Hanoi and Halong Bay: The Highlights of Vietnam!

Ciara the fruit seller

We returned to Vietnam for about a week on 23rdMarch to explore the northern capitol Hanoi and visit the magical Halong Bay. Boy were we in for a treat! Hanoi is the capitol city of Vietnam and returning there after the protected peaceful retreat in Luang Prabang was a shock to the system initially. It is a very busy place but the thing to note was the traffic. This was something to behold in the southern city of Saigon too but everything seemed amplified in good old Hanoi. I haven’t mentioned the traffic too much so far but here was on the extreme end.

Basically the “rules” are the biggest vehicle on the road has right away. This is all good if you are a massive lorry or even a coach but the problem begins when there are more motorbikes in the city than I would guess than in Ireland! Then you have the cyclists, pedestrians, cars, cyclos (adult prams). Walking along the tiny side streets it’s just constant beeps, quick thinking manoeuvres and extreme caution by pedestrians. You never really know what the driver or cyclist will do.

Our Boat

 The other problem is that everyone has their own slight interpretation of the rules. You will often meet a motorcyclist coming the wrong way up a motorway or a car doing a U turn in a place where there are hundreds of other vehicles whizzing by. Of course you also have the veg stall ladies who can be found in the central divide of a motorway attempting to cross – these ladies are on foot pushing heavy loads. Its madness really. The other funny sight has to be when the motorcyclists are laden down with box after box of bottles or eggs, every so often a box will slip from their knee and it’s more important to attempt a save rather than focus on steering – that is if the steering is not affected by the placement of one of these boxes between your thighs and the handlebars. This is all fun until someone gets hurt….. We did have a couple of near misses on one taxi ride. Our taxi driver realised at a crossroad he couldn’t got straight ahead so he decided to reverse a bit to turn right. The crunching sound ensued, we looked back to seem him on top of a motorcyclist. Unlike Ireland the motorcyclist didn’t say anything and just drove away!!!

Nice Cabin

After this we were going through a pretty major junction and cool as a cucumber John gets a bit flustered, I look directly to my left to see a big car flying towards me, luckily he stopped just in time. Let’s just say negotiating this traffic is pretty hair raising no matter where you are in the rankings!

Our hostel/hotel in Hanoi was pretty amazing, the staff there couldn’t have been kinder and helped us book our train tickets to China and book our trip to Halong Bay. When we arrived they gave us a yummy welcome drink and introduced us to the tours they had on offer. I hadn’t really researched the Halong Bay thing too much apart from a bit of Lonely Planet reading so when they produced these books with stunning boats that looked like luxury hotels I was pretty sure that they pegged us wrong and I was dreading the walk down the street to a ticket agency to book an oul backpacker boat with rickety beds. The prices actually were reasonable for what was included (if on the slightly pricy side) so we splurged a wee bit and booked a two night, three day tour on the A Class Cruise.

Dinning Room

We had to hang around Hanoi for one day before heading because of the weather so we took a walk around and saw some of the sights (a lake that has very old turtles that are rarely seen, a temple, statues, people watching, oh and I got my hair done which I will not talk about).

We headed off early the next morning at about 8.30am. We were on a pretty small bus and as we were nearly the last to be picked up got pretty crappy seats, poor John was squashed for 4 hours over a wheel arch but we were told that we were upgraded to the 4 star cruise, A Class Opera (it transpired as we chatted to others, so were most people, don’t really know what this was about).

Most of the group were on a one night trip with just 6 of us on the two nights. It was all go from the start when we landed on the boat. We had a welcome drink, checked into our pretty amazing rooms (it was hard to believe we were on a boat, apart from the gorgeous views) then we had a scrummy lunch.

Upper Deck

After lunch we headed to a massive cave that consisted of three separate chambers, each one larger than the last. It was really big with interesting rock formations, particularly the ceiling which was shaped like waves because the water level used to meet the top of the cave. The only problem with it was that it was so touristy. There were so many boats in the bay, the queues were right to the bottom of the steps up to it. They also had lights everywhere, green, purple, yellow, red and I’m not sure still if this was a bit too artificial. There was a lovely view of the bay from the top entrance/exit though.

