Hanoi was cool - the hustle and bustle of Saigon but a more traditional Vietnamese feel - lots of crowded little alleyways off alleyways with motorbikes zooming past and street stall and lots of noise and colour confusing sights - I love confusing sights!
We spent a few days cruising around Hanoi avoiding dodgy taxi drivers, refusing to buy hats and visiting a few sights with Ann and Shane. The strangest was the mausoleum (and accompanying museum) of Ho Chi Minh. Old Uncle Ho has become much more than a person in Vietnam - he is a symbol of freedom, national pride and (as the museum repeatedly told us) 'explemparily revolutionary morality', and the reverance, pomp and ceremony the place exudes is amazing if slightly surreal. Huge crowds get single file marched through a theatrically sombre chamber containing his body while severe guards in strict white uniforms make sure you don't smile or your hands don't leave your sides. For the Vietnamese it borders on a religous experience - we found it slightly morbid and surreal.
The other thing you have to do in Hanoi is take the lucky dip and hope you get a decent boat to take you around the beautiful Ha Long bay. Luckily we got a good one, nice food, comfy little cabin and no rats but the joyless staff and their dictorial control of all liquid consumed on the boat threatened our planned starlight drinking session. The boats there are dirt cheap but make their money on drinks at extortionate prices, and even if you bring your own, the corkage they'll charge you will be twice what you paid for the booze in the first place! We were travelling with Shane and Ann and nothing can stop the irish when it comes to having a tipple so we make some eyepatches out of postcards and dental tape and took to covert drinking methods with our smuggled on whiskey and vodka. Yee-arrh!
Ha Long Bay was stunning. Like lots of things in Vietnam you do feel like you're being lead by the hand down a well-worn path with thouands of other tourists going the exact same way at the same time, but with Ha Long Bay its beautiful enough that it doesn't matter. We had a top class swim off the boat of the first night at sunset in a beautiful bay among huge sheer limestone cliffs. A newcomer to the top swims of the trip top ten, possibly even number one.
Our last day in Hanoi we had a crazy day bumping into a whole buch of people we'd met in our travels including Jason and Rochelle from Jungle Beach and Danielle the kiwi motorcyclist we'd hung out with around Cambodia. The evening ended with street stall beers, a big dinner and a fun night out at a great little bar. A perfect night to say goodbye to Vietnam and some of the aweosme people we travelled with there!
We spent a few days cruising around Hanoi avoiding dodgy taxi drivers, refusing to buy hats and visiting a few sights with Ann and Shane. The strangest was the mausoleum (and accompanying museum) of Ho Chi Minh. Old Uncle Ho has become much more than a person in Vietnam - he is a symbol of freedom, national pride and (as the museum repeatedly told us) 'explemparily revolutionary morality', and the reverance, pomp and ceremony the place exudes is amazing if slightly surreal. Huge crowds get single file marched through a theatrically sombre chamber containing his body while severe guards in strict white uniforms make sure you don't smile or your hands don't leave your sides. For the Vietnamese it borders on a religous experience - we found it slightly morbid and surreal.
The other thing you have to do in Hanoi is take the lucky dip and hope you get a decent boat to take you around the beautiful Ha Long bay. Luckily we got a good one, nice food, comfy little cabin and no rats but the joyless staff and their dictorial control of all liquid consumed on the boat threatened our planned starlight drinking session. The boats there are dirt cheap but make their money on drinks at extortionate prices, and even if you bring your own, the corkage they'll charge you will be twice what you paid for the booze in the first place! We were travelling with Shane and Ann and nothing can stop the irish when it comes to having a tipple so we make some eyepatches out of postcards and dental tape and took to covert drinking methods with our smuggled on whiskey and vodka. Yee-arrh!
Ha Long Bay was stunning. Like lots of things in Vietnam you do feel like you're being lead by the hand down a well-worn path with thouands of other tourists going the exact same way at the same time, but with Ha Long Bay its beautiful enough that it doesn't matter. We had a top class swim off the boat of the first night at sunset in a beautiful bay among huge sheer limestone cliffs. A newcomer to the top swims of the trip top ten, possibly even number one.
Our last day in Hanoi we had a crazy day bumping into a whole buch of people we'd met in our travels including Jason and Rochelle from Jungle Beach and Danielle the kiwi motorcyclist we'd hung out with around Cambodia. The evening ended with street stall beers, a big dinner and a fun night out at a great little bar. A perfect night to say goodbye to Vietnam and some of the aweosme people we travelled with there!
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