Primate rescue centre
Us in Hanoi...
Hanoi traffic...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Hanoi and Ninh Binh pictures
Ninh Binh and surrounds...
Primate rescue centre
Us in Hanoi...
Hanoi traffic...
Primate rescue centre
Us in Hanoi...
Hanoi traffic...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Saturday, June 9, 2007
VIETNAM - Tuesday 22 May until Sunday 17 June
Tuesday 22 May:
I woke at 6am because I was worried about the visas. We went to the Vietnamese Embassy and got our visas within a couple of minutes of being there. And then we booked our flights. Yesterday it felt like we would never get out of here. Our flight wasn't until 5.45pm and by 8pm we were in a taxi to Hanoi. The flight wasn't bad but I had this really annoying little boy sitting behind me who kept bashing my chair, pulling my hair and pinching my arm. On leaving the airport we got a cab. The taxi driver was a psycho. If a vehicle was in front of him, no matter what size, he would flash his lights and beep him out of the way. If that didn't work he would just barge them into another lane. Even though he was breaking the speed limit three times over, it still took an hour to reach the centre. He dropped us off at a hotel so that he could get commission but we just walked off with our bags and found our own hotel which was called Lucky Star and included free breakfast and internet use. We bartered on the room, which was huge, and got a third off the price so we thought the hotel really was lucky. But little did we know. We went for a walk around the city and it was a nightmare. We had come from quite a quiet place with a relaxed atmosphere and landed in hell. Traffic lights didn't exist and neither did road rules. People on scooters were driving up the road which ever way they wanted, on the left or right. In order to cross, you had to be brave and step out in front of vehicles and they would drive around you. Worst of all you couldn't use the pavements because they were covered in parked scooters. Luckily, after a few hairy moments we found a bar called Laybac which was small, nice and served wine. People had signed the bricks on the wall inside and one brick said 'Paul Gadd '05' which we hope was a joke.
Wednesday 23 May:
Oh my god. Do you remember what I said yesterday? About how lucky we were to find the Lucky Star hotel and how lucky we were for bartering to get a huge room and little did we know? From 7am we had people right outside our hotel room wall banging constantly with sledge-hammers and using hacksaws. From 7am. The noise was incredible. We walked to find another hotel, and after a few hours found one called Prince which was down a lovely quiet street. When we checked out of Lucky Star the guy on reception honestly wondered why we (and everyone else) were checking out. We did feel sorry for him because it wasn't his fault but the noise was unbearable. They were only in the first stages of building a hotel next door as well so over the next couple of years Lucky Star will lose so much business and it is a nice hotel.
In the evening we ate in a proper Italian restaurant, run by an Italian and all the food was imported. The wine was excellent and we no longer felt the hate and anger we did when we arrived yesterday
Thursday 24 May:
Today we decided to brave the roads and go shopping. I was hoping to fill the whole which my Adidas Jesus creepers left. Oh, and now I know that a couple of days after my creepers got stolen, two girls had their iPods stolen - from the same guesthouse.
In Vietnam the easiest way to sell food is to store it in two baskets which are attached to either end of a pole and balanced over the shoulder. The women here are tiny and look delicate but they somehow manage to carry these poles whith heavy baskets piled with food. As we were walking down the street one of them collared Carl and put one on his shoulder so that I could take a picture. And although I protested she then dumped it on my shoulder and it was really heavy. I don't know how she managed it but she really stung Carl for money. She demanded money for the photos and she made Carl buy a bag of fruit as well, handing over a handfull of notes as change. By the time Carl had added it up she had disappeared with his money, which came to about seven pound. Once Carl had worked out how much he had paid he was very angry.
After searching for ages I finally found some Nike Jesus creepers and managed to knock the price down a bit. But instead of giving me the change the shop assistant said she was keeping the change as a tip. I've never heard anything so stupid. Oh I'm just going to go to Clarks or Asda and buy some shoes. Oh and I think I might tip the cashier as well. These people are money grabbers. I also managed to find a little Roxy rucksack to add to my collection back home and also bought yet another travel bag so I dumped my most recent one. I'm now on my third travel bag but this one is much better.
Friday 25 May:
We booked a three day boat trip around beautiful Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island. The boat was luxurious despite being very reasonably priced. On the bottom deck were the bedrooms which had their own toilet and shower, the middle deck was where the bar and settees were and the top deck was where the sun loungers were. Our first day involved seeing a large cave, kayaking and visiting a fish farm around Halong Bay, which consists of over 3,000 islands rising from the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin.
Going back to the cave, the description in the Lonely Planet Guide says 'a popular cave to visit. It too has three vast chambers, in the second of which there's an astonishing pink lit 'penis rock''. It made me chuckle. See the pictures and make up your own mind.
In the evening we took great pictures of the sunset and we had the best seafood - squid, king prawns, red snapper etc. It was all bought fresh from the floating fish farm we had visited earlier in the day and prepared and cooked at the back of the boat. It was delicious. And then we spent the evening drinking with a group of New Yorkers we had met earlier in the day.