After our visit to the cave we headed to an island that had a beach and steps to climb to the top. After a quick jaunt up, red-faced Ciara emerged to a wondrous view. It was just stunning. The limestone islands with turquoise waters, gorgeous junk boats. To the right side of the island the sun was setting, the reflection against the water, breath-taking (it wasn’t just all those steps :D)

Sea Vendors

John decided to go for a swim after we got back down and I took a walk and took some photos of the sunset. It was really entrancing here and I was excited about the night on a boat ahead of us!

In the evening the group made Vietnamese spring rolls (spring rolls are a big thing here). It wasn’t too difficult cos basically they had the mix of pork veg, herbs and seasoning all ready. We really only had to roll the mix up in rice paper but it was fun anyway and actually a bit more difficult than I thought. I dunno if my technique was bad or I was using too much mix but I kept getting holes when I started rolling. We all had a complimentary glass of wine then ate our spring rolls. This was swiftly followed by dinner. The food is amazing on the boat and the sheer amount of the food is overwhelming. You think they couldn’t possibly bring out more and out pops another seafood plate, rice or pork. Yummy!

Panorama of Halong Bay

The only thing we had to pay for on the boat were the beverages. Of course these were overpriced to say the least. Earlier in the day I managed to bag some cheap beers from a sea vendor (yes, it’s a bit crazy). There are ladies who row around the bays with beers, spirits, chocolate, biscuits, and fruit. When they get to the boat they deliver your goods in fishing net in exchange for your cash! Hilarious cos when I bought them I thought I wasn’t allowed to so was panicking and tried to rush, turns out lots of people bought stuff but the rule was you could only drink it in your room.....

Halong Bay Boats

After dinner the men wanted to try jigging for shrimp at the back of the boat. I really hope that the boat has a candid camera for this each evening. Basically the lads were holding bamboo sticks with plastic bait, bobbing it up and down in the water with a large lamp shining on the water. It took them a bit longer than I anticipated to realise this was a no goer…. It was hilarious though, them fishing for shrimp in water that every so often got topped up with suds from the kitchen! John managed to catch a weird caterpillar thing and the tiniest fish ever with a net. After our jigging we played Rummy at the bar.

Night time on the boat is amazing from the top deck. The views around you, the serenity of the bay is something I will never forget and it was romantic to just stand and look around, in silence. As I write this I still feel the tranquillity. One of my favourites!

Next morning we were up for breakfast for 7.30am (some people got up for Tai Chi at 6!). After breakfast, we said goodbye to some lovely people we met who were going back and our group of 6 headed off on day 2! The other four who joined us were Rob and Lisa from Reading, England, who have been travelling for over a year around the world (lucky lucky). I’m so impressed I have to let you now that they cycled from the east to the west coast of America in 8 weeks! The other two ladies were Tia and Kung who are English but are of Vietnamese origin and are travelling for 3 months.

Our first stop today was an oyster farm. We presumed that this was a place that farmed oysters for food but their main focus is actually artificial formation of pearls. It was very interesting to see the process.

Squid fishing!

A piece of oyster tissue is implanted into the oyster along with a ball made of shell. They are left to form for 18 months and removed from the water with only 30 % being successful. Very interesting indeed.

After this, we had an early lunch, again with way too much food, and went kayaking around the limestone islands, through caves. It was fab and a lot quieter than the previous day with fewer tourists. The caves were fun to kayak through cos the ceilings were low and there were rocks in awkward positions. John and I practiced our joint effort of rowing and it is much better than the first time we ever sea kayaked (John was the weakest link then may I add).

I suppose the thing that was really evident when we were kayaking was the oil slick and layer of unnatural dirt on the surface of the water in parts. We did notice this a bit yesterday too but it wasn’t long before we were all talking about this. It would be real shame to see this beautiful wonder that is the 3000 or so islands ruined by the constant boating traffic, tourists and/or locals littering the waters. As Halong Bay is also a UNESCO protected site, I wonder have they got a plan for it?

