The final days of Vietnam...

Awaiting the worst storm to hit Hoi An in 30 years we sat on the balcony of our hotel with some of the other hotel guests. With rations of baguettes, cheese and crisps and a few beverages waiting for the storm to hit. With only a drizzle of rain we eventually got tired and went to bed. We were very lucky in that the typhoon changed direction and headed north instead so a good nights sleep was had by all. Much to the relief to all having seen what happened in the Philippines. It did mean we had to spend an extra night as all the buses where cancelled that day. We did eventually get away from Hoi An though before Susi bought half the shops!

Our next stop was Hue where our plan was to visit Phong Na National Park. In particular the huge cave network they have there. We arrived in Hue and got off the bus to be accosted by hotel touts yet again thrusting leaflets in our faces. Being tired and hungry we took our chances and did look at one of them, Hoa Binh 3 Hotel (Smile Travel) which was great.  We did a bit of walking around that afternoon and tried to find out about the caves from some of the travel agents. None of which told us that the cave was actually closed the day we wanted to go! Good job Susi was on the ball. Hue did have some interesting points like the really cool market near the citadel where we bought a few more bargains. The citadel itself was nice and surrounded by moats and gardens however it was in need of some renovations. Our best purchases in Hue had to be a KitKat Chunky and a Chinese Chess travel set. Chinese Chess has similarities to normal chess but identifying which piece is which is described by a Chinese symbols - it is not easy!  A new challenge for us both and hopefully we will be playing with the locals in no time!

Susi was full of the Vietnamese cold and sot our evenings were spent eating Indian food and sitting in our room mastering Chinese Chess.  Our learning strategies were slightly different Susi associating the symbols to random objects and Lee trying to memorise the symbols.  Only to find out the symbols were slightly differently for each player! After a good few hours of practicing the competition is under way but far away from the street corners with the pro’s.

All raring after a couple of relaxing days we started on our trip up to the caves. Having missed out on the caves in Laos, Lee was getting quite excited about getting to see them and the reviews were awesome. 

We got a little boat ride up to the cave where the boat goes through the mouth of the cave into darkness. This was really cool. The boat docked up just inside and we got off for a wander around the cave system. Unfortunately the typhoon meant the caves where still flooded (although we were told this was not the case anymore when we booked!). We where supposed to go 2km into the cave but we where only in there for 15 minutes as the rest was apparently too dangerous! We where both very disappointed, Susi raging  about being miss-sold this tour. If they had only just told us that before we set off it would have been acceptable and we would have negotiated a better price for what we got. Anyway.

Instead of the return to Hue they dumped us off in Dong Hoi for a 6 hour wait on our sleeper bus to Hanoi.  As it turned out though this was quite a nice place to walk around with a nice riverside and harbor. We had a bite to eat in a place where not one person spoke a word of English. (Point at the menu time!) With just a few hours left we headed to our pickup point the camel café. We met the owner who in broken English told us he was deported from the UK not long before. If that wasn’t interesting enough, he got his deportation papers out for us to read! He used to live in Hackney, London. Arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry, got caught cultivating a cannabis farm in London and spent a period of time at her majesty’s pleasure whilst waiting to be deported. He found this very amusing. Even better he thinks the UK is a fantastic place and wants to go back!!! Saying goodbye to our new little friend we got on our bus and headed to Hanoi on another 14-hour bus journey really looking forward to our final activities in Vietnam, Ha Long Bay and Sa Pa.

We normally don’t book online but on recommendation on arriving to Hanoi we booked the Golden Spring Hotel in the Old Quarter in Hanoi.  Booking on line meant we got a 3 star hotel for $12 a night with a free ‘all you can eat’ breakfast instead of $25.  Susi was surprised to find a hair dryer for the first time in 3 months, free water and ‘Andrex’ quality toilet roll! We quite like the buzz of Hanoi even after only a couple of hours wandering around the city. We found the lake in the old quarter, some more market stalls and shops and the travel agency recommended by a couple of English girls we met a few times. DAO’s Travel agency is ran by a young American guy and his Vietnamese wife who were very helpful. They explained everything and talked us through our options with the time we had left. Very pleased with ourselves we negotiated a fair price and meant we would be able to do both activities.

