Day 20: Saigon

After a comfy sleep we went to buffet breakfast at 8.30am and took the free cycles along 5km to the beach and were in the sea by 9.30am. Having refused to pay to park the bikes in a cycle park we left them on the beach under a tree and under our watchful eye. As we had no bike lock Kris gathered pieces of twine from the beach and tied the tyres together, that should do the trick! After an hour or so we were both bored, boiling and burnt and cycled back to the hotel to shower and check out by noon.

We utilised the internet for a few hours and while booking the airport taxi for later I got chatting to a lovely local lady in the travel agents who offered to drive me around on her motorbike for free to see the local sights. So I hopped on and we went to a different beach which had round fishing boats spread along it, we went via lush green rice paddies and some very colourful vegetable patches.

On my return to Kris we walked into town for lunch. We had rice and spring rolls in a place recommended by the lonely planet and it was lovely followed by ice cream and mossie bites for dessert! Both feeling burnt we laid by the pool in the shade relaxing until our 6pm taxi ride to the airport in Danang. We arrived at the airport nice and early and had to wait around to board our flight with Jetstar at 9pm. Our boarding time of 8.30pm came and went and there was no call for us and no information anywhere and no staff to ask. We found some other people looking equally as lost with a similar ticket and sat next to them.

Finally we boarded the very cramped plane and watched a film on the ipod to take our minds off the flight. It was over very quickly and an hour later we had arrived in Saigon. We met two other couples travelling and the six of us jumped in a taxi to the backpacker district of town. Being 11.30pm and having nowhere booked we walked in the first hotel and luckily found a room with air con and cold shower… perfect.

Day 19: Hoi An

We had originally intended on getting off at Hue however it has dawned on us that we are running short on time and so although we only paid to Hue our ticket is to Danang a further 3hrs south as a result we decided to stay on capitalise on the free journey.

Brenda and Kevin left us at Hue but we shall meet again in Cambodia in a week or so. As we stepped off the train in Danang the heat hit us in the face and it felt like we were on holiday for the first time. We stood getting harassed at the station while we were deciding how to journey the 1hr south to Hoi An. We noticed one lad and one girl both travelling alone who seemed in the same situation and so the four of us climbed into a taxi to share the fare. Between Danang and Hoi An there is a 30km stretch of golden sand named china beach and the road followed the ocean all the way. By the time we arrived we were dying for a shower or a pool or a swim in the sea.

Having not booked any accommodation we walked for a while into the town until it was too hot too walk anymore. We went in the nearest hotel and decided to treat ourselves in a £30 a night room with flowers on the bed, the kettle, the tv, the toilet, the sink well everything come to think of it! We showered, enjoyed the air con before venturing back out.

After researching another sleeper train south to Saigon we found out it was a 15hr journey and for the same price we could fly and be there in an hour or so. We booked the flight and had some lunch before taking a private tour to My Son 35km out of Hoi An. My Son is some ancient brick ruins of temples from the Cham Era all set in amongst lush green valleys and due to the time off day we were the only tourists there and it felt as though we were the first people to discover them.

Back in the holiday town of Hoi An we showered again and walked into the old town for dinner. We had intended to find a nice restaurant on the riverside however we came across a street corner which was very popular eating place for locals and foreigners and could not resist. Mr Dong’s was tasty and to burn it off we wandered along the river edge and into the lantern lit streets of the old town. Kris noticed some chocolate cake in a café window so we had to go in.

We thought we would sit upstairs which just kept on going and turned into a funky bar with free pool table and more importantly… fans! We had buy one get one free drinks and played pool where we met a golf pro and an English teacher who we doubled up with to play. After a few games a local lady wearing next to nothing wanted to team up with me to take on the lads. It was a black ball game which we lost but was very random and a memorable night.

Day 18: Sleeper train from Hanoi to Danang

Having had a great night sleep we were actually wide awake at 6.30am which is unheard of. Buffet breakfast at 7am then picked up by our taxi to the boat at 8am. When we arrived at the bay there were herds of people leaving for Hanoi and we feared that we would all be crammed onto boats together.

However, while everyone else was treated this way, we were led to our own boat just the two of us. To get on our boat we had to jump across three other boats. The first couple were relatively simple compared to the third which was quite comical as the boats were held together with rope which snapped and spread apart while Kris was straddled. He just managed to drag himself over to safety while I was stranded on the second boat. By this point we had quite an audience which found the whole thing quite amusing! After several minutes and adjustments from the captain I managed to jump across which was rewarded with a round of applause from the crowd.
We spread out and soaked up the surroundings for the hour long journey to meet the white dolphin boat half way to the bay. A smooth transfer between boats and we dined for lunch with a couple from Australia. We got back to the mainland at 1pm and hopped on the bus to Hanoi. We arrived and went for a pizza lunch that we had been craving after all the seafood. We met Brenda and Kevin in ET Pumpkin at 6pm and got our free taxi to the train station.

