Well, yesterday was a full day. I got up early and took a four hour ride through the country, to Halong Bay. I was supposed to take an overnight cruise of Halong Bay. It was an interesting ride through the country side and some small towns. Saw some things that you would never see at home. Everyone carries everything on a scooter. I didn't have my camera out for the best stuff (more sadness), but did manage to get a shot of a guy carrying a ton of rope. I also saw a bunch of scooters carrying live chickens, and one carrying a dead cow. But, alas, my camera got put in the back of the vehicle and the guy didn't understand when I told him I wanted to get it. Stupid language barrier. We made a stop and I managed to get my camera through hand gestures. Funny how that works. Anyway, finally made it to Halong Bay. After quite a bit of confusion on the dock as to where I was supposed to go, I finally met a guy that said no problem, you're on my boat. Go have a coffee and I will come get you. All right, don't mind if I do. Finally made it on the boat and met two great Aussie couples. They are traveling Vietnam for a month. They invited me to join them for lunch on the boat. That was nice. We were having lunch and kind of wondering why we had not set sail yet. Well, the winds were EXTREMELY strong so they told us that we would have to wait until 3:30 to see if we could go. The winds only got stronger. So, they cancelled the overnight cruise and it was too dangerous for us to stay on the boat. The options were to stay in Halong Bay City overnight, or transfer back to Hanoi. I didn't have a hotel in Hanoi so I opted to stay in Halong Bay City. After a few hours, they guy finally got to me and said he could only find one room for me and since the weather was bad, they had me and doubled the room price to $90.00 US for a pretty crappy room. He said it was not worth $90.00. So he was so kind and contacted my hotel here in Hanoi. They were full, but my new best friend Sophie found me another room at another hotel just up the street. She worked out a deal for me for $25.00 for the night. She is the sweetest girl. So, back off the boat and in a van and another 4 hour drive back to Hanoi. The driver dropped me at my old hotel where I met Sophie and she had one of the bellman take me up the road on his scooter, to the new hotel. It was just ok. But, at least I had somewhere to lay my head last night.
Got up this morning and transferred back to my original hotel where I was so happy to be. The people here are AMAZING! So friendly and willing to help out however they can. If you come to Hanoi, I would highly recommend this hotel. Got situated in my room and did a little research on my adventures in Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City. I ventured out this afternoon and just kind of wandered. Found a cafe near the lake and had a couple beers and some spring rolls and just watched the crazy traffic. I spent two hours just watching people cross the street. It's funny to watch Westerners. I'm sure I look like them too, but it was funny. Anyway, here are the few photos I got from the ride to Halong Bay, the boat that never left the bay, and some Hanoi traffic. There's a move too. It's of people crossing the street. This is how it's done. I hope it plays...
Off to Sapa tomorrow evening on an overnight train...will probably post again when I get to Hoi An in a few days. I hope everyone is well and enjoying my posts. If you don't enjoy them, well too bad for you.
