Good Morning Vietnam

We set off to catch our first train from Guangzhou-Nanning (both China). It was an ordeal and hectic as per usual. Stupid China Trains only sent Mike's ticket and after many of rude emails they sent me, they told me to pay for a new ticket at Guangzhou station and get a refund in Nanning. We endured a long taxi ride and two tubes to get to the manic station that was PACKED. It was a huge place and we got lost in a maze of tourist tat shops (not even the kind I love) as the signs to the ticket office kept sending us in different directions along these narrow indoor alleyways- we then realised this was a clever con and I went to the station master to ask where to go. We were sent to another building where there were about 30 different kiosks- all with reall long lines. Not knowing which one to go to we queued in the one with the least amount of people. It was still a form of torture as no one had an idea about personal space and etiquette- people kept puching, coughing in my face and hocking up phlegm balls, never mind the shouting down my ear whilst talking on their mobiles. I finally got to the front and they couldn't locate my details, they made me stand to one side. They then sent me to another queue, and then that sent me back to the original one, all the whilst time ticking away till our train left. Eventually I got my ticket and ventured back to the main building, went through security again and got onto our sleeper train. The China sleeper trains are a lot better than the Indian ones and we were quie happy- apart from the business man sleeping underneath me needed his throat slitting due to his immense snoring. We arrived in Nanning 13 1/2 hours later and I went through the same queue swapping process to gtmy refund before heading to a hotel we booked for 9 hurs until our next train to Hanoi. The Hanoi train took 12 hours and was fine apart from we were sharing with an annoying Chinese couple. When we arrived we got ripped off by a taxi driver who wanted 200,000 dong (about £6.50) for a short journey but it was 5am and we just wanted to get to our hostel.
We arrive at our hostel and trundled our cases up 105 stairs- yes I counted; much to my annoyance I found out later that they offer to carry most peoples luggage- I had already got a blood blister in my finger from carrying my own at this point. The nex day we went off for lunch in Hanoi and it is a really nice city. The traffic id bizzare- thousands of scooters whizzing by with no road crossing system- you just have to walk out into the traffic and pray for the best- like you do in most of Asia. The weather was really hot but not sun tanning weather. We had a look around and got our bearing and went out for a vietnamese curry- which was delicious!! We headed to the night market, followed by quite a few drinks and a noodle pot on the way home. The next day we got up and headed out to Hoa Lo Prison. A prison that held prisoners of war. The history was amazing- yet really sad. Such an interesting place to go. The way the French treated the Vietnamese was disgusting- completely different to how the American POW's were kept; American presedential candidate John McCain was held captive in the prison for a stretch. After the prison we headed to St Joseph's Cathedral which was quite gothic. Although it was pretty, it was unfortunately closed so we couldn't get inside.

Hoam Kiem Lake (Hanoi)

St Joseph's Cathedral

We had a spot of lunch and contined to walk around the lake. We chilled that evening and just went out for dinner to a nice resturant called 'Green Mango' which served delicious food but their watercress soup will never beat my mum's. It was just as we were finishing dinner that the heavens decided to open and cast down a seriously heavy bout of rain. With no signs of it stopping or getting lighter we decided to make a run for it. We arrivd back at the hotel soaked through to the bone!

The next morning we got up early to be taken to Halong Bay. I was so excited about this and judging by what I have seen so far- had every right to be. It was a four hour journey to the harbour where our boat awaited us. It was a really cool boat with an upper deck with sun loungers (minus the sun) and Mike and I were lucky enough to have a double room with our own balcony although it wasn't a big boat. We got chatting to some fellow travellers who all seem really nice as we set sail towards the Thieng Cung caves. The caves were fantastic but we had only just been to some very similar in Xi'an (China) so the novelty to us wasn't quite as great as it was to others- it was still cool though.

Cave

Legend has it a monkey showed a lost fisherman this exit from the cave.

After the caves we headed to a floating fishing village which was a superb sight. We explored by kayaks around the village and around the mountain islands. Mike mainly took charge of the rowing as he said I was rubbish. We went through passageways trough the rocks of mountains to hidden pools of water which were so quiet and relaxing- it was truly an amazing experience with views i'll never forget.

 

 

 

 

After this amazing experience we headed back to our boat where we spent the night. We had to get up today at 8am for breakfast before we set off to our mountain hike. I have to be honest with you...I didn't complete it. I attempted it but it was just steep stairs and rock climbing, I gave it a good go until a mixture of my asthma and unfit state won, sending me and some others back down the mountain. Mike continued it right to the top- the trooper. We are now in or sea view bach ht on Monkey Island with beautiful views, a lovely small private beach and warm weather .

Our view from our room