We arrived, shattered
and smelly, in Hanoi after two days travelling at 6.00am. Unfortunately, we had
only two days here because we had stayed too long in Nha Trang and missed our
bus. Therefore, despite being tired, we spent the day exploring the city. I
can't say I know a lot about Hanoi because we mostly shopped, getting rid of
the last of our pennies, but it seems a nice place with a big lake in the
middle of the city surrounded by trees and flowers. The best part of our time
here was staying in the ‘Hanoi Backpackers’ hostel which was full of travellers
of a similar age to us who we went out with that night. We ended up with some
Dutch boys who we went with to a Vietnamese club- this was simply scary. I
couldn’t hear, or really see a thing due to all the flashing lights and
everyone in there seemed completely out of their minds. It didn’t take us long
to get back to the backpacker bar with the rest of our kind.
The following day we had our trip to Halong bay which, I believe, has recently been named a natural wonder of the world. We only had time to go on a day trip here, but we were quite lucky as there were only six of us on a huge boat so we could spread out. The sight of Halong bay was beautiful, despite it being a cloudy day; it is incredible to see these huge rock formations that appear scattered throughout this stunning stretch of ocean. In addition to viewing the wonder from our boat we also stopped at a floating village which was really bizarre because the houses floating on the water looked as if they could have been from a suburban estate, with flowers decorating their porches and dogs tied outside. Here, we also had the opportunity to kayak through these huge formations and into the caves, which gave us a stunning view of everything. Kayaking through a cave and into a cut off part of sea with towering walls of rock was a strangely eerie experience; it was so quiet inside that all you could hear was the uncoordinated splash of mine and Gwenda's paddles breaking the silence.
After being on the water the boat dropped us off at a huge, natural, cave that we walked through while our guide pointed out interesting rocks shapes, including ones shaped like a dragon, a lady and a giant boob.
The following day we had our trip to Halong bay which, I believe, has recently been named a natural wonder of the world. We only had time to go on a day trip here, but we were quite lucky as there were only six of us on a huge boat so we could spread out. The sight of Halong bay was beautiful, despite it being a cloudy day; it is incredible to see these huge rock formations that appear scattered throughout this stunning stretch of ocean. In addition to viewing the wonder from our boat we also stopped at a floating village which was really bizarre because the houses floating on the water looked as if they could have been from a suburban estate, with flowers decorating their porches and dogs tied outside. Here, we also had the opportunity to kayak through these huge formations and into the caves, which gave us a stunning view of everything. Kayaking through a cave and into a cut off part of sea with towering walls of rock was a strangely eerie experience; it was so quiet inside that all you could hear was the uncoordinated splash of mine and Gwenda's paddles breaking the silence.
After being on the water the boat dropped us off at a huge, natural, cave that we walked through while our guide pointed out interesting rocks shapes, including ones shaped like a dragon, a lady and a giant boob.
At the end of the day we began the long journey back
to Hanoi, both very quiet in the knowledge that the next morning we would be
flying home after almost five months away from the UK. Of course we were
excited- we would be able to see all the friends and family we missed while
away, however this excitement was definitely mixed with sadness to be leaving
the lifestyle we had become used to. This was enhanced by the fact that we were
leaving from one of my favourite countries of the whole trip. I loved Vietnam;
I had been anticipating an entirely different country to the one we visited. I
expected Vietnam to be a less developed, less touristy version of Thailand. It
was definitely less touristy, but in no way less developed. What surprised me
the most was the diversity here; Saigon offered busy restaurants, coffee bars
and kareoke, while the Mekong was still very rural, as was Muine, Dalat was a
beautiful mountainous city (weirdly with a french twist), Nha Trang offered beachside
relaxation with a busy nightlife and finally Hanoi was a pretty garden
city- not quite as metropolitan as Saigon. Vietnam definitely has a lot to
offer and I will, without a doubt, be returning.
I just have a
bit of saving to do now before my next adventure.....
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