North Vietnam

Well my trip to Ninh Binh was interesting. I was told we'd arrive there at 5:30 AM so I woke up at 5 to be ready and at 5:40 AM we pulled into Hanoi which is 2 hours north of where I wanted to be. I guess I slept through Ninh Binh (and I made sure to tell the driver and the woman working on the bus I was going to Ninh Binh, but it didn't seem to matter). So I had to then get a motorbike to the train station but the first train was 4 hours hence so I took another motorbike to the bus station and nearly got charged double for the bus (thank you nice man in front of me for telling me what the true fare was) and I made it to Ninh Binh about 8:30 AM. As this little tale illustrates, I've noticed in North Vietnam the people are much more likely to try and overcharge and misinform tourists than in the South. I'd been warned about this, but it is still frustrating to encounter.

Ninh Binh turned out to be fantastic! The first day I rented a bike and rode down to Tam Coc where you go on a row boat through caves and around huge limestone karsts and rice fields. The scenery is amazing. I was in a boat with a Swiss and a French girl and we had the boat let us off at a temple and walked back from there. There was a festival at the temple and the people were in colorful costumes with all sorts of accessories and things to carry in a parade. From there I walked to another temple a few km away and explored it as well. I met two nice Aussie ladies, Jo and Ally, who helped me not get charged twice (the boat woman took my ticket for the rest of the park "by accident"). Later that afternon I rode up to Hoa Lu which was an ancient capital city and wandered around a bit. The second day I joined Jo and Ally and we again took bikes. This time we started at a small temple tucked away into a karst. A lovely female monk took us on a tour of part of the temple that was in a cave and we watched as she performed a ceremony complete with some terrific chanting enhanced by the natural acoustics of the cave. I thought Jo was going to stay all day. Then we biked to Thang An which is somewhat like Tam Coc only 20 times better. There were no other tourists and the boat took us through about 9 long caves (which were lit up inside) and to 3 temples on the lake. It was truly magical. Later we rode to a new pagoda that is being built and walked around it. Even though it is under construction, they let people into the completed parts. Exhausted we headed back to the hotel (with a stop at another temple to eat more fresh pipneapple- yum!). Ally and Jo had to catch a night train that night. I was sad to see them go. The lady at our hotel came up to me after they left and told me I was lucky to make nice new friends. Pretty perceptive lady :).

The next morning I took a minibus to Haiphong to catch the ferry to Cat Ba Island on Halong Bay. There were 3 French travellers on my bus and I shared a cab with them to the ferry, hung out with them while waiting 2 hours for the next ferry and stuck with them on the boat (guess what, we were all overcharged- see a pattern forming?). I figured I'd continue stalking them so I went to their hotel with them on Cat Ba and they said I could join them on their boat trip around Halong Bay for two days. I lucked out! The boat trip was fantastic! Halong Bay is gorgeous- more limestone karsts, this time coming out of the sea. We shared the boat with a Spanish couple for a few hours the first day but after that it was all ours. We went through a huge cave (on foot) and sailed all over the bay. We rarely saw other boats so we felt like we had the whole bay to ourselves. The food on the boat was plentiful and delicious. We had fresh fish with every meal (so fresh we watched our second day's lunch get caught that morning). My fave was the spring rolls though. We spent the night on a floating fish farm and before going to bed we hung out and drank rice wine with the captain and the guys who live on the farm. The second day we went kayaking through caves to a secluded lagoon. Later we cruised to Halong City where the French crew (Severine, Vincent, and Gregory) left me to head back to Hanoi. I had the boat to myself on the way back to Cat Ba and just enjoyed the scenery. It really is gorgeous! The next day I did a trek in the National Park on Cat Ba. It was really hot, slippery, steep and there were loads of bees. Luckily I only got stung once. After that I headed straight for Hanoi (bus boat bus) and then onto an overnight train to Sapa so I really pity the people who were stuck in a cabin with me. The view fromo the top of the island was nice though.

My plan for Sapa was to hike Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam. However, the weather wasn't so great, the treks were pricier than I'd anticipated and I developed an allergic reaction to the bee sting which caused what I like to call "Cabbage Patch Kid arm" meaning pretty hefty swelling from fingers to elbow. So instead I hiked to local villages and waterfalls and enjoyed the scenery and chill vibe (if you can ignore the constant harrassment from local villagers to buy brightly colored crafts) in Sapa. I only stayed 2 days and met Lloyd and Loz from Wales and Emily from Austin on the way back to Hanoi. We thought we were all on the same train, but when it turned out Lloyd and Loz were on the later one, they traded their cush soft sleeper tickets and paid extra money to be snuck onto our train in the employees car (that's how they roll in Vietnam). But it was worth it as we all got to hang out (our car was empty) on the way and until the hostels opened in Hanoi.

I've spent the last couple days in and around Hanoi. The most fascinating thing I've done in the city was to visit the Ho Chi Minh masoleum. Yes, if you fly to Vietnam, you too can view the preserved corpse of Uncle Ho. You must be properly dressed (no shorts or tank tops) and can not laugh, talk or smile while in his presence (armed guards are there to enforce this). You may not take photos and must keep moving and not stop and gawk. Got it? Good :). Today I took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda. I have no idea why it is named the Perfume Pagoda. It didn't smell particularly nice and after a sweaty hour on an open boat in 40 degree heat and then an hour hike up the hill, we certainly didn't smell very nice either. But the temples are nice to see- the highest one being inside a cave (so you can cool off before hiking down and getting back on the cramped, sweaty rowboat). I met a nice Israeli and a couple from Argentina so I'm going to head out in a sec and meet up with them.

Tomorrow is my last day in Vietnam. I'll be sad to leave it and highly recommend it to any of you who are thinking about coming over to SE Asia. Next stop a short stint in Thailand, a quick jump to the US for Mere's wedding, and then I am off to India. More adventures await!