Saturday 26 May:
We made full use of the sun loungers this morning mainly because the boat had broken down and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. Luckily a smaller boat (a bit crappy) picked the three-day tour people up and then we sailed to an island for a spot of mountain biking and walking. Unfortunately the mountain bikes had no brakes or gears. We had to cycle four kilometres uphill and downhill and walk a further one kilometre and reached (apparently) a national park. The only thing in this national park was a house which had not finished being built. Toss. I noticed a group of tan coloured dogs caged by a small house on the way back and the guide told me that they were all for food. I told him that he would get put in prison for that in England. He just laughed.
We then sailed to Monkey Island which was great because we were the only ones there and we had the whole beach to ourselves. There was only six of us. No monkeys though. You had to climb over cliffs to see them because at this time of the day it was too hot for them to come down. Twenty minutes later thirteen boats of Vietnamese turned up and swarmed into the sea, making it feel like Bournemouth on a hot day. It was time to leave.
We got dropped off at Cat Ba Island where we stayed at Holiday View Hotel. We didn't see a lot of Cat Ba Island but what we did see we really liked. It was also the last day of school so all the children had broken up and were riding bikes up and down the main road. It was fortunate that the scooter riders and other road users were alert as some of the kids were a little wobbly!
Sunday 27 May:
We boarded the crappy boat at 8am which took us back to the luxury boat and sailed back to Halong City where we caught the bus back to our hotel in Hanoi. It felt horrible arriving back to the rush and noise of Hanoi after such a peaceful three days. We went back to the same hotel (Prince) who gave us a much nicer room with a balcony for the same price as before. In the evening we found a lovely bar which overlooked the main roundabout in Hanoi where we had a bottle of wine.
Monday 28 May:
We got picked up at 8am and took the two hour drive to Ninh Binh. Unfortuntely the minibus which picked us up was part of a tour so once on the edge of Ninh Binh we had to wait in the minibus for an hour while the people on the tour looked at caves. They didn't tell us this when we booked our tickets and we had no idea what they were doing or how long they would be, which was really out of order. When we finally arrived in Ninh Bin we booked into Thuy Anh Hotel because it was recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide. We took a walk around town and our only thoughts of Ninh Binh is that it's such a pointless place on this earth full of perverts who do hand signs even when you are walking arm in arm with your boyfriend and some of these people stare at you like you are an alien. There is absolutely nothing here. Carl stepped in a huge dog poo, which was the highlight of our walk because even the locals were laughing at him. He tried wiping it off but by doing that he was just wiping it deeper into the ridges of his shoes. He was lucky though because he was wearing his Jesus creepers so it could have easily gone all over his feet.
Carl's description of Ninh Binh:
"A place almost completely unaware of tourism. Even the hotels seem a bit surprised by a Western face - or maybe it's just our faces. There is nothing to do in the evening - no bars, no restaurants and the hotel food is grim. We can't be here more than a day.
We had dinner in the restaurant of the hotel because we didn't want to venture away from our safety blanket. I paid the boss lady for dinner and waited patiently for my change. After fifteen minutes she still didn't return and we had a feeling that she never would. I checked my wallet just in case I had suffered a memory loss but didn't have any small notes. We found her behind reception and asked her for our change and she stared at us in the face and said that she had already given it to me. I looked again in my wallet and there was still no small change but we couldn't be arsed to argue so just went to bed. OK, it wasn't a lot of money, but it was way more than 15% and it should be my choice if I leave a tip or not and she lied to my face."
Tuesday 29 May:
As soon as we woke up we booked a sleeper bus to Hui which left at 10pm. We talked to the man behind reception about getting to the floating village, Kehn Ga, and the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre during the day. He aranged a driver who took us to these places, the first being the rescue centre. The rescue centre was in Cuc Phuong National Park and it's a non-profit organisation dedicated to the rehabilitation, breeding, research and conservation of endangered primates. It was really interesting and saw all sorts of species.
Next we got driven to a ticket office for a boat tour to see a floating village. We paid for a two hour boat ride along the river to the floating village. We had the whole boat to ourselve as it was low season. For the first hour we were both happily snapping away with our cameras and taking in the sights but then it got a bit boring. We came to what seemed like a dead end which was really a wall across the river which opened up to a tiny little village where there were a row of houses set on the banks of the river. We sailed up the river until we came to a dead end and then it started raining. We had been on the river for an hour and a half and we were getting very bored and a little bit angry because we realised that there was no floating village. We sailed back to the wall across the river and then headed back to the start. We questioned the man who sold us the ticket saying that they had taken us to the wrong place because there was no floating village but he just said it was the wrong time of year for the floating village. Even though we had specifically told him that was what we wanted to see when we bought the boat tickets. When we got back to the hotel reception we questioned the man who told us about the floating village and he said that everyone knew that the floating village didn't exist this time of year. I was pulling my hair out at this stage so Carl had to deal with him. We still had six hours to wait until our bus came so we sat in the bar and got drunk so that we could sleep on the bus through the night.
The bus came at around 9.30pm and there were no seats, just bunks beds which were really comfortable. We swapped beds several times until we ended up on the back beds so that we could snuggle up and then drifted off to sleep.
