Hanoi and Halong Bay

We flew to Hanoi from Bangkok, flight and obtaining visas went well. We got a nice hotel for pretty cheap.  Our first task was to sort out our trip to Halong bay.  There are thousands of tour agencies offering 1,2,3 or more days cruising around the bay.  We used the trusty lonely planet book and went straight to the operator.  We opted for the two days with one night on the boat option.  This gave us another day in Hanoi to explore.

We had a nice breakfast at the hotel then headed for the lake.  The most interesting thing was the museum for hoa lo prison.  The French built it when Vietnam was a French colony in the 1800's.  Then it was occupied by the northern Vietnam army during the war with the US. The whole aim of the museum was to show how bad the French and US were and how good the Vietnamese were.  They showed US POW's decorating a Christmas tree, having hospital treatment and playing basketball and volleyball.  Senator John McCain was shot down and taken to the prison, he was treated for his wounds which was displayed but they didn't mention his wounds were from bring been and bayoneted by Vietnamese soldiers.  Also senator McCain's recollection was not of playing basketball or decorating Christmas trees but of torture.  It was interesting to see the spin Vietnamese put on it...

We had a couple of good nights out, good food and a lock in at our local bar.  There is a strict 12am curfew in Hanoi, we had to draw the curtain and knock on the door for it to be opened. Once outside it was dead, no-one to be seen.  A big contrast to the normal busyness.

The roads in Hanoi are mental. Just absolute chaos.  Crossing the road, dodging the mopeds and taxis was a bit terrifying the first few times!

Our trip to Halong bay was the highlight of our few days.  There were 8 people on the boat, 3 couples and me and Tom.  The boat is called a junk,  typical Vietnamese boat.  We had some awesome food then headed for a cave.  The cave was epic, the size of a warehouse with awesome rock formations.  Then we went back to the boat and did about a hour and half of canoeing which was brill, we went through stone archways etc.  The night on the boat was good fun, we had an awesome tea then had a fair few drinks with the others on the boat.  The captain showed us some card tricks and puzzles that were good fun. All in all halong bay was really good, really pleased we did it.

Now I'm in hoi an, a traditional Vietnamese fishing port, very picturesque.  Tom has left me to fly back to the UK.  I'm going to start my three week cycle from here, I have rope to tie my backpack to the pannier rack, I have a map of Vietnam, all I need now is a bike! Ive found out where two bike shops are so I will check them out in the morning...