Hanoi and Halong Bay
The trip to Hanoi was an experience, and one I don’t plan to repeat. Leaving Hue train station at 9:30pm, we surveyed our “soft sleeper accommodations and wondered what we were in for. The journey took till noon the next day and covered approximately 700km.
Luckily we didn’t have to share our 4 berth sleeper car with anyone else, so that was a plus. We hadn’t really expected to get a whole lot of sleep and the rattling and vibration of the train virtually guaranteed a mostly sleepless night. Luckily stops were relatively infrequent with the none between 1 and 5 am.
A fairly heavy mist obliterated all but the closest details of the passing countryside for much of the morning. But as we got within 3 hours of Hanoi it began to lift and we could see the countless miles of rice paddies as well as dozens of small towns and villages.
Entering Hanoi the buildings were so close to the tracks that we could have picked washing off balconies if the windows hadn’t been closed.
Exiting the train, we quickly located our driver and he helped us load our luggage into a Mercedes SUV and we set off for our hotel.
The HM Boutique hotel turned out to be very central to the district known as Old Hanoi.
Waiting to finally meet us was Mr Manh Tatien, the coordinator of our Vietnam trip. We spent some time discussing details of our trip before we excused ourselves to check in and clean up.
We spent the balance of the day exploring the area, with its narrow streets. The sidewalks, when not blocked by parked scooters were occupied by low tables and stools where locals and tourists alike were sampling various street foods.
Although tempted by the sight and smells of grilled meats and seafood we opted for an actual seafood restaurant, figuring that it would be somewhat safer.
After breakfast on Saturday we joined our tour group (19 people) in a rather packed minibus for the 4 hour (150km) trip to Halong Bay. Once we arrived we boarded a tender which took us out to our “floating hotel.”
The Cong Nghia 6 was 3 decks high including a short sun deck. The cabins were somewhat more comfortable than I was expecting, based on the typical TripAdvisor reviews.
We set off at around 1:30pm and soon found ourselves surrounded by the rocky islands Of HaLong Bay. At least 100 other vessels were setting off at roughly the same time do it looked like a bit of a race. With several of the vessels carrying day trippers the numbers decreased as we proceeded south. After about an hour and a half we anchored off a small island by the name of Bo Hun where we spent an hour exploring the cave system. That was followed by a stop at Titop island ( named in honour of the dictator Tito) where Susanna and I relaxed on the beach while half our group opted for the hike up almost 500 steps to reach an observation deck. We returned to the boat just in time to watch the non-existant sunset- a heavy overcast ensured that there was no risk of seeing the sun.
After a dinner of several non descript dishes the majority of our group decided to set up a TV and Kareoke machine so that they could demonstrate their total lack of musical ability. As the night progressed and the liquor flowed the singing got steadily worse and Iultimately fell asleep to the tortured strains of “Piano Man”
Our return to the harbour the next day involved a stop at a Pearl Factory where they demonstrated the art of inserting a small ball of Mother of Pearl into the oyster in order to initiate the process. While several of our group went kayaking we stayed in the factory show room where they demonstrated the art of lightening my wallet! After some back and forth over price, Susanna purchased a pair of pearl earrings for what we hope was a pretty fair price.
The return journey to Hanoi took a little over 3 hours and we found ourselves in a rather chaotic Old Town as people flooded the streets for the weekend Night Market. During the weekend evenings about a third of the streets are closed to motor vehicles as impromptu restaurants spill out onto the sidewalks and compete for business.
We spent a good part of the evening walking around the area enjoying the sights, sounds and smells before retiring for the evening.
Luckily we didn’t have to share our 4 berth sleeper car with anyone else, so that was a plus. We hadn’t really expected to get a whole lot of sleep and the rattling and vibration of the train virtually guaranteed a mostly sleepless night. Luckily stops were relatively infrequent with the none between 1 and 5 am.
A fairly heavy mist obliterated all but the closest details of the passing countryside for much of the morning. But as we got within 3 hours of Hanoi it began to lift and we could see the countless miles of rice paddies as well as dozens of small towns and villages.
Entering Hanoi the buildings were so close to the tracks that we could have picked washing off balconies if the windows hadn’t been closed.
Exiting the train, we quickly located our driver and he helped us load our luggage into a Mercedes SUV and we set off for our hotel.
The HM Boutique hotel turned out to be very central to the district known as Old Hanoi.
Waiting to finally meet us was Mr Manh Tatien, the coordinator of our Vietnam trip. We spent some time discussing details of our trip before we excused ourselves to check in and clean up.
We spent the balance of the day exploring the area, with its narrow streets. The sidewalks, when not blocked by parked scooters were occupied by low tables and stools where locals and tourists alike were sampling various street foods.
Although tempted by the sight and smells of grilled meats and seafood we opted for an actual seafood restaurant, figuring that it would be somewhat safer.
After breakfast on Saturday we joined our tour group (19 people) in a rather packed minibus for the 4 hour (150km) trip to Halong Bay. Once we arrived we boarded a tender which took us out to our “floating hotel.”
The Cong Nghia 6 was 3 decks high including a short sun deck. The cabins were somewhat more comfortable than I was expecting, based on the typical TripAdvisor reviews.
After a dinner of several non descript dishes the majority of our group decided to set up a TV and Kareoke machine so that they could demonstrate their total lack of musical ability. As the night progressed and the liquor flowed the singing got steadily worse and Iultimately fell asleep to the tortured strains of “Piano Man”
Our return to the harbour the next day involved a stop at a Pearl Factory where they demonstrated the art of inserting a small ball of Mother of Pearl into the oyster in order to initiate the process. While several of our group went kayaking we stayed in the factory show room where they demonstrated the art of lightening my wallet! After some back and forth over price, Susanna purchased a pair of pearl earrings for what we hope was a pretty fair price.
The return journey to Hanoi took a little over 3 hours and we found ourselves in a rather chaotic Old Town as people flooded the streets for the weekend Night Market. During the weekend evenings about a third of the streets are closed to motor vehicles as impromptu restaurants spill out onto the sidewalks and compete for business.
We spent a good part of the evening walking around the area enjoying the sights, sounds and smells before retiring for the evening.
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