Halong Bay: There and back again.....

So where we left off we were on the train back from Sa Pa and thankfully managed to sleep much better than we did on the way there. We arrived back in Hanoi at the ungodly hour of 4.45am and were awoken by the sound of pounding on the door and shouts of 'Hanoi, Hanoi'. We had clearly slept in which we realised when we noticed that everyone else had already vacated the train!! We went to meet our transfer back to the hostel but realised that they had left without us so we were at the mercy of the taxi drivers of Hanoi. Luckily everything got sorted and we even got reimbursed for the ride.

Crime in Vietnam is rife and as I exited the taxi, the driver came to assist me. I thought this was nice, until I noticed his hand halfway into my bag. When I shouted at him he didn't even have the courtesy to look guilty....he pulled a 'you win some, you lose some' gesture and hopped back into the cab driving off at a leisurely pace. After a quick nap at the hostel (sorely needed) we headed back out into the old quarter.

First stop, I picked up my dress from the tailor which turned out perfectly! I'm really pleased with it! 

Secondly, I headed for a famous Vietnamese massage which was cool. They don't go easy on your muscles which was great following Sa Pa and I did get a momentary surprise when she hopped up on the table and stood on my back for a little wander....

We had some post Sa Pa relaxation in the Old Quarter and headed out to New Day restaurant which is a traditional Vietnamese restaurant on Ma May. We enjoyed some floor cuisine on cushions and a low table which was cool...

After an early night after our hideously early morning, we fell asleep ready to depart for Halong Bay the next morning. Unfortunately, when you're in a dorm you can never guarantee a good night's sleep especially in a 12-bed room and we were rudely awoken at 3am by the most obnoxious man in the world. Less said on that the better.

The next morning, we headed out for a trip to Halong Bay which we had booked a few days earlier through a local travel guide- Adventure Indochina Travel (10 Ma May- would definitely recommend!!). We boarded the bus at 8, excited to get out to a coastal area and have a few days of relaxation,which would be our first day on the beach so far. To break up the four hour drive we stopped at a 'cafe' which also happened to sell the tackiest collection of pottery on the planet. Some of the vases were 2m high and were covered in a variety of vile patterns...

Continuing the journey, we arrived at Halong Harbour expecting to get on the boat. Unfortunately, when we arrived it was to a state of chaos, as a typhoon was forecast for later in the day and all boat trips were on hold until they had assessed the situation. We were told to wait until 1pm, and then this was put back until 3pm. Rather than wait at the harbour we were 'treated' to a dubious lunch in a nearby restaurant. 

At 3pm it was announced that all boat trips were off so we were to catch the bus back to Hanoi. Disappointed but acknowledging that it couldn't be helped we headed back to the bus. 20 minutes along the road back to Hanoi, there was a sudden revelation that we could go after all (resulting in our tour guide Tim Tam jumping in the air)! The bus turned around and we arrived back to the harbour shortly before 5pm. The drama continued when our captain went missing and just before he turned up, the harbour closed and no more boats were allowed to leave. The demeanour of Tim Tam changed drastically and to cut a long story short, we ended up back on the bus, back to the tacky pottery shop and finally reached Hanoi at 10.30pm after passing through multiple towns celebrating the lunar festival meaning 90% of the journey, we were stuck behind this....

Needless to say, this was us....

The reason we would still recommend our travel agent, is that the next morning we were offered a 100% refund (with a free lunch and transfer) or the option to transfer the tour to another day. Being optimistic, we opted for the latter and decided to spend 2 more days in Hanoi before heading up again on the Sunday for one last shot. 

We ended up having a lovely few days in Hanoi going shopping, to the cinema, for some good food (of course) and to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The Ho Chi Minh museum was strange. His preserved body was on holiday to Russia so we couldn't see that but the museum itself was a combination of history and modern art?? Exhibits included....

His statue...

This....

And most bizarrely, this....

Any interpretations for us as we are clueless about art are welcome!

We also sorted out the rest of our time in Vietnam, and as we only have two months left, we decided to fly directly to Saigon to save time. 

Apart from that, our time was fairly uneventful but stay tuned to find out if our second trip to Halong Bay was at all successful....