20 June: Tuesday
Up and away early to catch 6am train to Narita Airport… a
very efficient method of getting to the airport.
Checked in for our flight at the counter… staff required to
sight plans that we intended to leave Vietnam again… lucky I have got Noel and
his phone.
Vietnam Air flight left at 10am, probably around ½ full but
we were in a seat row of 3 including someone beside us. Couple of movies
watched to fill in the time.
Flying into Hanoi the area looks quite industrial and lots
of new housing developments (multi-storied). Its 35C… so HOT!
No questions while getting through immigration, waved
through Customs, however huge queues so still took a bit of time.
We had an arranged airport pickup which was just as well as
there didn’t seem to be many buses about. Outside the terminal was chaotic…
cars (left hand drive) and horns and whistles. Antony met us inside the
terminal then phoned a driver who took 20 minutes to appear! Antony could speak
quite good English so chatted all the way into Hanoi (45 mins-1 hour),
pre-Covid he was a bike guide himself so was very interested in what we have
planned.
The roads are chaos!!! Scooters everywhere!! Some with 2 or
3 people, little kids, big loads of stuff, people on their phones. Once we got
off the main road and into the "Old Town" streets… the chaos increased!!
Scooters, cars, vans all vying for the same small road space….the side walks
jammed with parked scooters.
Dropped off at our hotel which is quite nice.. opulent in
its day I’d say but looking dated now. A huge bed… a bit different to Japan. A cuppa to recover then
out onto the streets… firstly to find some cash.. we withdrew 3 million dong,
which is equivalent to around $220 NZ, so not a massive amount but it sounds
impressive!
Went for a walk around the lake which is very close to where
we are staying. Approached by a few rickshaw drivers but everyone is quite
chilled when we declined. At the shrine gates we crossed over to the shops,
lots of shops of bags (branded) and shorts, suits, dress, shoe shops.
Finding walking a bit hot so when we found a small open to
the street bar with a nice vibe we stopped for a beer. Joined by a chap from
the UK, although now a resident of Thailand. Finding ourselves quite
comfortable after one beer what does one do… order another along with a meal to
go with it. The meal wasn’t cooked on-site, the bar manager just phoned it
through and later it arrived hot and well wrapped…. Yum.
It started raining, we didn’t bring a jacket… then pouring
with thunder and lightening, a huge storm. The street we were on must have a
blocked drain as just too much rain for it to handle. The water backed up
enough to be stopping vehicles going through, the level rose to about ankle
deep at our bar. Lots of locals out taking photo’s so it was definitely a bit
unusual.
Storm subsided after about an hour so we took our chance to
walk home. Noel had to double back to retrieve phone left behind (staff
standing looking at it trying to work out what to do, so they were as equally
pleased!). Made it back without getting too wet, although woken up around
12.30am with another huge storm passing.
City is chaotic compared to Japan… tooting and vehicles
everywhere… scary just crossing the road.
21 June: Wednesday
Ready to leave by 8am after a yummy breakfast which included
fresh fruit, at last, yum!
A limousine van picked us up then another 2 lots of USA
couples, and 3 workers, and we drove to Ha Long Bay. The drive passed vast acres
of new apartments. Stopped for a coffee and toilet at one stage… there was a
pearl display shop there… pearls obviously grown in the area… the shop was a
well oiled operation with a huge number of vans pulling in. We were given neck
tags with our vans registration and given half an hour… so we didn’t get
mis-mothered! Didn’t buy pearls but interesting to look at process and finished
product.
Arrived at Ha Long Bay boat terminals, once again after driving by
blocks and blocks of apartments and hotels that are sitting unfinished.. Covid
effect maybe?
After waiting a bit we were shepherded onto a smallish boat
and motored our way out to the “mother ship” where we were served lunch as we
cruised to another area of the bays… with a lot of other boats doing the same.
A very yummy lunch, lots of fresh fruit and vege.
Afternoon activities included kayaking around an island
(with lots of other kayaks) and a quick lifejacketed swim. The up anchor again
and onto a different spot. Sundowners and nibbles on the top deck along with a
quick cooking lesson/demonstration… spring rolls and then onto dinner… yum!
Sitting on the deck tonight we could see a huge lightening storm, in the
distance, in one direction. (wondering if Hanoi is getting flooded again?)
Quite tired this evening, it is obvious that it is tough
doing not so much!!
Amazing food on board, and lots of it. Tonight there was 2
birthday’s and a wedding anniversary among the passengers so the staff all line
up to dance and sing around the restaurant with drinks and cakes.
Not sure how clean the water is for swimming.. there’s a few
diesel fumes about…
22 June: Thursday
Slept quite well on our boat, woke early so it up to the top
deck for Tai Chi at 6am, then breakfast ready by 8am for a day trip to Cat Ba..
an island on the edge of Ha Long Bay.
Took about 2 hours to get there… a very sleepy ride… then
transferred from out boat this morning to another smaller vessel to do the
trip… so we were 3 different cruise boats combined into one passenger vessel.
On arrival at the island we biked (they said 5km but a bit doubtful) on creaky
old bikes to a village, apparently an epicentre during the Vietnam wars. Walked
up and down the street, most locals selling snacks, clothing and tat. A lot of
short legged Alsatian looking dogs wandering around.