Our Ha Long Bay tour was a 3 day, 2 night trip. We would have 1 night stay in a boat and 1 night stay on Monkey Island (Contrary to what a lot of travel agents said it was open!) We got picked up early in the morning leaving our big rucksacks in the travel agency and got a 3 hour bus ride to the port to get on our boat. We got on the bus with 9 other people and it didn’t take long for us all to get chatting. It was like the slow boat in Laos all over again!

The boat was a lot nicer that we were expecting and as the only couple we were given the suite with a balcony, however this turned into a nightmare!  The first day was discovering more caves, visiting a floating village and kayaking around the some of the 6933? Islands and jumping of the boat for a swim before dinner.  Booze was expensive on the boat but as the sun set, rowing boats with cheap booze appeared knocking at our boat “you want to buy something?” and  were delivered by the use of a fishing net.  Before breakfast we were jumping off the boat again for that morning dip in the brilliance of Halong Bay.  Our first ‘horrid’ travelling experience came to reality and after breakfast as we were packing we realized that Lee’s phone and kindle had been stolen. ‘Bast**ds’  It had to be those balcony doors that the staff had gone through as they wouldn’t lock properly.  It had to be said that we were both very p*ssed off but we put it behind us as it could have been worse and we had a fantastic day ahead. (I think they must of thought the kindle was a mini ipad, unlucky!).

Monkey Island Resort...

Next stop, a bus through Cat Ba national park to Monkey island. A small, quiet resort with beach bungalows, a few vicious monkeys and free kayaking.

We decided with a few others to go kayaking for the day which was amazing and it got quite exciting as the waves started to get bigger and bigger. We found some cool caves to paddle though too.

Evening was spent with the group having beers, exchanging tips, sampling the local vodka, playing killer and ending in a midnight swim - as you do. (Enjoy the rest of your travels all...)

Next day was spent travelling by boat back to the port for our bus back to the city.  It was a fantastic 3 day trip with unbelievable scenery, some new friends and at long last we got exactly what we paid for.  Pity about the phone and kindle though.  Lee is now planning his next ‘entertainment system’ purchase in Kuala Kumpur. I am jealous!

If you look closely you can just about see the scenery...

Straight off the bus in Hanoi, we grabbed a couple of kebabs and we were on our next sleeper bus.  This time to the mountains of Sa Pa for a bit of trekking in the rice paddies. Again a 12 hour bus journey turned into 16 hours though we slept well and Susi experienced the first of many communal female toilet facilities that are in the Sa Pa region!  Arriving in our shorts and vests we quickly wrapped up warm as it was cold and wet.  First time since Killi we had put our fleeces and boots on.  We met our new group and it was straight out onto our trek.  Sa Pa town itself is very Swiss ski resort-ish with lots of cafes selling hot wine, outside seating with fluffy blankets to put round you and fake north face shops (guilty Susi bought a new waterproof jacket – well I hope it is!)  
The trek was through the rice paddies, passing little villages showing us how they us marijuana to make bags, dying clothes with the growing indigo plant and of course being approached by the local tribes “you buy something?”  The terrain was so muddy and slippery due to the amount of rain, but the local tribe where there to help you for a small fee at the end of course!

Look at the amazing view!!!

Part of the package was with a homestay which turned out to be a barn in one of the local villages were everyone had a mattress on the floor to sleep on.  Sitting around a big table, we had some local cuisine, sampled some rice wine and played a few games.  We had Malaysians, Kiwis, Ozzies, Germans and Spanish with us – great fun was had by all!

After a mammoth pancake breakfast off we headed for another slippery day – pretty stiff from the day before.  The weather was pretty rubbish and we didn’t have full visibility of the iconic rice fields you see in the books but you still see and feel the beauty of the landscape.  Back to Sa Pa town we had a quick dinner and it was time to head back to the Hanoi on the sleeper bus for the last couple of days in Vietnam.

Good fun was had by all, good luck guys...

We checked into Lucky Guest house 2 in the Old Quarter for the last 2 nights which we would recommend, it free breakfasts too! Do not book your trips through them – like all hotels they rip you off!  We spent the last couple of days, walking through the markets, enjoying the last of cheap beer for a while and enjoying the street food of Vietnam which along with the Vietnamese coffee we will both thoroughly miss. 

Vietnam has been an amazing adventure of crazy scooters, the most amazing scenery we have seen so far, fantastic food and the cheapest beer in the world?. We have had our run-ins with the rudeness of some of the locals but not enough to put us off this brilliant country. Early morning taxi to the airport and Malaysia awaits us!! First stop KL.  Happy days!