HANOI (21st to 23rd Feb): Arrived in Hanoi mid afternoon on the 21st Feb, on a flight from Ventianne on Laos Airways. Despite being a short flight we got a small meal & a last free BeerLaos, so OK (why can't Ryan Air do free Guiness?). On arrival at Hanoi airport we then experienced our first local Vietnamese bus ride into town (about an hour). Hanoi is chaotic & swarming with motorbikes, but luckily our hotel was close to the bus station, situated 1/2 way between the Old Quarter (backpacker territory) & the West Lake (destined to become Hanoi's new centre). Complete change of weather in Hanoi from what we have become used to, with it being dull, grey, overcast & raining.
On the first night we went exploring & using our Lonely Planet Guidebook we went in search of the 60 seafood restaurants mentioned on the south side of the West Lake. Could we find one!!! Ended up eating in a floating restaurant with no other diners that started turning all the lights out just after we ordered at 8.45pm. Turns out Lonely Planet had put them on the bottom of the wrong lake! All forgiven though when on the way back we stop at a small street booth for beer, with 2 guys squating on the gound watching TV. They spoke 2 words of English, one being 'hello', the other was 'Chelsea' as they pointed at the TV. Hadn't realised it was Chelsea v Aston Villa and it was live on TV. Good result with a 1-0 win, so Gus has got them back on track to winning ways!!
Next day we set off to do our city tourist stuff: visited Ho Chi Minh's tomb, which was a surreal experience walking through & seeing the waxed body lying there. Got told off by a guard for walking through with my hands behind my back! From here we visted the One Pillar Pagoda close to the tomb & then tried to get into the Ho Chi Minh museum which was closed, having a 3 hour French lunch break. From here we walked to Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed by the Americans in the war as the 'Hanoi Hilton'. Very interesting if slightly biased images in the museum, portraying the French & the Americans as the sole bad guys & how well the Vietcong had treated them. We then walked into the old quarter visting the Hoan Kiem Lake in the centre with the Tortoise Tower & then visted the Ngoc Son Temple on the lake. In the evening we visted the Quan An Ngan restaurant, where you can enjoy typical street-food in a restuarnt made to look like a street market. Very good meal. Back in the hotel able to watch Liverpool & Man. City have a 1-1 draw (could have been better, Liverpool could have lost 7 get the habit for losing ways (for you Ben)!).
Day three in Hanoi, we visit the Dong Xuan Market (where we buy 6 sets of 3 various sized plates & 2 stes of coasters. We bargained hard but only got the price down to 90,000 Vietnam Dong from the original 150,000. The 2 sets of coasters we got for 100,000 form 150,000 - now all boxed and on a slow boat home to join the Asian cutlery we purchased in Chiang Mai). After this we visit the Women's Museum which has one exhisbition on women's contributions in the Vietnam War, and another on the hard life of the street vendors (who the Hanoi authorties are trying to ban from the streets). After we walk to the Van Mieu Temple, the temple of Literature dedicated to Confucius. We then walked a long way back to the Ho Chi Minh museum only to find it closed again! Later go to the Cha Ca La Vong restaurant, where as soon as you arrive you get a laminate card saying all they sell is fried fish, and what you get is the ingredients & a pan & you cook it yourself!
Halong Bay (24th to 26th February): Next day we set off on our 3 day tour of Halong Bay. A very beautiful spot with the limestone 'lumps' littering the bay. One regret is the weather was cloudy 90% of the time & now my damaged camera is very evident in the spoiled shots. We spent 3 days/ 2 nights in the Bay, with one night on the boat(a heavy drinking night with 2 LiverBirds & 2 Polish lads, & 2 bottles of wine & 4 bottles of rice vodka) & one night in Cat Ba town on Cat Ba Island. Have just uploaded the pictures with only a few captions due to time restraints when using the net.
Hanoi (26th/27th February): Return late on the 26th after drama on the return journey when our tour guide lost his temper trying to get extra money out of a young German girl, and held the bus to ransom by refusing to move from our 1/2 way stop until she had paid. Get back just in time to meet Steve & Caroline on the local bus having flown in from Luang Prabang. Visit a restaurant on the Lake, where Gill & I share a lovely seafood steamboat (cook yourself again). At the end of the meal we notice how many rats are running around the floor!