Also a pool where the fish eat your dead skin off your feet…
a very weird sensation, a bit like mini electric shocks but did get used to it
so should have lovely soft feet this evening!?!
Back to the boat for lunch.. we opted for an electric
shuttle vs bikes as too hard on old bikes… might not bode well for what’s
ahead! A lovely lunch before a short kayak where we actually beached for a few
minutes. The sea is tepid and maybe cleaner than yesterday’s but with all the
tourist boats, fishing boats and fishermen’s floating houses I’m not sure how
pure the water will be….
Ha Long Bay is a World Heritage site, awarded 1994, and
pre-covid in 2019 it had 14 million tourists visit!
Just dozed on way back to mother ship. The mass tourism
doesn’t sit well with the environment but it is dwarfed by the size and beauty
of the area, and appears to be managed reasonably well. At one point we passed
a government building on the water… they monitor the kayak activities regularly
and regulate accordingly as well as collecting rubbish from the floating
houses.
There is a huge number of people living off the tourism
operations.. even I guess the ladies in the row boats circling the larger boats
in the hope of a sale of their drinks, snacks etc (cheaper than on board
apparently). A huge industry, just don’t ask where the waste water/effluent
goes!
A lovely dinner again.. 2 entrees/2 mains/1 dessert and then
off to bed. We leave 7.30am tomorrow for a caving expedition…
The cruise life isn’t really for us… eating, drinking,
relaxing, sleeping, repeat but it’s been nice to experience it for a couple of
days.
23 June: Friday
After our Tai Chi lessons and breakfast at 7.30 we boarded a
shuttle boat for Dau Go island, the same island as yesterday but must be on the
other side of it. It’s a 5 minute boat transfer then a 15 minute bus ride to
Thien Cung grotto. This is a large cave believed to be formed 700,000 years
ago. Everyone filed through the caves in one direction and it was artificially
lit so no need for torches etc. Then back by bus and boat by 9am.
Final departure from the mother ship to be transported back
to Ha Long harbour… a mass of transfer boats all coming in at once!! We then
had a shuttle waiting for us and 5 others to take us back to Hanoi… a dozy type
of trip, its very hard to stay awake in the van.
After we left the mother ship the staff subsequently found a
bag left by a guest.. instead of turning around to retrieve it a fast boat
caught up with us and without slowing down the transfer was made, almost James
Bond in it’s smoothness and speed!
Back to the noise and chaos of Hanoi, a new hotel for us as
we are booked in a different one (hotel used by Intrepid tours) but still in
“old town”.
Once we had a reviving cuppa we walked back towards our
other hotel location in search of a new pair of jandals for Noel… his others
broke yesterday. A long search, the shops sell similar wares in blocks so that
there are hardware sections, making steel crate sections, kitchen utensils
sections, clothes sections!! Jandal’s were a bit elusive but finally found some
that are just big enough.
Heading back to our hotel we found a restaurant just along
the street from hotel (there is also a KFC right beside us… but not for us!!).
The one we chose had a street sign in English, but the staff were somewhat
surprised to see us.
The streets are a seething mass of scooters and cars..
surprisingly some quite nice cars, Bentleys, Porsches etc.. and the sidewalks
are all jammed up with parked scooters so you have to walk on the road.. and
the constant tooting!!
Another thunder storm this evening.
24 June: Saturday… it’s raining…
A bit of a sleep in, first one for the holiday… not much of
a sleep in, still had breakfast around 8am. After sorting some washing to go to
a laundry we went for a walk to Ho Tay Lake which is quite close to the hotel.
It looks so lovely and serene.. then you notice the dead fish floating in it,
although this doesn’t stop fishing folk!
We walked around the edge and crossed the road (with much
skill and determination) to Chua Tran Quoc, a pagoda and temple. People were
leaving offerings of gold fish (live) in plastic bags, although we are not sure
how long they stay alive for.
Then wandered back to the hotel via a meat market.. vendors
chopping pieces off carcasses as they were ordered.
Met at hotel by Antony (same guide that picked us up at the
airport the other day) and his driver then picked us all up for a pre-arranged
“foodie tour”. First stop was Pho Cuon.. spring roll beef pho at one place and
then onto Bun Cha Hurong Lien where Obama, and Antony Bourdain, famously ate..
it was a noodle broth with a beer. Followed by a walk through some fruit/vege
sidewalk markets to end up having egg coffee at another, very popular, place.
Antony then left us to make our own way back which we were happy to do.. on the
way seeing a couple of dog meat stalls! (not meat for dogs... but dog meat!!)
The popular stops/restaurants must employ security guards or
someone’s grandfather to monitor the sidewalk scooter parking outside their
place and restrict it to patrons only.
As a side note, during the Ha Long cruise we had made spring rolls following a
demonstration: made with rice paper moistened on a towel, then carrot, pepper,
cooked meat, cooked egg etc to roll inside. The second time we used pork mince
and the rolls were fried in oil (or maybe boiled first??).
6pm and time for the Intrepid group meeting:
