We LOVE Vietnam so far! It’s been so great, the people in this country are some of the friendliest I’ve ever met, the place has so much history and a mixture of cultures and there is so much to see and do.
We arrived in Hanoi very late and planned to get our visa on arrival. Vietnam visas are a bit strange in that in order to get it on arrival you have to pay an agent to write you a letter from Vietnam confirming you’re ok to be let in. After sifting through the hundreds of companies online we found the cheapest and got it no problem. We also filled out the application form in advance – we were arriving at 11pm so I wanted the whole process done as quickly possible. On all the forms it specifies very clearly that you need a 4x6cm photo – which we didn’t have. So I spent the whole 7 hour wait in Bangkok worrying that I wasn’t going to be let in because my stupid photo was the wrong size. So we turned up in Hanoi and they literally couldn’t care less so that saved any hassle. There were even 2 guys there with NO photo and after some persuading even they managed to get the visa easy! Haha pretty laid back to say the least. So after going through immigration we caught a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver insisted he knew where it was, of course he didn’t! After getting very lost and making lots of phone calls we finally made it. We crashed into bed pretty quickly after that!
The hotel we were staying in was really nice, proper fancy for us! And for about £6 each a night we couldn’t really complain. In the morning we booked a trip to Halong Bay for the next day which would be an overnight cruise on a boat to the world heritage site where there are about 3,000 separate rock formations/mountains coming out the sea and something like 400 different caves. But for our first day in Vietnam we generally just did some exploring and walked about 100 miles. Everyone talks about the roads in Vietnam, especially its capital Hanoi but you can never really explain it until you’ve experienced it! There are motorbikes just EVERYWHERE as well as cars, buses, rickshaws – everything! And they are just travelling constantly, no one has right of way and there are very few traffic lights and no crossings whatsoever. Because the traffic is relentless it means there are very few opportunities to cross a clear road. So you basically have to just walk and not stop! The bikes will drive by judging where they expect you to be on the road so you can never turn back or stop, you’re far more likely to get hit. It’s so scary at first but you can get more confident with it over time and we managed to survive! So we walked for some lunch then went around all the different side alleys and streets in the old quarter. Each street is named after what it sells and though you can’t read the road sign in Vietnamese you can easily tell by an entire street selling metal or underwear or toys or fabric which is kind of cool. We went to visit –prison, which is now a museum. It was really interesting to learn some of the history of Vietnam that I don’t really know a lot about. Vietnam was a French colony but has also been part of China and you can see throughout the country a lot of these influences (e.g. baguettes everywhere – it’s great!). The prison was run by the French during the occupation to hold the rebels and revolutionaries fighting for the independence of Vietnam. As you can expect, the conditions were horrendous and the torture was pretty bad. There were also American prisoners of war held here but in comparison they were treated like kings – proper beds, clothes, food, games, no torture! Many prisoners managed to escape out of the sewers and all sorts which was grim but the whole place showed the Vietnamese spirit despite the French.
After visiting the prison we walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the former president of Vietnam who led the revolution is buried. We didn’t stay here long because it was SO hot. We stood still for one photo and I felt like I was cooking. Like when you accidentally touch the hob and burn your hand? That kind of feeling all over! It was unbearable. We were so hot by this point we dragged ourselves back to the hotel where they told us the power was out and so the air conditioning wasn’t working. I though I might cry! I asked for our room key anyway and so we headed upstairs and I sat in the shower in the pitch black to try and cool myself down. Thankfully after only about 10 minutes the power came back on. We checked the forecast and though it said it had only been 37 degrees the “but feels like” said 45 – no wonder we were a bit warm! After cooling down and relaxing for a bit we went into town for some food where I had some really nice Vietnamese spring rolls before going to ‘beer street’. Here you sit outside bars on tiny little stools and drink beer for 45p. It’s ‘fresh’ so is delivered daily and only lasts 24 hours before being chucked out – for someone who doesn’t like beer it was actually pretty nice! We were heading back to the hotel when the hugest thunderstorm hit. We quickly ran under the awning of some garage or something and watched the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen. The wind was insane and the whole thing was relentless. A few Vietnamese girls pulled in next to us and hid with us before disappearing round a corner. Then a minute later one girl pops her head round and beckons us to her. We follow and they are all hiding out in a tiny tiny little alleyway with an old lady. They offer us a tiny stool and we all sit there cramped in this damp dark space but properly sheltered from the rain. They were so nice and friendly, they offered us dried squid, to which we both tried to refuse but after persisting we felt like we had to. It was disgusting, definitely not chewable. Ste managed to discreetly spit his out but all eyes were on my reaction so I had no such luck. We sat with them for about 45 minutes, chatting in broken English and watching the rain pour. It showed no signs of stopping and really our hotel was only a 2 minute run away so we left our lovely local ladies and made a run for it.
The next morning we were up really early for our trip to Halong Bay. It was about a 4 hour drive away on a minibus where we met the other travellers on the same trip and was introduced to our tour guide whose English was just a bit tricky to understand to say the least! Once we arrived we caught a small boat to where our main boat Lemoncruise was anchored up. As we stepped on the heavens opened and once again it absolutely poured. We were given lunch on the boat while we travelled to the actual Halong bay which was still about 2 hours away. The sound of the thunder was some of the loudest I think I’ve ever heard and watching the lightening hit the sea next to the boat was pretty scary! I was worried that this would mean we’d spend our whole trip sat on the boat but thankfully after a few hours it subsided. We visited Sung Sot Cave which was pretty impressive. It was discovered by some fisherman in 1901 and I can only imagine what they must have thought when they first saw it! You go through a small entrance into a small but very tall space where the limestone rock formations dangle in all different shapes and sizes before going through a narrow alleyway into a HUGE space – it was pretty cool. After the cave we got our smaller boat to a place where we could do some kayaking. Me and Steve were keen to have a go and jumped in the first one and went off around one of the mountains. The water was so warm (everyone else managed to get out the kayak bone dry apart from us 2) and it was really cool to get up close to the caves and see all the barnacles and purple crabs scuttling about. We were then taken to a beach where we could just chill or climb the 400 steps to the top of the mountain to get an impressive view of Halong Bay. We opted for the stairs (though it was definitely a struggle!) and then threw ourselves in the water after. Bit like Chiang Mai, it was like swimming in a bath. After a swim we went back to the main boat for some dinner and a chill.
The next day we were up early and out again to visit a Pearl Farm set up on a floating platform in the middle of nowhere in the bay. It was pretty interesting, watching them fish for the oysters and cleaning them before they can check if there is a pearl inside. Our group got to chose one ready for opening to see if there was one. We were lucky and picked one with one in so we were all pretty excited. The locals were not on our same level of enthusiasm haha. Apparently being not quite spherical and a bit dirty means it’s a bit crap and will be crushed up to put in women’s creams and deodorants. It’s also quite interesting because if an oyster doesn’t produce a pearl, they will take the tissue out of a flesh oyster and insert it in the other one with a bit of shell to help it produce one. We were here for about an hour before going back to our main boat where we had a cooking class. In this cooking class we learnt how to fill one spring roll with a mixture of pork and veg that the cooks had already made. Not quite the cooking class I hoped for so I don’t think I’ll really be making you any when I get home! We then started our journey back to Hanoi. Overall the trip was really good but would have been so much better if the weather was sunnier – it was cloudy or rainy the whole time which meant we couldn’t really lie out on the deck or get the amazing photos we’ve see of Halong bay in the sunshine.
That evening we went to the Friday night market in Hanoi. It was mainly just clothes and nothing too exciting but a woman did try to pick pocket my bag! It was sat on my front as well but they’re so sneaky. Luckily Steve saw her open my bag while we were in a big crowd and she disappeared before doing anything more! They’re so clever, I thought I was fine having my bag on my front but clearly need to be a bit more careful! I’ve started walking around with my hand on the zip now or with a lock on.
Overall Hanoi was mental and so busy but really fun to experience and our trip to Halong bay was well worth it.
This blog post turned out to be way longer than planned so I will add Hué (where we have just been) in with the next one.
Speak soon!
Abby Goes Travelling! 