Wednesday 30 May:
We arrived in Hui at 9am. The journey had taken just under twelve hours and we didn't really sleep that much. It happened to be more spacious and comfortable at the front of the bus but Carl sufferend because I wanted to snuggle. There were lots of locals waiting for us, as usual, to give us business cards for their guest houses when we arrived in Hui, but we had a walk around looking for the bet deal before checking into Nhy Phu hotel - which was clean, comfortable and cheap. We had a walk around Hui and it was a really nice place but the sellers, motorbike and cyclo riders were even worse than Hanoi and would follow us down the street so we decided that we would leave the next day. You may have gathered that we are getting pretty fed up with north Vietnam at this point. Fortunately other travellers have told us that the south is much more laid back than the north and that the people are more friendly and less money grabbing.
Later in the evening we ate in La Carambole which was really nice, and then had a few beers in Why Not bar. All through the evening all the shops, bars and restaurants were burning insence sticks in a temporary shrines. People on the streets were also burning paper. Tomorrow is Buddha's birthday but they are celebrating tonight.
Thursday 31 May:
We caught the 10.37am train out of Hui and headed to Nha Trang where we needed a much deserved break. We booked a 4-berth bunk bed cabin (in the day we know but it was a ten hour journey) which we had to share with two Vietnamese people. We also both had the top bunks so unfortunately couldn't see much of the scenery which was the whole idea. But lucky for us we had the most annoying kids in the world who saw there were two Westerners next door so constantly banged on the wall and kept opening our door to peep inside and laugh. Get a life! We arrived at 10pm where we booked into a shabby hotel - too late to be picky. After dumping our bags we walked around the place to find that most hotels were fully booked for tomorrow night. We found one called Golden Hotel which we booked for tomorrow and it just so happened to be next door to a bar called Le Cabanon which later turned out to be our local. It was a bar run by Aussie Tom and his out of control but very hilarious Vietnamese wife called - we never found out. An American in his 50s was also sitting outside with his Vietnamese bit of stuff (funny because he only arrived yesterday) and Carl thought he could have been ex-marine. We soon fitted in very nicely and the pretty waitresses kept filling us up with monkey nuts.
Friday 1 June:
We moved to the Golden Hotel, next door to our local, and spent the day on the beach. In the evening watched an English guy attempt a fire show. He was good but he did burn his back a few times. Ouch. We noticed that there were an awful lot of young Vietnamese girls tarted up very badly. They were either prostitutes or mafia or maybe both.
Saturday 2 June:
We didn't get in until 4am because we went back to our local. We didn't really want to but they kept coming out with more large bottles of Tiger beer so we couldn't say no. They insisted. As we were far too poorly for the beach (the heat) we found a barbers for Carl to get his hair cut. We waited and waited for about fourty five minutes while they finished their food but they did give Carl some and then spent another fourty five minutes cutting his hair. But the lady did a good job. At one point I thought he was going to be bald. They called us Posh and Becks which I took as a compliment but Carl didn't. That was before they thought I was Vietnamese. We bartered at another hotel called Nice Hotel and got a really nice seaview room for tomorrow for less. We can't help but move on everyday to a different hotel. We always feel like we're missing out on something. Then when we went back to our hotel to have a siesta the movie channel was playing all the Star Wars movies in order which was fantastic. We ate in Truc Linh. I had lobster in the evening which Carl chose from the tank because I can't bear to see them alive and then dead on my plate fifteen minutes later.
Sunday 3 June:
Another big hangover and all because they kept insisting we drink beer at the local bar. The woman who owns it with Aussie Tom is completely insane but she's so funny. The young waitresses are also lovely and even when we walk past in the day they cross the road and pull us in. We spent all day on the beach and then had seafood in the evening at Truc Linh 2. Carl chose my crab from the tank and the chef explained to him how it would be cooked with garlic and butter. When it came it was just one big crab on the plate with no flavour at all. After I had finished this Aussie guy with bad eyes came up and said that his wasn't flavoured either. Neither of us were impressed and Carl wasn't impressed with this tiger prawns. This guy had bad eyes because he had been swimming around Monkey Island but didn't realise that he had been swimming in sewage. Yuk. We later met him at the local where the mad woman turned into a nurse. She sat by us dabbing his eyes with cotton wool which had been soaked in boiling water.
Monday 4 June:
Beach day. A Vietnamese lady comes along the beach with two buckets filled with fresh seafood held on a wooden pole and she cooks lobster, crab, etc. on the beach. When she cooks it it smells so good but we had lunch in the Irish Bar which had the best Western menu around. I had cottage pie and Carl had bangers and mash. The potato was so good.
Tuesday 5 June:
Beach day. In the evening we went to a place called Andy's where we had breakfast yesterday. Andy had just finished the upstairs which he had turned into a lovely wine bar but he only tells customers who happen to eat in his cafe which is quiet most of the time. So this evening we decided to drink a bottle of wine on the balcony and people watch which was fantastic.
