and then can't take any pics, so I couldn't be bothered with all that.  I took photos from the outside.
The history museum was actually very interesting and a lot more rounded than the Saigon ones.
I also visited the Palace, and Ho Chi Minh's houses, as well as the temple of literature en route back.

It took me a long time to get back, because I walked.  At one particularly crossing I required a 5 yr old child to cross with me.  How do they do it?  It's so scary :( !!
I survived.

The evening was nice and chilled out in the hostel.  (so many English speaking travellers and all very friendly)

24/05/2013

Today I went on an exploration of Hanoi with Lana, an American I'd met yesterday.
I wanted to see the Lake, and also see a water puppet show.
I also wanted to do a bit of souvenir shopping.  Somehow the afternoon went really quickly and we hit the Lake perfectly timed as the thunderstorm started...so headed into the theatre for the water puppet show.
There is definitely a lot of similarities between the Gamelan shadow puppet plays here, but what was remarkable is that the puppeteers are under water and unseen throughout.
The puppets were really quite remarkable as were some of the movements, such as ploughing of the fields.

Incredible.

It was such a lovely day and guess what...I'm off to Halong Bay tomorrow - really really hope it doesn't rain!!!

Hue - Pagodas and Temples and Rose Petals

 "20/05/2013-22/05/2013"

Hoi An - Hue was a very scenic and nice short bus journey, which I took nice and early in the morning to maximise my travel time in Hue.
I arrived around midday and was immediately confronted by the many motorbikes wanting to offer me transport to my hotel, whilst I stood dressed in my jeans with my backpack, not entirely knowing where I was going (Jade Hotel was about 10mins away).

As ever, I didn't see the point in getting a lift with it being so close, so I kept asking for directions, (my sense of direction is getting marginally better)...eventually I got onto the right road.

The contrast between Jade Hotel and An Hoi couldn't be more different.  The doors were flung open, my rucksack taken from me to ease the weight and "I was asked how I was, had I had a good journey, where had I travelled from"...etc.
I was offered a cold towel and the most delicious fruit juice once I'd arrived.  Then a platter of fruit as well, before being asked if they could get me anything else.
The staff were so friendly wanting to get to know me.  It was such a lovely welcome.

I was shown my room, and although it was slightly dark, and narrow for $20 per night it was amazing.  Double bed with rose petals over it.  I felt like royalty.

I consulted with the staff how to get to Hue Help, which was a charity Manchester Rag helped whilst I was at university.  My role was to set up the volunteer project from Manchester, working with the volunteers who would be heading out to Vietnam.  This was a pilot year so I was very much building relationships with the Vietnam team from scratch.
I never went to Vietnam as when I started working on the project I already had a holiday booked (to Central America), but I thought while I was in Hue it would be amazing to see the work the volunteers had been doing.
The Hue staff were really friendly and delighted to finally meet me.

The Jade Hotel staff recommended getting a taxi, but from the map it didn't look too far away so I walked.  Factoring in getting lost it took me at least an hour, but I got to discover a large amount of the city.
One of the Hue staff then took me on her motorbike to visit the centre, and it was in such a great condition.
The children have their own bed, and get 3 meals a day.  They have toys, clean clothes...it's such a contrast to the orphanages I've visited in Africa.
It was a positive experience to see that development work really can make a difference to people's lives.

On my walk back I watched the sunset over the river...absolutely stunning.

21/05/2013

Today I had a tour of the temples and pagodas in Hue, organised through my Bamba Experience pass.
My pick up was ....late....because they forgot about me...ooops!!!
The temples were very different to some of those which I'd seen earlier in my journey, and particularly the different gardens and outbuildings.
I love the way that they incorporate nature with their architecture.

In the afternoon we visited the citadel which was really interesting to see.
There was still time to stop off at a pagoda before catching the boat back to the centre.

A very exhausting day!!

22/05/2013

I spent most of today not really doing much as I had a mid afternoon bus.
I meandered around town and chilled out with the staff at Jade.

I'll be really sad to leave Jade Hotel as they were so unbelievably friendly.
Definitely recommend this place!

I have a very very very long bus journey to Hanoi as I embark upon the final leg of my journey.

Hoi An

"19/05/2013"

I had a bit of a panic attack when I saw my bus ticket.  Because my seat had been booked so far in advance, my seat was right at the very front.
The idea of having a seat in full view of the road scared the life out of me.

Fortunately another English girl was happy to swap with me, so I got a different bunk for the journey.

The night buses have reclined chairs.  The space on the inside differs, including leg space.  Mine was an example of nowhere for my feet, and the design was rather floored as it left no room to put your hand luggage either.
I knew this would be an uncomfortable ride.

I should add that it didn't have a seat belt either (totally expected in SE Asia) but given the pace the bus was travelling at, the bends and the fact you were on a bunk bed, seemed slightly absurd.

It took me a long time to get any sort of comfort and I did regularly wake up along the road. (Mostly because of the frequent beeping of the horn), still I'd rather the driver used the horn than had a collision.  I'd prefer to stay alive than suffer with sleep deprivation.

