Halong is about 3hrs drive from Hanoi but when we got there we were greeted with lovely looking vessel. We had a couple of New Zealanders on board and the rest were Europeans. I haven't spoken to many Europeans in a long time so that was refreshing in itself. There were only 5 of us too so it was peaceful.
We got our food served, which consisted on mainly seafood but I was used to this. We had plenty to eat and it was all very nicely presented. The boat had lots of areas to take pictures and sit and relax as well as stay out the sun which was very hot out there.
Here we could climb the cliff and go inside the cave.
After we got back to the boat we set sail through the bay once again.
It was so quiet and peaceful you could just relax and enjoy it. We arrived at a floating village and got into some Kayaks and headed to a beach where we could swim and enjoy the warm water. I got talking to some Koreans and played games in the water with them.
We set sail in the kayaks and rowed into the middle of one of the mountains. The water was still and the mountains were huge and quiet. You could hear the water lapping and a few birds chattering.
We got back to the boat just as the sun was setting for some food and drinks.
The next day we sailed back to the port for our three hour drive back to Hanoi.
I landed in Haneda from Aomori, from Haneda I got the bus to Narita airport, from there I flew to Seoul in Korea and finally got to my destination Hanoi in Vietnam.
It wasn't over though.
I was warned about the taxi drivers in Vietnam so I was being careful. I found a taxi and all was going well until his engine broke on the motorway and we had to get out and wait for another taxi. After about 10mins a second driver came and I continued my journey.
In Vietnam they use the dong currency but it is only available inside Vietnam, otherwise they accept American dollars as a universal currency. I only had dollars since I had just got off the plane but this didn't make the taxi driver happy and he insisted I go to his friends place to convert my money. I placed down a ten dollar note and said that's all I'll pay but he wanted more. I was tired and getting agitated so I walked out and sat back in the car an waited for the driver.
After a few minutes he came back and eventually was persuaded to take my ten dollars. We had driven a long way by now and he was still going on about wanting more money so I just got out and walked furiously to the hotel.
The hotel was very nice for just $10 a night. It was hoovered, it had an air-conditioner and hot water. It was a little bit noisy due to the excessive traffic in hanoi but I usually sleep like a log anyway so it was no bother to me.
On my first day it rained in torrents but it was surprisingly warm outside so I decided to venture out and see the lake. Soon as I stepped out I was in a world of non stop traffic, smog and people pestering me to buy various t-shirts and fruits.
Crossing the road in Hanoi is a skill in its own. The roads are a sea of scooters and motorbikes which look more my schools of fish, parting when you step into the middle. Hanoi has no road rules and the best way to cross is to just keep an eye on the traffic and walk straight to your destination.
I found a video on You Tube that demonstrates this.
I was in the Old Quarter and it's a warren of shops and cafes, some very nice western style ones and some very basic ones where you would sit on a Fisher Price plastic chair. Naturally the prices would go up and a beer could cost anywhere from 50p to £2.
Many places had wifi so I could keep in touch with my friends and family back in England and Japan. My iphone was very handy in Hanoi I used it for currency conversion, compass and maps. Without it I couldn't have navigated myself through the streets of Hanoi.
The people in Vietnam weren't as polite and humble as the Japanese. They seemed very aggressive and direct in their speech. Often they would shout single words at you and repeat it over and over like "pay pay" or "motorcycle" to offer you a lift. Their face seemed stony and unemotional, on the plane they seemed to show a disregard to other passengers and any rules on the flight.
I do feel they are very kind people and the hotel staff helped me a lot and even people in the street helped me. They are very poor, the poorest people I have seen and maybe its hard to see rules when life is so hard.
The next day I went to Halong bay but I'll go onto that in my next post. When I returned from Halong I went for some drinks in Hanoi.
Due to the communist ideology in Vietnam there is a drinking curfew and at 12am either you stay in the bar or you go home cause everywhere closes. I left at midnight and caught a taxi to get home. During my taxi ride he tells me he can get me 'girls', which is very common for taxi drivers to say, I told him I wasn't interested and I thought that was the end of it.
As we approached my street he stopped and I paid him 500,000 dong expecting 400,000 dong change. He doesn't see it this way and decides to take me to see these 'girls' after I persuade him I'm not interested again he pops open the glove compartment and shows me his marijuana and opium asking me to buy them.
We keep driving round arguing, he moves onto selling me opium when all I want is my 400,000dong which is only about £15 $20 Y2000 but it was mine. We stopped at some traffic lights on the main road and saw my chance and held the handbrake and pulled the keys from the ignition.
It took another 15mins before he would swap his keys for the cash but he did. I got out and threw his keys through the window. I was glad to get back to my hotel even though I had a long walk.
In the morning I walked round the parks and the museums rather than the city. You could see memorabilia from the war. They also have lots of political monuments including Lenin's statue and the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh.
I am a British guy but I moved to Aomori in 2008 to work with Aeon.
I finished Aeon in 2010 and moved to Taiwan.
From 2011 I am working James English School in Tendo, Yamagata
