Hanoi to Huế

Back in Hanoi we enjoyed hot showers and plenty of Vietnamese coffee to warm up, although unfortunately it was still raining of course. We went to visit Ho Chi Minh in his embalmed state which was a strange experience - queuing for about an hour then being rushed through to see him lying there. It was very interesting, although I later read that he actually wanted to be cremated so he'd probably be horrified to see all these visitors!

Later we watched a water puppet show which was surprisingly entertaining, particularly the live traditional Vietnamese music being performed at the side of the stage. 

That night we headed to the train station to travel down further South to Huế, and hopefully warmer weather. We travelled first class (of course) so there were just the 4 of us in a sleeper cabin. It was pretty noisy and rickety but good fun overall. We watched a film on Shaun's laptop to pass the time, at which point we had a mouse come and join us, followed by a long sleepless night for me and Gail (most of you will know that if the train had de-railed Shaun and Mum would sleep through it). 13 hours later we arrived in Huế and thankfully it was warm and sunny! Famous for being the birthplace of poets and artists (not sure if that's still the case now), the quiet and friendly town made a nice change. We visited the Citadel and its various historical buildings, and wondered the backstreets across the river. Really enjoying the food, and I'm even starting to get a taste for the local beer! 

Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay is about 3 hours away from Hanoi. We got a minibus there, then got on our boat at the port. Could not believe how cold it was! Feels a bit like England. We have nice little cabins on the boat, and all meals included. It was just such a shame the weather was so awful, because I can imagine it would be absolutely incredible to see this place in the sun instead of murky and damp drizzly weather. I am used to that now anyway, so got on with it and enjoyed it.

The caves were brilliant - all the stalagmites and stalactites just fascinating and the whole thing was just huge. Rather than explaining the science behind the creation of the interesting rock formations, our guide chose to tell us which animal each rock looked like, but that was fine.

Next we went up a small mountain/hill where there's a nice view over the bay, followed by a slippery walk back down.

Once back aboard the boat there was the option to go kayaking which I had initially wanted to do, but by this point it was rainy and cold and one look at the wet kyak with a big puddle of water in the seat made the decision to stay on the boat and try to warm up pretty easy. Dinner was great - lots of fresh prawns and squid (they do squid fishing off the boat at night). There was a bit of a storm at night, and just the night before they had to move everyone into hotels because the weather was so bad, but luckily it wasn't too bad for us. The only problem was Shaun and Gail had to move rooms at about 3am because they had water pouring through their smoke detector. 

Breakfast was dire, then we had a look around a pearl farm which was interesting. The morning was spent making our way back to the port and having lunch at 10:30am...The weather was getting even worse when we got back, so we were glad to head back to Hanoi where we hoped to get warm and dry.

London to Hanoi

Gatwick airport: sat aboard Vietnam Airlines flight due to take off at 12pm. Nobody voicing their concern about the possibility of vanishing en route but everybody thinking it. At 12pm all flight attendants disappear, and incredibly loud noises are coming from the engines. It's also very hot on the plane which was highly unusual. Despite all the noise and delayed departure we were not told anything by anybody, and at 12:20 the plane just went and took off. Gathered it was all ok then! Flight was perfectly good, and due some problem there was no tea or coffee, so as compensation they offered unlimited wine which was fine with most passengers! (the ladies behind us took full advantage and got quite silly). We landed in Ho Chi Minh City the next morning and went straight to the domestic airport to get the 2 hour flight to Hanoi where we were due to meet Shaun and Gail. We boarded what looked like exactly the same plane that we'd just flown in on, and then landed in Hanoi. My friend Josh lives in Hanoi so he had booked a guesthouse for the 4 of us in the city's old quarter, and that's where we met up with Shaun and Gail. They're both looking well - tanned, slim and more blonde! The weather is quite rubbish, very grey and humid.  That evening we went for a look around, learning how to cross the roads (which Shaun and Gail have become very good at - it basically involves walking into the mental road full of motorbikes and a few cars and holding up your hand in the "stop" signal and amazingly it works so far!). Later on we met up with my friend Josh who took us out for the famous food of Hanoi called Pho, only when we got to the place it was shut down, so we had some other noodle soup which was delicious.