Hanoi is the country's capital and home to many of Vietnam's fine art collections and museums, particularly those that celebrate the revolution.
An architectural masterpiece of French Colonial buildings, Hanoi has a sense of timelessness which will change over time as the economy moves toward
capitalist progress. Our hotel here was the Royal Hotel, located right in the centre of the city. Looking around the city appeared to be bustling and the streets were
incredibly busy. Many motorcycles out and you need to be brave to cross the roads. An interesting feature of Hanoi was the street names - very simple as all the streets
were named according to the goods sold ie Glasses Street (sold glasses). Our city tour the next day took us to the Opera House, Temple of Literature as well as various pagodas.
The evening was amazing as we went to see the famous Water Puppets Show. A noticable thing about Hanoi is the people - all busy in the streets and happy
to sell their wares as they go.
Hanoi
A day in the countryside
Day 2 in Hanoi saw Hai taking us for a full day tour to Hoa Lu where we will see the Dinh Li Temple, have a sampan ride into Tam Coc and then the BichDong Pagoda for lunch. Again
the food was fantastic and beautifully presented. What a wonderful river trip we had! Each boat had a rower that could speak english. Of course we were expected to buy from their friends.
The trip was full of incredible views and lovely rock formations as well. The end of the river saw us climbing up to a very old temple and from here we had views for miles
in all directions. There were lots of boats on the river and it was fun to chat to other tourists passing by.
Halong Bay
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We left Hanoi early the next morning bound for Halong Bay via Haiphong. After a great trip through the countryside we caught a punt across to the Bay and checked into the Halong Bay Hotel.
A good room here and a nice hotel. The following day Hai made arrangements to transport us to the water where we boarded a typical junk. There was only us 6, Hai, the captain, a crewman and the cook
onboard this huge ship and off we went. On the way we visited a massive cave that had been discovered only a few years ago by a fisherman. Absolutely magnificent! The cave was lit up in different colours to
show the beautiful formations of the limestone interior. Well worth the visit. Sailing along we passed the famous "Chickens Kissing" rock and many more. The captain found
a very quiet and uninhabited area and anchored the boat so we could dive off the top deck into the glassy, clear green water. After this we enjoyed a wonderful, freshly cooked seafood lunch and then took
our time to sail back to the dock where we began our adventure. After bidding fond farewells we boarded our transport again and headed back to Hanoi by way of a local pottery factory where we tried our hand at
crafting vases but didn't do such a good job. Another night was spent in Hanoi and then unfortunately our trip came to an end. A fantastic experience in a delightful country.
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