Halong Bay

While staying in Hanoi, mum and I took advantage of the overnight trips available to Halong Bay, an archipelago of 3,000 islands in the Gulf of Tonkin, near China.

We took a four hour bus to the city of Halong (where the dragon descends into the sea), where we boarded a traditional style 'junk' boat to tour the bay for two days. Although it was very cold, we stayed upstairs in the open air for as long as possible enjoying the stunning views. There were about 12 people on our boat tour, and we all seemed to get on very well. There were a few swedish guys my age, a couple who had spent five years touring the world as dancers and acrobats in the musical Notre Dame de Paris, and a few others from Italy, South Africa and the US. I think the memory I will take from this trip is not only the stunning Halong Bay, but also how you can have such a wonderful time with a group of total strangers, with varied languages and backgrounds... We all sat up playing cards, drinking wine and eating seafood late into the night, in the middle of the clear, dark, peaceful bay. It was a very very special few days.

Shopping boats... Modern Viet Nam... Beer and Pepsi for US dollars on Halong Bay.....

View from the top of the 90 steps which lead to the Hang Dau Go caves

Hang Dau Go & Hang Sung Sot Caves

Floating fishing villages

Cccccold Rhonda...

One of my favorite moments from our trip, kayaking around some of the islands with one of our fellow travelers Zuban. It was such an amazing feeling to get out into the bay, where you couldn't see another boat or person, just crystal blue water and islands to discover...

Photos taken by Rhonda when waking very early on the junk boat, to find a surreal, mirror-still, bay

Rhianna found some swedes as usual... with Kim, David, Klaus and Johan... we met up with Kim and David at a number of points along our simultaneous journeys south.

Lunch in Halong, check out the menu above... Homer Simpson would be in heaven... 'Steamed Crab full of fat in beer' ... heart attack waiting to happen

Hanoi!

I am used to the temperature reaching the mid 30s every day. I don’t like it, I will never acclimatise, but I am accustomed to waking, putting on skirt and t-shirt, flip-flops and sunscreen. Unfortunately this mindset also influenced my packing when preparing to leave Phnom Penh for Siem Reap, and then on to Viet Nam. I knew Hanoi was cooler, however it is ‘close’, so can’t be too bad… I checked to weather a few days (or was that weeks…) ago and it was nice, sunny, mild….. I can’t imagine why I didn’t realise that thought was a little lacking in fact. Fact: Hanoi is also close to CHINA, which is COLD right now, SNOW cold.

So, imagine the chill that shot through my body as we disembarked our airplane in Hanoi at 8pm in the evening to be greeted by 15’c, cold wind, and rain…. Brrrrrrrr! It was at this moment that I realised I really have begun to feel at home in Cambodia, as I had completely forgotten what it was like to be cold! The warmest outfit I had packed was a pair of cotton cargo pants and a light ¾ sleeve cotton. And putting shoes in my pack had not even crossed my mind! As we drove in the taxi through the cold night into the city, I realised my wardrobe was going to need to change, and quickly!

Our first night in Hanoi was spent at the Sunshine Hotel, a place with cold floors, damp bathroom, and very funny bright blankets. And to my poor mum’s horror, up about 10 flights of stairs, which do not go well with worn out, arthritic knees!


As we woke the next morning, we finally got a chance to survey the old city. A very beautiful and chaotic jumble of tall, thin houses, shop fronts, markets and street vendors. The difference between this city, and those in Cambodia, or the rest of Viet Nam for that matter, reminded me again of the beautiful contrasts and constant changes you find in South East Asia. After a quick check-in online with my brothers back home, and organising dinner plans with a lovely Dutch couple staying in our hotel, we headed out to find me some shoes! We managed to find Dong Xuan Market, and a pair of very groovy blue and white stripe converse all stars and socks. We then set off exploring the winding streets and shops of the old town, while I adjusted to the very strange sensation of having socks and shoes on for the first time in six months.










(Discovering the Old Town, in new shoes!)


We had an amazing lunch at ‘Little Hanoi 2’, including delightful Nêms and an amazing dish of caramelised stir-fried pork with sesame seeds. I then stumbled on the outrageously pretty clothing store called Kén, which took up some time trying on all their outrageously colourful and exquisite silk clothing. Finally warm in a new jacket and shoes, we met up again with Mai and Ron from Sunshine hotel, and they took us out for a fantastic dinner at Ladybird, the highlight being an amazing fish and vegetable stir-fry cooked at our table, and some delicious grilled minced pork skewers with Vietnamese mint and garlic. Yummy!













(Beautiful Kén, and yes, I now own that brilliant fairy skirt!)

(dinner at Ladybird, delicious!!)

The following days in Hanoi were spent exploring markets and small allies that criss-cross the old town; visiting the Ho Chi Minh museum, house and mausoleum; the women's museum; the water puppet theater; and, the Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son (jade mountain) temple. Oh, and eating, lots and lots of eating - street stalls, restaurants, Koto (hospitality training restaurant) etc etc

(chaos and calm)

(Rhonda contemplates a road crossing)

(Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Stilt House)

(Hoan Kiem Lake & Ngoc Son Temple)

(Dinner at Koto, a hospitality training restaurant which works with trainers from Australian TAFE colleges, similar to the one my mum taught at, obviously my mum got into the kitchen in no time! And we gave a donation to help them with the building of their new restaurant... a wonderful training institution with great students!)