Sleeper Train to Hui

We caught the sleeper train from Hanoi to Hui on Monday night.  Our room consisted of four beds( bunk bed style).  We shared the room with two Dutch women, mother and daughter, who were very nice.  Food vendors using carts walked up and down the aisles selling a variety of food and drink.  We had a good laugh because if your door was closed and unlocked they would open the door and and yell... soup! soup!  They were quite funny!  We didn't take advantage of the dining room until breakfast, and the soup was really quite good.  Soup is a common breakfast food, it is either beef noodle or chicken noodle, steaming hot and loaded with rice noodles, or egg noodles, with a delicious broth.

The bunks had very firm mattresses, but we slept well.  The movement of the train lulled us to sleep.  Morning came and after breakfast our stopped arrived.  We got off the train, caught a cab, and headed to The Valentine Hotel.

So Long Hanoi

We bid our goodbyes to Hanoi by walking our final hours up and down the streets in this crowded, busy, vibrant city.  We search for snacks and drinks to take with us when we depart on the night train for Hui tonight.

The streets are full of food vendors cooking their meals for family and patrons over open fires on the sidewalks.  Caged tropical birds are for sale for any takers.  Motorbikes and scooters galore.  A variety of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants line the streets.  Our accommodations have been great, and we have been treated with exceptional kindness, and politeness. I will recommend The Hanoi Guesthouse to anyone who would like to travel to Hanoi. The Vietnamese people are kind, and warm, and truly genuine.  They mean what they say, they do what they say.  No head games, and no beating around the bush.  They are a straight forward people, and I appreciate their style.

Our Junk

                                          Our junk, "The Lemon Cruise".

                                          Our bedroom, it even had heat!!

                                          The group we toured with!  Lots of fun!!

Our boat was a home away from home!  Comfortable and inviting.  I got a chance to spend some quiet time early the next morning while the others were still sleeping, writing in my journal, and enjoying a cup of coffee.  The crew of the junk was always handy catering to your every whim!

Ha Long Bay

Saturday, we got up early, packed a small backpack, grabbed some breakfast and caught a bus to Ha Long Bay.  The day was very cool and the bus no better.  I froze the whole four hour journey to our destination.

Ha Long Bay is a world heritage site that draws a large number of tourists.  It is a combination of limestone peaks and glimmering sea.  It is serene and eerily beautiful.  Amongst the many karsts lives a group of people known as the floating village.  They are self sufficient, and make a living fishing, and selling trinkets, food and drink to visiting tourists.  At one time they were able to get their fresh water from a nearby cave.  But with the development of tourism, the cave became a destination and money maker for many other people, so the government now makes the floating village buy their fresh water.

The cave was something I wasn't expecting.  Firstly, I thought it was going to be some little tunnel our boat would float through.  But, this wasn't the case.  The cave turned out to be quite large, and it probably took us about an hour to walk through it.  It is nature at its finest, combined with humans not at their finest.  Litter and graffiti dotted the way throughout this structure. How unfortunate!!  Such a beautiful place scarred in such an ugly manner.

The Chinese styled junk we stayed on was called "The Lemon", and I was just hoping it wasn't going to be a lemon!  We discovered our stay on this junk was wonderful.  We were fed like royalty, treated like gems, and discovered friendship and merriment amongst the other guests that accompanied us.  We were sixteen in all, and Irish couple, three young Dutchmen, three young Aussies, four Malaysians, and a Ukrainian couple.  There was somewhat of a language barrier but we seemed to get through it and enjoyed each others' company!  The trip was fabulous and we were so grateful we went!

Brrrrrrrrr......

Correction on the temperature and spelling.... it's 11 degrees celsius(not celcius).  No wonder we are frickin' freezing!!

Traffic, Weddings, and Vendors

It was busy on the streets of Hanoi today!  Much cooler also, my guess is 15 degrees celcius.  We had to buy jackets just to keep warm.  We found a popular coffee shop that was a great option to warm up!  Fridays must be a great day to get married, we saw three weddings!  Also, a cute basket lady selling her wares on the street!

Sights Around the Old Quarter of Hanoi

Just posting a few sights we took in while venturing around.  There is a beautiful lake in the middle of the Old Quarter called Hoan Kiem Lake.  We also ate at a small but busy restaurant called New Day that had great food.  We ate supper for just under $10.00, and that was for both of us!!