Wednesday 6 June:
Big day today. We decided to give the beach a miss and take the skyrail over to an island where the Vinpearl resort was situated. On this island was also a theme park which sounded great. We walked all the way to the skyrail which took about an hour. A long walk in flip flops and burning heat and my toes have never been the same since this day. We spoke to the information guy who told us the best deal was to buy a card which allowed us a return journey on the skyrail and two rides on each of the rollercoasters over there. The skyrail was really nice and the views along the coast were amazing. That part was definitely worth the money. When we arrived at Vinpearl theme park we got slightly worried because there was no one around. The adults with their children that got off with us headed straight for the indoor games so that's where we went. The indoor games were for children under ten years old so we decided to head for the shopping mall. Only two shops where open and they hadn't even finished building the waterpark. We went back to the rollercoasters but they were shut so we were really angry because we had paid a fair bit of money in comparison to most things out here. We caught the skyrail back after about ten minutes and kicked ass. We asked if we could have our money back and they said no because the rides were open. We disagreed because we had just come from there. They telephoned the theme park and said that the indoor games were open. We explained that the indoor games were just for little children but they couldn't grasp that fact so insisted that they take us over there. We even spoke to the manager who nearly cried. This went on for a whole fourty five minutes and we still didn't get our money back so we took photos of them and we're going to name and shame them. So in the end we did end up at the beach. The safest bet really.
In the evening we ended up at the local bar again. As the seats are on the street you are always hassled by people selling books and postcards which is so annoying because the elder females use their children to sell them and these children happen to be a pain in the arse. I did buy some postcards but from a young woman who had passed us every night. She had cerebral palsy and she was such a sweet person. And she was so happy. Her face was a picture. Especially when I asked her to sit down and join us while I looked through. We saw her the next night as well and she was going to sell us some postcards but then recognised us and that same big smile appeared.
Thursday 7 June:
We walked along the beach to the Ana Mandara resort to see if we could pay and use their infinity pool for the day. This had to be without a doubt the best resort in Nha Trang and probably the most expensive but it's paradise. We couldn't use it which was a big bummer and I came away hating those people who were staying there. So we went back to our usual spot on the beach, outside Louisiane. We lay on the beach for a bit and then had a couple of mojitos which made us really giggly. Everything we did after that made us laugh. We checked into a hotel called Asia Paradise which had a swimming pool at the top and that's where we stayed for the rest of the afternoon until the sun disappeared and all the locals came out to use the pool. They hate the sun. Over here white is beautiful. I can't find one single deodorant that doesn't whiten your armpits. How ridiculous is that? Who gets a suntan on their armpits anyway? We had a few drinks in our local bar to say goodbye to the girls and we had a group photo done. Also the mad one went out and bought us some Vietnamese coasters for our flat when we get back home. She admitted that they didn't cost a lot. She's like that. Whenever we walked passed her down the street she'd shout that we should come in because she wants our money. True but very funny. So we always went in.
Friday 8 June to Thursday 14 June:
We caught the 8.30am bus to Mai Ye where we met Jamie and Michelle. We all stuck together and found a place to stay called Thuy Thuy. We had our own bungalow and the place also had a swimming pool. As Mai Ye is on the coast not many have swimming pools because they are set on the beach but ours wasn't.
From Friday 8 June until Thursday 14 June we spent every day in the pool and it was just the four of us. One night we ate in a restaurant where there were four dogs. One of the dogs being a very skinny pug. This very skinny pug couldn't stop having sex with this other dog (which was twice the size) right by our table. It was heave worthy because even after he had had sex he still wanted more.
We visited the white sand dunes because you can apparently sledge down them. So the book says. Carl went down because no one else could be arsed after walking twenty minutes through what felt like a desert. The only problem with sledging down is that it took you five times as long to walk back up because the sand dunes were quite high. And he was covered in sand. Jamie decided to go down after him but as he slid down he burrowed a pile of sand in front of him so didn't really move far. He had to roll down in the end. That was the funny part of the day.
Mai Ye is definitely the best place we have stopped in Vietnam. If you have travelled from the north you need to stop here to recuperate. The north of Vietnam we found to be too busy and too undeveloped compared to the south. Jamie and Michelle were glad they didn't travel around the north after they had heard our stories.
Friday 15 June:
After spending a week in this place and scaring other guests off so we could have the place to oursevles we decided to take the four hour bus ride to Saigon. When we arrived Michelle and I left the boys in a bar while we looked for a hotel. We finally checked into Lahn Ahn.
Saturday 16 June
Me and Carl went to see the tunnels made by the Vietnamese army during the war in the 1960's at a place called Cu Chi. The tunnels were tiny and we had to crawl through the tunnels on our hands and knees. They were also pitch black. Incredibly the tunnels we crawled through were a wider version of the originals, specially enlarged for fat western tourists! There were also examples of man traps used by the Vietnamese to kill or mutilate unsuspecting American soldiers. It was a little gory. Throughout the tour the sound of gunshots rang around from a rifle range where tourists could pay to shoot AK47's and various other weapons just behind the tunnels. The sound of gunshots also added to the creepy atmosphere. Afterwards we met Jamie and Michelle and wandered around the Saigon war museum which was really depressing and showed pictures of people being tortured by the Americans.
