Vietnam - The North

xin chao - hello
We flew into Hanoi airport, North Vietnam on fri 7th April.

The weather is much cooler here and is mainly overcast. Temp 260C.
Hanoi is smaller than Bangkok but the roads are much busier. We are informed that if someone hits us while crossing the road it will be our fault and they may claim for damages - hmm not sure I believe that!

To cross the road you take pigeon steps - move really slowly. There are mainly motorbikes but also cars, bikes and cyclos everywhere. The idea is that if you cross slowly they will all weave around you - and it does work. There can be 50 or more bikes coming at you at any one time. Its crazy.

Its an interesting city and the food reflects that - not really sure what we are eating at times! We were in a restaurant the other night and they had Camel on the menu! The roads are so busy that it can be hard t wander around to shop. So we haven't shopped at all. I was looking forward to visiting shoe street - but it wasnt great and the quality of some of it was very tacky - but the leather shoes looked good.

Went to see the famous 'Water Puppet Show' which is an ancient tradition. The locals used to make puppets and put on plays in the paddy fields. The music to the show was lovely and live but the show itself is worth a miss! Lasts an hour and is good for about 5 minutes. yawn.

Yesterday we travelled to Halong Bay - which looks amazing. 2000 islands that shoot up hundreds of feet from the sea.
http://www.vietscape.com/travel/halong/

It was raining when we arrived but luckily stopped for the trip which was on an old junk boat and you stayed overnight. The islands always seem to be surrounded in a mist. We went to visit a magnificant cave like Wookey Hole but 50x bigger. It was 8000 sq feet. Huge and lovely - Helen you would enjoy this. The rock formations are really interesting and there are all different shapes and patterns.

Unfortunately we didnt pick the right type of tour group to go with. We had booked to kayak but their kayaks werent proper ones and they only had rubbish ores. At night we moored up in the middle of the islands with all the other tour groups and they were all kayaking around until it got dark. And we were just sat there. We felt the trip was too much time travelling with not enough time there and not enough activities. Handspan are a recommended comp to travel with - they have much better coaches for the 3 hour journey each way. 1 night is def enough.

(note to hel: take water and alcohol with you as its expensive otherwise, book as vegetarian if you don't want seafood. Its all rice and noodles so mayb take some food with you!)

When we returned to Hanoi we went straight for a massage in one of the bigger hotels cost about 3 pounds and includes a fresh herb sauna - lovely. The massage was nice - different to Thai. Lots of pummelling and pressure points where as Thai sort of push and pull you about. Chris' lady masseur seemed to want to offer some extras for his massage! Her hands travelled a little too far and she had to be stopped! hee hee. We were warned about things like that that cant be published here but thought surely not in a larger hotel!!!

Chris has had a reaction to his malaria tablets -Doxycycline. He has had lots of the side effects and is ill in bed now. Headache, sensitive to light, aching joints........ So I wouldn't advise taking them. I'm fine on Malerone - but they are expensive.

We fly to Hoi An tomorrow - halfway down Vietnam - which should mean more sun and a hotter climate.

How are you all?
We miss you

love Anna and chris