Back in Hanoi
My night train from Lao Cai (Sapa) arrived back in Hanoi on Friday (26 January) morning around 6 AM. I walked by Hoan Kiem Lake on my way to the hostel to see the lake shore packed with pre-dawn exercising Vietnamese doing all kinds of strange - or maybe just foreign - stretching. Back at the hostel I had a couple of hours to kill before I could get a bed and a few more hours sleep. Although I slept well on the train I was still really tired. But by the time I finally got to lay down I was too awake to sleep so I decided I should do some sight seeing. I walked around Hanoi's Old Quarter that morning which was really interesting and bought some thongs (sandals) for a couple of bucks - I could finally find some in my size, although none of the street vendors had them, only stores.
My next destination after Hanoi was to be Halong Bay on Vietnam's northeast coast about 2 hours due east of Hanoi. Halong Bay is famous for its ~3000 Karst (steep limestone) islands that jut right out of the sea. The most popular and practical way to see Halong Bay is by package tour from Hanoi. But I despise package tours and avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately there are few alternatives for seeing Halong Bay and doing it independently usually proves to be more expensive and frustrating than its worth. So with this in mind I went by several travel agents in Hanoi on Friday (26 January) to compare prices. Then I went back to the hostel to ponder my options and ask some other travelers what they had done. As it turns out an Aussie guy, David, was considering trying to get a group of people together to charter a private boat to Halong Bay. But nothing was planned and I was looking to leave in the next day or two so I wasn't overly optimistic on that option. Whereas the package tours leave every day and could easily be booked the afternoon before.
Later that afternoon I went to pick up my visa from the Burmese embassy. Then back at the hostel a BBQ in celebration of Australia Day was just getting under way. The roof top of the hostel was packed and it was good fun. Later that evening David found me and told me a private trip to Halong Bay had been booked and they were leaving early the following morning at 6:45 AM. Perfect! The early start, however, didn't stop me from celebrating Australia Day and going out until around 12:30 AM.
My next destination after Hanoi was to be Halong Bay on Vietnam's northeast coast about 2 hours due east of Hanoi. Halong Bay is famous for its ~3000 Karst (steep limestone) islands that jut right out of the sea. The most popular and practical way to see Halong Bay is by package tour from Hanoi. But I despise package tours and avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately there are few alternatives for seeing Halong Bay and doing it independently usually proves to be more expensive and frustrating than its worth. So with this in mind I went by several travel agents in Hanoi on Friday (26 January) to compare prices. Then I went back to the hostel to ponder my options and ask some other travelers what they had done. As it turns out an Aussie guy, David, was considering trying to get a group of people together to charter a private boat to Halong Bay. But nothing was planned and I was looking to leave in the next day or two so I wasn't overly optimistic on that option. Whereas the package tours leave every day and could easily be booked the afternoon before.
Later that afternoon I went to pick up my visa from the Burmese embassy. Then back at the hostel a BBQ in celebration of Australia Day was just getting under way. The roof top of the hostel was packed and it was good fun. Later that evening David found me and told me a private trip to Halong Bay had been booked and they were leaving early the following morning at 6:45 AM. Perfect! The early start, however, didn't stop me from celebrating Australia Day and going out until around 12:30 AM.
posted by Dustin at 9:18 PM
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