Sunday 17 June:
Did absolutely sweet F.A.
I woke at 6am because I was worried about the visas. We went to the Vietnamese Embassy and got our visas within a couple of minutes of being there. And then we booked our flights. Yesterday it felt like we would never get out of here. Our flight wasn't until 5.45pm and by 8pm we were in a taxi to Hanoi. The flight wasn't bad but I had this really annoying little boy sitting behind me who kept bashing my chair, pulling my hair and pinching my arm. On leaving the airport we got a cab. The taxi driver was a psycho. If a vehicle was in front of him, no matter what size, he would flash his lights and beep him out of the way. If that didn't work he would just barge them into another lane. Even though he was breaking the speed limit three times over, it still took an hour to reach the centre. He dropped us off at a hotel so that he could get commission but we just walked off with our bags and found our own hotel which was called Lucky Star and included free breakfast and internet use. We bartered on the room, which was huge, and got a third off the price so we thought the hotel really was lucky. But little did we know. We went for a walk around the city and it was a nightmare. We had come from quite a quiet place with a relaxed atmosphere and landed in hell. Traffic lights didn't exist and neither did road rules. People on scooters were driving up the road which ever way they wanted, on the left or right. In order to cross, you had to be brave and step out in front of vehicles and they would drive around you. Worst of all you couldn't use the pavements because they were covered in parked scooters. Luckily, after a few hairy moments we found a bar called Laybac which was small, nice and served wine. People had signed the bricks on the wall inside and one brick said 'Paul Gadd '05' which we hope was a joke.
Wednesday 23 May:
Oh my god. Do you remember what I said yesterday? About how lucky we were to find the Lucky Star hotel and how lucky we were for bartering to get a huge room and little did we know? From 7am we had people right outside our hotel room wall banging constantly with sledge-hammers and using hacksaws. From 7am. The noise was incredible. We walked to find another hotel, and after a few hours found one called Prince which was down a lovely quiet street. When we checked out of Lucky Star the guy on reception honestly wondered why we (and everyone else) were checking out. We did feel sorry for him because it wasn't his fault but the noise was unbearable. They were only in the first stages of building a hotel next door as well so over the next couple of years Lucky Star will lose so much business and it is a nice hotel.
In the evening we ate in a proper Italian restaurant, run by an Italian and all the food was imported. The wine was excellent and we no longer felt the hate and anger we did when we arrived yesterday
Thursday 24 May:
Today we decided to brave the roads and go shopping. I was hoping to fill the whole which my Adidas Jesus creepers left. Oh, and now I know that a couple of days after my creepers got stolen, two girls had their iPods stolen - from the same guesthouse.
In Vietnam the easiest way to sell food is to store it in two baskets which are attached to either end of a pole and balanced over the shoulder. The women here are tiny and look delicate but they somehow manage to carry these poles whith heavy baskets piled with food. As we were walking down the street one of them collared Carl and put one on his shoulder so that I could take a picture. And although I protested she then dumped it on my shoulder and it was really heavy. I don't know how she managed it but she really stung Carl for money. She demanded money for the photos and she made Carl buy a bag of fruit as well, handing over a handfull of notes as change. By the time Carl had added it up she had disappeared with his money, which came to about seven pound. Once Carl had worked out how much he had paid he was very angry.
After searching for ages I finally found some Nike Jesus creepers and managed to knock the price down a bit. But instead of giving me the change the shop assistant said she was keeping the change as a tip. I've never heard anything so stupid. Oh I'm just going to go to Clarks or Asda and buy some shoes. Oh and I think I might tip the cashier as well. These people are money grabbers. I also managed to find a little Roxy rucksack to add to my collection back home and also bought yet another travel bag so I dumped my most recent one. I'm now on my third travel bag but this one is much better.
Friday 25 May:
We booked a three day boat trip around beautiful Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island. The boat was luxurious despite being very reasonably priced. On the bottom deck were the bedrooms which had their own toilet and shower, the middle deck was where the bar and settees were and the top deck was where the sun loungers were. Our first day involved seeing a large cave, kayaking and visiting a fish farm around Halong Bay, which consists of over 3,000 islands rising from the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin.
Going back to the cave, the description in the Lonely Planet Guide says 'a popular cave to visit. It too has three vast chambers, in the second of which there's an astonishing pink lit 'penis rock''. It made me chuckle. See the pictures and make up your own mind.
In the evening we took great pictures of the sunset and we had the best seafood - squid, king prawns, red snapper etc. It was all bought fresh from the floating fish farm we had visited earlier in the day and prepared and cooked at the back of the boat. It was delicious. And then we spent the evening drinking with a group of New Yorkers we had met earlier in the day.