Next day we visit the Ethnology Museum where we spend the day. As Steve & Caroline sleep in we spend 2 hours helping a young Vietnamese girl with her English & run her through the pictures on the blog. She was fascinated by the various countries. Then take a local bus to the museum. Gill & I depart back around 5pm as have to get back to the hotel for 6pm for the mini bus pickup to take us to the bigger bus for our journey to Ninh Binh. Have to wait sometime & when the bus arrives it so packed the conducter can't get down the bus to collect fares, so our journey is free. Get back just in time as the mini bus is waiting. We then have some confusion as change buses 3 times before being put on the locals night bus which was overbooked. Eventually get to Ninh Binh around 10pm. Staying at a really nice hotel with the friendliest people I have met in Asia.
Ninh Binh (27th Feb to 2nd March): Weather in Ninh Binh is no better and get soaked the next day walking to the bus stop to catch a local bus to visit Phat Diem, the local Cathedral. Clearly they see very few westerners here as again we are a source of amusement to all. Outside the Cathedral a group of school girls stop me to ask questions to practice their English. Had strange conversations as they all giggled like mad when discussing
Day two in Ninh Binh is no better with the weather but still decide to hire a motorbike & take a trip out to Tam Noc (described by Lonely Planet as Halong Bay in the paddy fields). Do the two hour boat ride (just us 2 & the 2 locals rowing us) and row throg the caves. At the turn around spot get fleeced by a lady selling drinks & crisps from a boat, as buy cans & crisps for our rowers & for ourselves and she wants $10. On the way back one of the rowers reveals the hidden tourist trunk wit all the goodies they sell tourists. As we are a trapped audience for an hour we eventally capitulate and buy 4 small pictures for $13. The trunk is unloaded when we dock waiting for the next unsuspecting western tourists (not that are many of us here). Next visit the Bich Dong Pagoda built into the caves above Tam Noc. By mis afternoon it starts to rain hard again so decide to head back to town to spend time blogging. Dine in our hotel in the evening as they cook us special meal.
Day three in Ninh Binh, the weather was no better with heavy rain early morning. Venture out on the motorbike again when rain seems to stop & head for the ancient capital, Hua Lu. get completely lost from the outset as the map we have from the hotel is very basic with only a few of the roads detailed. By complete accident find the site, which is now 2 temples & a hillside climb to another small temple. Immediately on arrival, 2 locals latch on to us as a good dollar prospect. First she tries to sell us euros for dollars. Then everytime we exit a temple she wants us to go to her restaurant to eat. Gill eventually relents & goes with her, & she is very disappointed that all we have is 2 Lipton teas. She wants to sell us trinkets aswell. When we don't buy she tries to charge us 10,000 Vietnam Dong for parking the bike (about 1/4 mile from her premises! get the impression that there are alot of people wanting to fleece the westerners.
After doing the hill climb & visiting the 2 temples we go for a random drive in the countryside but the weather starts closing in & the rain starts again. The road starts to become a dirt track & just as we are deciding to turn back, a fleet of tourist buses rush past. We decide to follow to see where they are going & coming from & come across the huge 'building' site, with massive temple buidlings stretching up & over a hill, with a series of 5 big structures: the entrance archway, a pagoda holding a massive bell, & then 3 temples going up the hill. The site is partly restored & partly new build & resembles a classic very muddy building site. There is a mass of concrete statues dumped in the mud which we guess will occupy the surrounding buildings once built. It's just amazing that we find this in the middle of nowhere, & no mention of the site in Lonely Planet (when finished this site will become one of the main sites to see in Vietnam, so get with it LP - some of us do venture outside the tour bus routes!!). Didn't spot one westerner here, & now worked out what everyone says to us apart fom hello, which is 'tay oi', which is 'westerner or foreigner'. People seem genuinely pleased to see us & many come up & shake hands & a few who speak any English just ask our names. Two guys came up & smacked us on the back & spoke alot of Vietnamese which we didn't understand,& then wanted to share our bag of snacks to make friends. With the young it's their excitement when they spot us that seems so enchanting.
Tonight we leave on the night bus for Hue....
1 comment:
Thank you for the postcards,we look forward to them as trying to decipher Nick's handwriting is much better than Brain Training on a Nintendo DS.
You have taken some really great photos and must have some yarns to tell .
Back here in Blighty we have all become backpackers now in our own homes as the economy has collasped so you will have no trouble adjusting if you decide to return.
There have been riots in Bieze, the locals have been rampaging through the village setting fire to British owned property while
shouting "Les Rosbifs Allez Allez Maintenant Vite Vite!!"
Try not to get kidnapped as nobody here has any money for a ransom.
I bet you guys can cook and eat anything now , next time we come to Barn Owl we will bring our own food if you don't mind.
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