Caves

Next we headed to a quieter bay, cruising along for a few hours. The views were uninterrupted by the dozens of tourists boats that we saw the day before making us glad that we decided to stay the extra day to have more time to explore the further afield parts of the bays. I have to say as well as admiring the great views I cannot thank Rob enough for all tips he gave me for photography all over the three days. All I have to do now is practice…….

We landed at another island in the afternoon and climbed to the top for another spectacular view. It just never ends here. After this we headed to the beach and played some very dodgy volleyball. It was fun but I knew I was the weakest link (damn sports). I wouldn’t say the 6 of us will ever make any sort of career from our skills though. As we were playing a large boat pulled up and it was weird – a party boat. Next thing we know the tunes are blaring and a large group of Polish/Russian people land on the beach. I’m all for partying, as you all know, but it really didn’t feel right here…..

Kayacking

When we returned to the the boat in the evening, a new group had arrived. We all got changed, the boys bought some beers from the sea vendors and we sat on the top deck, all scrubbed up chatting about this, that and photography! We all agreed that the day lived up to expectations. We sneakily drank the beers that the boys bought (we bought the same as on sale in the bar this time), stole some spring rolls and wine from the other group followed by the most amazing dinner yet.

After dinner we were enjoying the serene bay when you will never guess – the party boat pulled up and blared music for the remainder of the night. I felt for some of the people on the boat for one night now, we had the pleasure of experiencing the bay as it should be the night before but tonight it was interrupted by cheesy 80s music, some polish rock songs and the like. Sad that it is allowed actually.

Halong Bay Sunset

To be honest it didn’t stop us and we all had plenty to drink and had a lovely last evening. (There was a bit of a rat spotting by Lisa, Kung and I around the bar area. We had good fun with the barmen about it, who called it their friend).

Our final day arrived and we visited a fishing village in the morning. The village is in a protected bay and all the buildings are floating. There is a school, lots of houses, a bank, and shop. I thought I lived in a remote place but boy this was rural! We had a lovely row boat tour of the bay. Again this is where the tourists flocked in their droves but it was interesting to see. There were large concrete boats in the bay, we were told that these go to the mainland every so often and collect water and store it for the village, very interesting. Some of the kids around the village were very cute and I couldn’t resist taking photos. I was also pretty chuffed with one in particular, I think Robs tips may be rubbing off already!

Floating Village Child

We headed back to Hanoi by (stuffed) bus, arriving around 5.30pm. Tia and Kung had kindly offered to show us some real Vietnamese street stall food (something that we kind of shied away from here cos we didn’t know what to order), so we all met at 7.30pm. They had found this lovely place and we had something similar to dim sum, meatloaf and a lovely sauce that you could season to your like. Along with beers of course! The street stalls here are short little tables and stools where you can sit, on the edge of the footpath, it was a great experience and the girls really went to such effort to help us have the real Vietnamese experience. They had to leave for a train but Rob, Lisa, John and I went for another beer (and picked up a straggler) before saying our goodbyes!

The next morning we were up early to check out of our hotel and then we headed for the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (who was the president and prime minister of Vietnam, he died in 1969). When we got there we couldn’t believe the queues. They went on and on.

Vietnamese Street Food

 There were no bags or cameras allowed in here. When we finally got to the building we both remarked that it is nearly like going to a wake. Everyone was really quiet, in a line, the guards look solemn. The room itself where he lays on show through a glass coffin evokes an automatic response of stillness and respect. The line files quickly past. I had read in the lonely planet that some people joke that Madame Tussauds have a contract for the 3 month holiday that his remains takes to Russia each year for upkeep. It is hard to tell really but again something I need to read up on. Can a dead body stay in such condition from 1969? (I probably should know this but need to research how etc.!).

Our time to leave South East Asia has arrived; we are off on another sleeper train to Nanning in China. What wonderful experiences we have had here, plenty of memories made :D

Cupla Nomad

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