Saturday 26 May:
We made full use of the sun loungers this morning mainly because the boat had broken down and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. Luckily a smaller boat (a bit crappy) picked the three-day tour people up and then we sailed to an island for a spot of mountain biking and walking. Unfortunately the mountain bikes had no brakes or gears. We had to cycle four kilometres uphill and downhill and walk a further one kilometre and reached (apparently) a national park. The only thing in this national park was a house which had not finished being built. Toss. I noticed a group of tan coloured dogs caged by a small house on the way back and the guide told me that they were all for food. I told him that he would get put in prison for that in England. He just laughed.
We then sailed to Monkey Island which was great because we were the only ones there and we had the whole beach to ourselves. There was only six of us. No monkeys though. You had to climb over cliffs to see them because at this time of the day it was too hot for them to come down. Twenty minutes later thirteen boats of Vietnamese turned up and swarmed into the sea, making it feel like Bournemouth on a hot day. It was time to leave.
We got dropped off at Cat Ba Island where we stayed at Holiday View Hotel. We didn't see a lot of Cat Ba Island but what we did see we really liked. It was also the last day of school so all the children had broken up and were riding bikes up and down the main road. It was fortunate that the scooter riders and other road users were alert as some of the kids were a little wobbly!
Sunday 27 May:
We boarded the crappy boat at 8am which took us back to the luxury boat and sailed back to Halong City where we caught the bus back to our hotel in Hanoi. It felt horrible arriving back to the rush and noise of Hanoi after such a peaceful three days. We went back to the same hotel (Prince) who gave us a much nicer room with a balcony for the same price as before. In the evening we found a lovely bar which overlooked the main roundabout in Hanoi where we had a bottle of wine.
Monday 28 May:
We got picked up at 8am and took the two hour drive to Ninh Binh. Unfortuntely the minibus which picked us up was part of a tour so once on the edge of Ninh Binh we had to wait in the minibus for an hour while the people on the tour looked at caves. They didn't tell us this when we booked our tickets and we had no idea what they were doing or how long they would be, which was really out of order. When we finally arrived in Ninh Bin we booked into Thuy Anh Hotel because it was recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide. We took a walk around town and our only thoughts of Ninh Binh is that it's such a pointless place on this earth full of perverts who do hand signs even when you are walking arm in arm with your boyfriend and some of these people stare at you like you are an alien. There is absolutely nothing here. Carl stepped in a huge dog poo, which was the highlight of our walk because even the locals were laughing at him. He tried wiping it off but by doing that he was just wiping it deeper into the ridges of his shoes. He was lucky though because he was wearing his Jesus creepers so it could have easily gone all over his feet.
Carl's description of Ninh Binh:
"A place almost completely unaware of tourism. Even the hotels seem a bit surprised by a Western face - or maybe it's just our faces. There is nothing to do in the evening - no bars, no restaurants and the hotel food is grim. We can't be here more than a day.
We had dinner in the restaurant of the hotel because we didn't want to venture away from our safety blanket. I paid the boss lady for dinner and waited patiently for my change. After fifteen minutes she still didn't return and we had a feeling that she never would. I checked my wallet just in case I had suffered a memory loss but didn't have any small notes. We found her behind reception and asked her for our change and she stared at us in the face and said that she had already given it to me. I looked again in my wallet and there was still no small change but we couldn't be arsed to argue so just went to bed. OK, it wasn't a lot of money, but it was way more than 15% and it should be my choice if I leave a tip or not and she lied to my face."
Tuesday 29 May:
As soon as we woke up we booked a sleeper bus to Hui which left at 10pm. We talked to the man behind reception about getting to the floating village, Kehn Ga, and the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre during the day. He aranged a driver who took us to these places, the first being the rescue centre. The rescue centre was in Cuc Phuong National Park and it's a non-profit organisation dedicated to the rehabilitation, breeding, research and conservation of endangered primates. It was really interesting and saw all sorts of species.
Next we got driven to a ticket office for a boat tour to see a floating village. We paid for a two hour boat ride along the river to the floating village. We had the whole boat to ourselve as it was low season. For the first hour we were both happily snapping away with our cameras and taking in the sights but then it got a bit boring. We came to what seemed like a dead end which was really a wall across the river which opened up to a tiny little village where there were a row of houses set on the banks of the river. We sailed up the river until we came to a dead end and then it started raining. We had been on the river for an hour and a half and we were getting very bored and a little bit angry because we realised that there was no floating village. We sailed back to the wall across the river and then headed back to the start. We questioned the man who sold us the ticket saying that they had taken us to the wrong place because there was no floating village but he just said it was the wrong time of year for the floating village. Even though we had specifically told him that was what we wanted to see when we bought the boat tickets. When we got back to the hotel reception we questioned the man who told us about the floating village and he said that everyone knew that the floating village didn't exist this time of year. I was pulling my hair out at this stage so Carl had to deal with him. We still had six hours to wait until our bus came so we sat in the bar and got drunk so that we could sleep on the bus through the night.
The bus came at around 9.30pm and there were no seats, just bunks beds which were really comfortable. We swapped beds several times until we ended up on the back beds so that we could snuggle up and then drifted off to sleep.
