Well, what do I say about Hanoi? Hanoi is a maze of streets, many of which serve a purpose in their own right. I wandered into Tin Street the other day and am thankfully sleeping nowhere near it (I was forewarned). The accommodation is a few dollars more but where I got a wooden hut in Laos, here I get all the mod cons. Having done the five floor trek of steps to my room everyday in the heat of Saigon (some say it is practice for the mountain treks that many people do here), I buckled and paid a few dollars extra again when I saw a lift in this particular hotel. The people are sometimes serious looking but with a bit if work (especially when I try to speak some words of Vietnamese) there is invariably a smile. I have experienced the one scam that I am aware of - in a taxi so it could have happened in any country - when the driver took a 'slightly' circuitous route - but I got to see some night time scenery and $3 really wasn't a lot of money.
So what have I been doing? Well, I spent the first 2 days getting lost and meeting nice people. There really is no sense to the orientation here except to say there is a big lake in the middle of the area where I am staying but its often hidden behind the streets. Once I found my way back from the lake it started getting easier but this is a tiny part of this big city. The desk staff in the hotel; Pearl, Mike, Va Tin have been great, suggesting cheap Vietnamese food nearby and taking me on their scooters to Bia Hoi Junction, where a glass of beer costs 2000VN Dong (6.3p) and its a great place for meeting other people on the road, though sadly not too many locals. This beer is a very light tasting home brew beer worth limiting to 2 or 3 glasses for Health and Safety reasons.
I have bumped into Tom who I met in Paxai, while I was looking at a giant dead sacred turtle here, and to Becky and Miffy who I met in Hoi An while we were getting to the Ha Long Bay tour boats. Last night at Bia Hoi Junction I bumped into John, who I met trekking in North Laos, who has shaved his long read hair and beard off and so now looks very different! I am loving travelling on my own but I also love having someone to talk to about what we saw and share tips so this suits me well. I booked a three day trip to Ha Long Bay through the hotel on the recommendation of a young woman who was also staying here with her Mom but didn't know what to expect. Now that I have seen it, I keep thinking this place is more suited to the name 4000 Islands (same same but different to South Laos).
In a nutshell, legend has it that a dragon flew down to protect the Vietnamese and her tail made great troughs on the mountains which then filled with water leaving the hundreds and hundreds of mountainous Islands that we can see now. The weather is usually misty and drizzly, creating an eerie atmosphere, and that is what we saw but it didn't stop us from caving and having a cycle on one of the islands and taking a kayak out to explore a sheltered harbour.
My photos wont do this place justice but I did see a couple alone on the upper deck of another boat, waltzing quickly and taking a video of themselves with the scenery in the background. They looked so happy - I hope they are looking at that that in years and years. We stayed on the boat the first night and the second night we stayed in a hotel on one of the bigger islands. We generally agreed that the food was exceptional as we were spoiled with prawns and squid, and fish that was caught while we were out there. Its a tough life... The people I was with were great. I met the very funny and kind Dave and Angela from the South of England, who have been together for a million years with a young but grown up family despite looking no older than me! There were 2 retired Canadian couples who I spend most of my time with as we were put together for the second day when some of the group went home and they were brilliant, putting me to shame when I struggled a little with getting on and off the boats which would have been an obstacle course for anyone.
After the meal in the hotel, I was delighted to see Bob ask his wife to dance - wouldn't it be wonderful to dance like that after 2 months of marriage let alone 30 odd years!
We tried to see the rare monkeys on Monkey Island but they weren't hungry enough and we had to make do with some common monkeys. Yesterday we headed back to Hanoi and my lovey friends on the hotel desk have put me in the 'best room in the hotel'. I thought they were joking until I saw it - its huge - its the family room and I have been loving it!
