So 5 weeks, a pretty itense language barrier, dog markets, a lot of pot noodles, even more beerpong, 18pence beer and so many sights we left China absolutley loving it! Vietnam was next on our list...sightseeing was out of the question, we just wanted a few weeks to relax.
Hanoi was our first stop and after a 9 hour bus ride we set foot in this crazy city. It was so overwhelming but so amazing but not as cheap as we remembered. We only planned one day in the city before heading off out to the Bay. So our first day in Vietnam we found our beloved Pho 24 (a cheap noodle bar) which we lived on on our last trip and Fanny's ice cream...an amazing ice cream cafe selling fancy ice cream in the shape on pretty much anything you wanted. We went for the Pinnochio and the bumble bee. Yummmmy!!
We set off early for our trip to Ha Long Bay. The boat that we would be living on was pretty cool, there was a top deck for sunbathing and jumping off...which is were we would spend most of our time, a middle deck which was the bar and the lower deck was the living quarters. Our day was pretty busy, we trekked through caves and went kayaking. It all ended with the best part once we got back on the boat. We swam for a few hours around the boat in the bay with the sun setting behind us, Dom and the Aussie girls where jumping off the top, bombing and diving in. It was so much fun. Beer in hand, Ha Long Bay behind us, the sun was setting and we were in Vietnam...what more could you want!
Karaoke was next on the list...The girls belted out the classics including Rasputin, and even the crew joined in with a few vietnamese tunes...We ended the night on Eiffel 65 sung beautifully by Julia.
We were up the next day at 5:30am...(well Dom was) for the sunrise...and from the pictures it looks amazing. The best sunrise we have ever seen. When we did finally get up at a more reasonable time of 7:30am!! We opened our window took one look outside, climbed out and jumped straight in...an amazing cure after a late night!! So we said our goodbyes to the Aussies and Jess and Kate and set off to Cat Ba Island. We knew what was in store for us and it wasnt a beach :( ...yet!! We pulled up at this National Park, where we were told we would be doing a 2 hour hike...in flipflops!!!...up a hill, to the top, it was literally rock climbing! Sure!...flipflops didnt hold us back, they actually did us proud. So the Great Wall, Cat Ba Island Mountain trek and Chinese Caves had all been conquered in our beloved 'thongs'...(the Aussie's are wearing off on us!! haha) The top was pretty awesome, the view was of the National Park. We were warned no more than 5 people where to climb the viewing deck...and there was atleast 12 people in there...It was a rickety piece of scaffolding, which shook (alot) when there was a slight breeze!!...pretty safe though, I'm sure!! haha! So off we set back down the mountain, I was pacing the whole way...ready for a drink at the bottom. Dom had his top off to use as a swear rag and by the time we made our way down even the rag was dripping! The Vietnamese must realise how hard it was for us foreigners to climb such steepness and they greeted us at the bottom with a cold bucket of water which they basically threw all over you...it was heaven!!
Monkey Island was next...but we had heard that nobody see's Monkeys! So Dom's priority was to hunt them down...mine on the other hand was to relax and lay on the beach. Dom did, indeed, hunt down the monkey's down and found 3! It was a great day in the end and I felt quite proud of myself that I had climbed a mountain :)
We headed back to Hanoi on the third day not before having amazing lunch. Back to the hustle and bustle of the city, on the plus side though we stumbled across beer corner...little red stools covered the pavement, a keg in the corner...so many people...and beer for 4000Dong!!!!!! Beer corner was to be our favourite place for the next 2 days, we generally stopped there at every oppourtunity and at 4000Dong we could justify spending that much on a 'drink'!!
Our next few days in the city while we waited for Lee and Vicky to get back from Ha Long Bay consisted of a lot of chilling. We found a pool and headed there with the Aussies and our new found 'friend' Will.I.Am!! He was a strange guy..his general tactic, which we later found out, consisted of him buying us all drinks and food for the day to be our friend...I thought this was a bit weird, but Dom completely lapped it up!! haha...So a few too many Larue beers later we got on our bikes and cycled through the craziness of Hanoi back to the hostel with slight headaches and Will.I.Am in tow!!!
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