Wednesday 30 May:
We arrived in Hui at 9am. The journey had taken just under twelve hours and we didn't really sleep that much. It happened to be more spacious and comfortable at the front of the bus but Carl sufferend because I wanted to snuggle. There were lots of locals waiting for us, as usual, to give us business cards for their guest houses when we arrived in Hui, but we had a walk around looking for the bet deal before checking into Nhy Phu hotel - which was clean, comfortable and cheap. We had a walk around Hui and it was a really nice place but the sellers, motorbike and cyclo riders were even worse than Hanoi and would follow us down the street so we decided that we would leave the next day. You may have gathered that we are getting pretty fed up with north Vietnam at this point. Fortunately other travellers have told us that the south is much more laid back than the north and that the people are more friendly and less money grabbing.
Later in the evening we ate in La Carambole which was really nice, and then had a few beers in Why Not bar. All through the evening all the shops, bars and restaurants were burning insence sticks in a temporary shrines. People on the streets were also burning paper. Tomorrow is Buddha's birthday but they are celebrating tonight.
Thursday 31 May:
We caught the 10.37am train out of Hui and headed to Nha Trang where we needed a much deserved break. We booked a 4-berth bunk bed cabin (in the day we know but it was a ten hour journey) which we had to share with two Vietnamese people. We also both had the top bunks so unfortunately couldn't see much of the scenery which was the whole idea. But lucky for us we had the most annoying kids in the world who saw there were two Westerners next door so constantly banged on the wall and kept opening our door to peep inside and laugh. Get a life! We arrived at 10pm where we booked into a shabby hotel - too late to be picky. After dumping our bags we walked around the place to find that most hotels were fully booked for tomorrow night. We found one called Golden Hotel which we booked for tomorrow and it just so happened to be next door to a bar called Le Cabanon which later turned out to be our local. It was a bar run by Aussie Tom and his out of control but very hilarious Vietnamese wife called - we never found out. An American in his 50s was also sitting outside with his Vietnamese bit of stuff (funny because he only arrived yesterday) and Carl thought he could have been ex-marine. We soon fitted in very nicely and the pretty waitresses kept filling us up with monkey nuts.
Friday 1 June:
We moved to the Golden Hotel, next door to our local, and spent the day on the beach. In the evening watched an English guy attempt a fire show. He was good but he did burn his back a few times. Ouch. We noticed that there were an awful lot of young Vietnamese girls tarted up very badly. They were either prostitutes or mafia or maybe both.
Saturday 2 June:
We didn't get in until 4am because we went back to our local. We didn't really want to but they kept coming out with more large bottles of Tiger beer so we couldn't say no. They insisted. As we were far too poorly for the beach (the heat) we found a barbers for Carl to get his hair cut. We waited and waited for about fourty five minutes while they finished their food but they did give Carl some and then spent another fourty five minutes cutting his hair. But the lady did a good job. At one point I thought he was going to be bald. They called us Posh and Becks which I took as a compliment but Carl didn't. That was before they thought I was Vietnamese. We bartered at another hotel called Nice Hotel and got a really nice seaview room for tomorrow for less. We can't help but move on everyday to a different hotel. We always feel like we're missing out on something. Then when we went back to our hotel to have a siesta the movie channel was playing all the Star Wars movies in order which was fantastic. We ate in Truc Linh. I had lobster in the evening which Carl chose from the tank because I can't bear to see them alive and then dead on my plate fifteen minutes later.
Sunday 3 June:
Another big hangover and all because they kept insisting we drink beer at the local bar. The woman who owns it with Aussie Tom is completely insane but she's so funny. The young waitresses are also lovely and even when we walk past in the day they cross the road and pull us in. We spent all day on the beach and then had seafood in the evening at Truc Linh 2. Carl chose my crab from the tank and the chef explained to him how it would be cooked with garlic and butter. When it came it was just one big crab on the plate with no flavour at all. After I had finished this Aussie guy with bad eyes came up and said that his wasn't flavoured either. Neither of us were impressed and Carl wasn't impressed with this tiger prawns. This guy had bad eyes because he had been swimming around Monkey Island but didn't realise that he had been swimming in sewage. Yuk. We later met him at the local where the mad woman turned into a nurse. She sat by us dabbing his eyes with cotton wool which had been soaked in boiling water.
Monday 4 June:
Beach day. A Vietnamese lady comes along the beach with two buckets filled with fresh seafood held on a wooden pole and she cooks lobster, crab, etc. on the beach. When she cooks it it smells so good but we had lunch in the Irish Bar which had the best Western menu around. I had cottage pie and Carl had bangers and mash. The potato was so good.
Tuesday 5 June:
Beach day. In the evening we went to a place called Andy's where we had breakfast yesterday. Andy had just finished the upstairs which he had turned into a lovely wine bar but he only tells customers who happen to eat in his cafe which is quiet most of the time. So this evening we decided to drink a bottle of wine on the balcony and people watch which was fantastic.