Well, what do I say about Hanoi? Hanoi is a maze of streets, many of which serve a purpose in their own right. I wandered into Tin Street the other day and am thankfully sleeping nowhere near it (I was forewarned). The accommodation is a few dollars more but where I got a wooden hut in Laos, here I get all the mod cons. Having done the five floor trek of steps to my room everyday in the heat of Saigon (some say it is practice for the mountain treks that many people do here), I buckled and paid a few dollars extra again when I saw a lift in this particular hotel. The people are sometimes serious looking but with a bit if work (especially when I try to speak some words of Vietnamese) there is invariably a smile. I have experienced the one scam that I am aware of - in a taxi so it could have happened in any country - when the driver took a 'slightly' circuitous route - but I got to see some night time scenery and $3 really wasn't a lot of money.
So what have I been doing? Well, I spent the first 2 days getting lost and meeting nice people. There really is no sense to the orientation here except to say there is a big lake in the middle of the area where I am staying but its often hidden behind the streets. Once I found my way back from the lake it started getting easier but this is a tiny part of this big city. The desk staff in the hotel; Pearl, Mike, Va Tin have been great, suggesting cheap Vietnamese food nearby and taking me on their scooters to Bia Hoi Junction, where a glass of beer costs 2000VN Dong (6.3p) and its a great place for meeting other people on the road, though sadly not too many locals. This beer is a very light tasting home brew beer worth limiting to 2 or 3 glasses for Health and Safety reasons. 
I have bumped into Tom who I met in Paxai, while I was looking at a giant dead sacred turtle here, and to Becky and Miffy who I met in Hoi An while we were getting to the Ha Long Bay tour boats. Last night at Bia Hoi Junction I bumped into John, who I met trekking in North Laos, who has shaved his long read hair and beard off and so now looks very different! I am loving travelling on my own but I also love having someone to talk to about what we saw and share tips so this suits me well. I booked a three day trip to Ha Long Bay through the hotel on the recommendation of a young woman who was also staying here with her Mom but didn't know what to expect. Now that I have seen it, I keep thinking this place is more suited to the name 4000 Islands (same same but different to South Laos). 
In a nutshell, legend has it that a dragon flew down to protect the Vietnamese and her tail made great troughs on the mountains which then filled with water leaving the hundreds and hundreds of mountainous Islands that we can see now. The weather is usually misty and drizzly, creating an eerie atmosphere, and that is what we saw but it didn't stop us from caving and having a cycle on one of the islands and taking a kayak out to explore a sheltered harbour. 
My photos wont do this place justice but I did see a couple alone on the upper deck of another boat, waltzing quickly and taking a video of themselves with the scenery in the background. They looked so happy - I hope they are looking at that that in years and years. We stayed on the boat the first night and the second night we stayed in a hotel on one of the bigger islands. We generally agreed that the food was exceptional as we were spoiled with prawns and squid, and fish that was caught while we were out there. Its a tough life... The people I was with were great. I met the very funny and kind Dave and Angela from the South of England, who have been together for a million years with a young but grown up family despite looking no older than me! There were 2 retired Canadian couples who I spend most of my time with as we were put together for the second day when some of the group went home and they were brilliant, putting me to shame when I struggled a little with getting on and off the boats which would have been an obstacle course for anyone.
After the meal in the hotel, I was delighted to see Bob ask his wife to dance - wouldn't it be wonderful to dance like that after 2 months of marriage let alone 30 odd years!
We tried to see the rare monkeys on Monkey Island but they weren't hungry enough and we had to make do with some common monkeys. Yesterday we headed back to Hanoi and my lovey friends on the hotel desk have put me in the 'best room in the hotel'. I thought they were joking until I saw it - its huge - its the family room and I have been loving it!
2 comments:
glad you are in sweet comfort..my memory of ha Long bay were sleeping on deck...getting bitten to pieces..rain on deck..losing my fav trousers over deck and then giving up and getting fairly p***ed... Jacqui has chicken pox so all busy here ..look forward to seeing you soon.. xxx
What does Thec mean by 'literally'? That they were swingers of the sexually adventurous suburban type? That there was a rope swing at the hotel? Or that they hanged themselves whilst on holiday?
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