It gradually got lighter and lighter, and then we rocked up in the middle of no-where, to be told we had reacher our destination.  I know my ticket said we were going all the way to Hoi An, but when I'd seen pictures of Hoi An, it looked pretty touristy and with plenty of amenities around.  This was the middle of nowhere.

We all disembarked and a couple of taxis pulled up.  No-one really knew what was going on, as everyone was half asleep.  The taxis quickly filled up, and I caught on, so decided to go for one of the motorbike taxis as I was desperate for the bathroom and was really tired.
All the drivers were dressed in a uniform so looked like they worked for the same company as the coach which had dropped as off.  I didn't even think to arrange a price before getting on the motorbike (stupid in hindsight).

Nevertheless, we reacher my destination very promptly and the nice guy the driver was wanted a very large sum of money.
My assertiveness (and tiredness) was not in anyway shape or form going to allow this.  I went on the prices I knew, and knowing I wasn't going to win at 10000, ended up paying nearer 30000 (still a rip off :()
I wasn't impressed.

Nor was I impressed by the lack of welcome I got at An Hoi hotel.  They seemed grumpy to have guests at 7.30am, but my room was ready, and I was also informed that I could have breakfast which was great news.

I slept for a couple of hours and felt tons better.

Hoi An is a historic town, with lots and lots of pagodas, traditional houses and museums.  All of the old town is in walking distance and so I was able to take my time visiting everything, stopping for a breather every so often (and returning to my hotel room which was 5mins away) if I needed to for a water refill.

For some strange reason despite having moved up North, the temperature seemed to have increased aswell, and I found it pretty unbearable (rather static and airless).
Fortunately there was a nice pool at An Hoi to cool down in in the afternoon, so I indulged in that before heading out to a nice Thai restaurant that evening.

Hoi An was pretty, but I just didn't warm to it quite as much as I thought I would, perhaps it had something to do with the arrival.

Nha Trang - Tropical Paradise

"16/05/2013-18/05/2013"

So I'm on my way to Nha Trang at last.

I cannot wait to get to the beach for some full on sun, relaxaxtion and cocktails.

Nha Trang is pretty small, but the hostel I was staying at still was an adventure to find.  Mojzo Inn.
I was with a British couple, and the bloke was convinced he knew where the place was.  It amused me slightly as it reminded me of someone I knew; not willing to cave in and admit they didn't know where it was and ask for help.  We continued like this walking round in the midday sun (which was getting rather unbearable by this point) with our backpacks.

Nha Trang is very touristy and as such you get hassled a lot.  It didn't seem too bad, I've experienced a lot worse in Africa, but it clearly was intimidating for the other Brits who snapped at the locals.
(Amateurs).

Eventually we found Mojzo Inn, and were greeted by a lovely welcome, offered cool towels and ice water.
Mojzo Inn had refillable water...very sensible, I thought given the heat and the amount of time we'd be spending out in the sun.  It's also much greener than to keep buying new plastic bottles.

They had storage facilities and even a downstairs area where you could get changed (as it being morning, the rooms weren't ready yet.)
I was ready to hit the beach.

I spent all afternoon on the beach, soaking in the sun.  It was unbelievably relaxing.

I meandered over to the nearby restaurant (maybe not the cheapest) and bought myself a cocktail...delicious!

What a lovely way to spend an afternoon while everyone else was spending the day in the office in England in the cold, rain.

I did however catch the sun...despite putting suncream on.  I have no idea how that happened, because normally I don't burn ESPECIALLY not if I've plastered myself in factor 50.  It clearly had evaporated off me or something.  Needless to say I felt the effects much later on, and didn't feel well at all.
The dorm room I had was very airless, and I needed ice cold ness.  I felt in agony.
Even taking a cold shower and putting aftersun on didn't seem to work.

The lovely people I met in Dalat were in my dorm, so we decided to go for dinner together.
Whilst the Thai restaurant was really delicious, I felt ill all evening, and not hungry at all and really lacking conversation.  Stupid sunburn.  I felt like my whole body was blowing up, like Aunt Marge in Harry Potter.

The night was an interesting affair as I could hardly sleep with the heat in the room, and me feeling unwell.  I must have gotten some sleep though.

Next day I was off on my snorkelling trip.  At least the water would mean I could cool myself down thank goodness.
In the nature of a number things with the bamba pass, the company did expect me to pay for my trip...so there was that wonderful chaos of them asking for my reference number, then ID, then "we need to make some phone calls".  Eventually all was resolved.

The snorkelling trip was good, however there were, as with a lot of the trip so far, plenty of added extras that needed paying for on top of everything else, which I wasn't too fussed about.

I would definitely have liked the boats to have gone a little further out for the snorkelling, but I guess that's what you pay for on budget, whereas the catamaran in Australia was some serious stuff.
It was good fun, and I did see some lovely fish.
The buffet lunch was delicious and as I've been starting to find, when they do remember to cater for vegetarians then they cater magnificantly well.  Amazing food.

The floating bar was good fun too.

The next day I had another relaxing day on the beach, indulging myself in more cocktails and sun, before what was to be a very long overnight bus journey to Hoi An.

I will miss Nha Trang, but the north awaits.