We boarded the train in our luxury cabin with air con, sweets, soft beds and a western loo what more can a traveller ask for! The four of us swapped stories and photos and cameras and contact numbers, played chess and had a few beers until late. Brenda and I went in search of the bar carriage and having ventured into the engine room and being shouted at we went the other direction for 12 carriages until we found it. This journey was an experience in itself and not the nicest! It made us realise just how nice our cabin is apart from the cockroach that we just found on the bed.

Day 17: Cat Ba Island - Halong Bay

Again up at 7am for breakfast which was an array of pastries and jams which was delicious with a nice coffee. We made our way back over to the cave island and walked through 3 caves. The first was ok and about what we had expected then the second was huge and the third was surprisingly massive! We later found out that these are named the surprising caves and now we know why.

When back on the white dolphin we cruised for an hour or so then checked out and transferred onto another boat to get a ride to Cat Ba Island. The majority of our group were returning to Hanoi today including Brenda and Kevin who have agreed to go and get our camera for us.
We said our fairwells to our group who were a lovely mix of people from young USA and Ozzies to old German and Finnish guys. When on the island we took a minibus with a family from Canada to the Cat Ba National Park. We did a very tough 2hr hike to the peak which was 250m high. The terrain was very rough and it turned out to be a great adventure.

The family had requested to be taken directly to their hotel and the taxi guy was not having any of it which led to a bit of a slanging match. It turns out they have been here a few weeks and had bee ripped off for $400 and were really not impressed. It is really difficult to communicate with the Vietnamese compared to the Chinese which we found strange as their alphabet resembles ours rather than symbols! Due to this the whole tour seems a shambles with nobody really knowing where we are going or when or how. This is very frustrating but it does seem to work.
After the trek we were relieved to find our taxi waiting at the bottom with our gear inside. A short ride to our hotel which is amazing! It has a great view of the bay and the room is lush. We went straight to lunch which was approx 8 courses and delicious.

We resisted the urge to sleep and walked to the 3 beaches on the island via a beach bar for a beer. We crashed on the third beach and relaxed for a while. There was one other person on the whole beach and the view was top notch.

We decided to take a motorbike taxi back to our hotel which was actually only round the corner but we were after the experience more than anything. Three of us on one bike was crazy but fun.

Back at the hotel we rested for a while and made use of the lovely hot shower before dinner at 7pm. The dinner was another 8 course menu that was very filling and a huge mix of flavours. We had intended to explore the town by night but absolutely exhausted we crashed out and were asleep by 9.30pm.

Day 16: Bai Tu Long Boat - Halong Bay

The alarm woke us at 7am and we met Brenda and Kevin for breakfast. Our taxi picked us up at 8am where it circled Hanoi picking up 15 other foreigners. We then set off to Halong City approx 3hrs away.

Arriving at the port we took a small taxi boat to our Long Boat named the white dolphin upon which we realised another disaster that we had left the DSLR camera on the bus which was now on its way back to Hanoi! A quick call from our tour guide David to the bus ensured that it will be safely stored at the tours head office in the city in 3 days time when we return.

Absolutely gutted as this is the place we wanted the camera the most. Knowing that we still had our small digital camera made it a little easier until we turned on the camera and there was simply no life, not even the lens would retract let alone take a photo. How is this possible, we are devastated.

We have made an agreement with Kevin that we will borrow his memory card on the train and copy some of his photos. They were very kind to let us borrow the camera to take our own photos as well… Thanks guys.

We grabbed our room on the deluxe boat which is actually a lovely room. It has an awesome bathroom and air con etc. Only one slight problem in that our sliding doors to our balcony don’t open and don’t shut but there is an inch gap which is fine.

We had seafood lunch which was different and tasty then set off into the depths of the bay in amongst all the limestone karsts surrounding us. First stop was at tea tree island where we climbed 200 steps to the top and got a great view of the bay. However, on the taxi boat to the island we run out of gas and had to get rescued!
We then sailed over to the cave island but got there too late and it was closed so we were promised to go there in the morning instead. Its going well so far! Back on the white dolphin we changed asap to ensure we would be able to get on one of the 3 kayaks available for 20 people!
Kevin and Brenda also kayaked with us for an hour where we went exploring with no guide. This was awesome and definitely the highlight of the trip so far. We actually managed to get really far and discovered a few caves and wholes in the Karsts that we squeezed through. The sun was setting behind our boat as we returned, it is a real shame we could not catch this on camera.
Back on the boat we showered before our seafood dinner and complimentary wine due to the taxi boat running out of gas. We then took some beers to the roof and sat chatting with stars above and the silhouettes of karsts all around. At 9pm we went to the front of the boat to do some squid fishing with a piece of cane, some string and a hook. It was quite tough to tell the difference between all the fish and the squid but it was fun and Kris managed to catch 2 squid! That’s probably our breakfast for tomorrow!