Wednesday 6 June:
Big day today. We decided to give the beach a miss and take the skyrail over to an island where the Vinpearl resort was situated. On this island was also a theme park which sounded great. We walked all the way to the skyrail which took about an hour. A long walk in flip flops and burning heat and my toes have never been the same since this day. We spoke to the information guy who told us the best deal was to buy a card which allowed us a return journey on the skyrail and two rides on each of the rollercoasters over there. The skyrail was really nice and the views along the coast were amazing. That part was definitely worth the money. When we arrived at Vinpearl theme park we got slightly worried because there was no one around. The adults with their children that got off with us headed straight for the indoor games so that's where we went. The indoor games were for children under ten years old so we decided to head for the shopping mall. Only two shops where open and they hadn't even finished building the waterpark. We went back to the rollercoasters but they were shut so we were really angry because we had paid a fair bit of money in comparison to most things out here. We caught the skyrail back after about ten minutes and kicked ass. We asked if we could have our money back and they said no because the rides were open. We disagreed because we had just come from there. They telephoned the theme park and said that the indoor games were open. We explained that the indoor games were just for little children but they couldn't grasp that fact so insisted that they take us over there. We even spoke to the manager who nearly cried. This went on for a whole fourty five minutes and we still didn't get our money back so we took photos of them and we're going to name and shame them. So in the end we did end up at the beach. The safest bet really.
In the evening we ended up at the local bar again. As the seats are on the street you are always hassled by people selling books and postcards which is so annoying because the elder females use their children to sell them and these children happen to be a pain in the arse. I did buy some postcards but from a young woman who had passed us every night. She had cerebral palsy and she was such a sweet person. And she was so happy. Her face was a picture. Especially when I asked her to sit down and join us while I looked through. We saw her the next night as well and she was going to sell us some postcards but then recognised us and that same big smile appeared.
Thursday 7 June:
We walked along the beach to the Ana Mandara resort to see if we could pay and use their infinity pool for the day. This had to be without a doubt the best resort in Nha Trang and probably the most expensive but it's paradise. We couldn't use it which was a big bummer and I came away hating those people who were staying there. So we went back to our usual spot on the beach, outside Louisiane. We lay on the beach for a bit and then had a couple of mojitos which made us really giggly. Everything we did after that made us laugh. We checked into a hotel called Asia Paradise which had a swimming pool at the top and that's where we stayed for the rest of the afternoon until the sun disappeared and all the locals came out to use the pool. They hate the sun. Over here white is beautiful. I can't find one single deodorant that doesn't whiten your armpits. How ridiculous is that? Who gets a suntan on their armpits anyway? We had a few drinks in our local bar to say goodbye to the girls and we had a group photo done. Also the mad one went out and bought us some Vietnamese coasters for our flat when we get back home. She admitted that they didn't cost a lot. She's like that. Whenever we walked passed her down the street she'd shout that we should come in because she wants our money. True but very funny. So we always went in.
Friday 8 June to Thursday 14 June:
We caught the 8.30am bus to Mai Ye where we met Jamie and Michelle. We all stuck together and found a place to stay called Thuy Thuy. We had our own bungalow and the place also had a swimming pool. As Mai Ye is on the coast not many have swimming pools because they are set on the beach but ours wasn't.
From Friday 8 June until Thursday 14 June we spent every day in the pool and it was just the four of us. One night we ate in a restaurant where there were four dogs. One of the dogs being a very skinny pug. This very skinny pug couldn't stop having sex with this other dog (which was twice the size) right by our table. It was heave worthy because even after he had had sex he still wanted more.
We visited the white sand dunes because you can apparently sledge down them. So the book says. Carl went down because no one else could be arsed after walking twenty minutes through what felt like a desert. The only problem with sledging down is that it took you five times as long to walk back up because the sand dunes were quite high. And he was covered in sand. Jamie decided to go down after him but as he slid down he burrowed a pile of sand in front of him so didn't really move far. He had to roll down in the end. That was the funny part of the day.
Mai Ye is definitely the best place we have stopped in Vietnam. If you have travelled from the north you need to stop here to recuperate. The north of Vietnam we found to be too busy and too undeveloped compared to the south. Jamie and Michelle were glad they didn't travel around the north after they had heard our stories.
Friday 15 June:
After spending a week in this place and scaring other guests off so we could have the place to oursevles we decided to take the four hour bus ride to Saigon. When we arrived Michelle and I left the boys in a bar while we looked for a hotel. We finally checked into Lahn Ahn.
Saturday 16 June
Me and Carl went to see the tunnels made by the Vietnamese army during the war in the 1960's at a place called Cu Chi. The tunnels were tiny and we had to crawl through the tunnels on our hands and knees. They were also pitch black. Incredibly the tunnels we crawled through were a wider version of the originals, specially enlarged for fat western tourists! There were also examples of man traps used by the Vietnamese to kill or mutilate unsuspecting American soldiers. It was a little gory. Throughout the tour the sound of gunshots rang around from a rifle range where tourists could pay to shoot AK47's and various other weapons just behind the tunnels. The sound of gunshots also added to the creepy atmosphere. Afterwards we met Jamie and Michelle and wandered around the Saigon war museum which was really depressing and showed pictures of people being tortured by the Americans.
Sunday 17 June:
Did absolutely sweet F.A.
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