Day 15: Hanoi - Vietnam

We had nice long showers, done some laundry and met the others for breakfast at 9am. We decided to go our own ways to see the sights of Hanoi and meet back at the hostel at 1pm. We headed straight to the old quarter to compare prices of a tour to Halong Bay and the price of the train south to Hue.

After our research we found a great café for tea and coffee then as all the places we wanted to see closed between 11am and 2pm we decided to take an all over body massage which was a nice treat after all the long journeys we have been through.

We ended up going with ET Pumpkin travel agency as recommended by the lonely planet. While discussing our findings with Brenda and Kevin they also decided to use the Pumpkin Company. We have chosen the 3 day, 2 night tour while they have chosen the 2 day, 1 night tour and will spend one more day in the city. As a result we are catching the same train south and so have booked our tickets together so that we shall share a 4 bed cabin.

We then took a short walk to the oldest temple in Vietnam and from there we again went our separate ways with the aim of meeting up later. We walked to a temple on an island in a lake that supposedly contains gigantic tortoises but we did not see any! We then continued to walk to the Hanoi Hilton Prison where prisoners of war were kept in the American War. We found this very interesting and discovered that there were some remains of a B52 in a local lake which we then took a taxi to.

While in the safety of the taxi we could really appreciate the craziness of the traffic around us, there simply are no road traffic rules! Back in the old quarter we had dinner and returned to the room to relax for an hour or so until we met the others at the water puppetry show at 8pm.

We had back row seats which were the cheapest and the most squished but we could still see perfectly well. The show was not in English and was basically several scenes of Vietnam myths stitched together with wooden puppets in water to live music. It was an experience to say the least!

On the way back Kris rushed to watch the end of the Man U v Liverpool match while I strolled back via the night markets. We are both very tired as its been a long but very enjoyable day.

Day 14: Hanoi - Vietnam

The nice fast roads turned into terrible dirt roads after a while and we were being thrown around at the top and back end of the bus. Another nightmare journey. We did have a few wee stops that were equally just as much of a nightmare. As we arrived and collected our bags from under the bus our ipod miraculously appeared in a slit of our bag. God only knows a. how it got there and b. how it managed to stay there for so long! Happy days.

We met 3 other foreigners travelling on our bus. Anton from Holland and Kevin and Brenda from Canada. We all arrived at hekou at 7.30am as the time had gone back an hour over night. We stuck together as safety in numbers and walked to the border crossing.

We all breezed through the border without a hitch and walked the bridge in no mans land from China into Vietnam! Before we had managed to even leave the building we had booked a train ticket to Hanoi with the information desk. This is against what we would normally do as it was a group decision. The lady took our money then took her moped to the train station 3km away to get the tickets then drove them back to us at the border crossing then put us on an electric car to the train station.

This seemed completely backwards and we were annoyed as the amount we paid was twice that of the train ticket! We only lost a few pounds each but the principle was crazy as we usually go straight to the station ourselves to book it. We realised we had not even made it physically in to the country and had already been ripped off, great start!

The electric car went slower than our walking pace and as a result we just caught the train with minutes to spare. The only day time train running was a hard seat which took just over 10hrs which equated to approx 26kmh!!! We could nearly cycle faster!

Within minutes of sitting down a stranger came and sat by Kris asking the usual questions of where you are from, etc. He then felt a hand rustle around his pocket containing his wallet. With a big push and some not so polite language the stranger flew off the seat and continued to stare. What a nosh. The ride was very long and painful both on the mind and the bum! We sat in a four seat section with Kevin and Brenda and played chess and Orthello for hours. We read, stared out he window but could not sleep as it was simply impossible on the seats and packed train.

The view on the way seemed more tropical. It was raining and overcast yet warm and muggy. We arrived at 8.30pm and took a taxi to the only backpackers hostel in Hanoi but it was full. On their recommendation we walked across the road and took the first hotel double room with bathroom which is small but clean and comfy and cheap.

We dumped our bags and headed for the pizza place round the corner. It was full of foreigners and with pizzas and beer all round it was just what the doctor ordered! We had a great night and returned to our rooms where we were asleep before our heads hit the pillow!