The Final Instalment of the Vietnam Adventure

And so on to northern Vietnam and the end of the great Vietnamese adventure.  I flew from Hue to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.  Hanoi is a lot quieter that Ho Chi Minh, and much easier to navigate.  On my first night in Hanoi, I explored the night markets, which are even cheaper than down south and walked around the lake which Hanoi is built on.
I had big plans for my last week but I hadn’t considered just how big Northern Vietnam is.  Top of my list of things to see where Ha Long Bay and Sapa but I quickly realised that I didn’t have time to do both properly.  I’d seen plenty of rice fields over the month so Ha Long bay was the final destination of my trip.  Ha Long bay is a Unesco World Preservation site and a natural place of beauty.  I did plenty of reading up on how best to experience it and most places advised a 2 day, 1 night trip.  I did some research into decent travel companies for solo travellers and booked a tour.

I was pretty happy with my choice of your company.  Accompanying me on the bus to Ha Long bay were a number of couples, a group of British girls and another solo traveller. All was good,until we reached Ha Long bay!  Up until we arrived at the port, I was blissfully unaware that our bus was carrying two different tour groups, which I guess explained why we had tour guides.  Our tour guide called Phan and another guy – I can’t remember his Vietnamese name but it translated to “Kidney.”

Kidney called his group which was made up of the group of British girls, the other solo traveller and two other young couples.  That left me and FIVE OTHER COUPLES to go and explore one of the most romantic places on planet earth.  I was thrilled.  There is nothing sadder than seeing a table set for lunch for five people.

Our tour was filled with activities, which meant that I didn’t have much time to feel like a spare wheel.  Instead, I became chief photographer, taking couples pictures and volunteering to run to the highest viewing points to get the best shots. The only point were I felt like a total spare wheel was as we watched the sunset over the bay.  As the couples clung to each other, I clung to a glass of red wine!

Day two of our cruise included a trip to an Oyster farm and canoeing through the bay which meant that I could explore smaller caves and see the rock formations close up.  By the time, I was saying goodbye to the rest of the couples, I was genuinely sad to be leaving.

After my couples cruise, I went back to Hoi An, booking a hostel on the bus without properly reading the reviews.  After struggling to find it on Google maps, a local showed me to the alleyway where my home for the night was conveniently situated.

My sleep was broken by the sound of glass breaking and dogs fighting.  Early next morning, I checked out and moved to another hostel which was much better located.

My last few days in Hanoi were spent sight-seeing and drinking cheep beer.  Not a bad way to end an amazing month.  And for those of you who thought that these annoying blog posts would end here, I’m sorry to tell you that I have a month to go in Australia yet.  It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it.

 

 

Central vietnam

Right, let’s pick up where we left off. Just over a week ago, I left Ho Chi Minh, and what a week it has been! 

My first stop was Dalat which is in the Highlands. I got an overnight bus to Dalat which I was told would take 8 hours but only took 5. So I spent the most of a night sleeping in Dalat bus station until morning came and I could check into my hotel. After 3 weeks of living in an 8 person dorm, I decided that I would treat myself to a single room so that I could enjoy some peace and quiet. My room left a lot to be desired. It was in the basement of an old house and needed a fair bit of TLC. Mould festered in every corner and the room had no window so the smell was unavoidable. Making up for my not so glamourous lodgings was the fact that it was perfectly located on the flat lake that Dalat is built around. Dalat felt incredibly European after Ho Chi Minh. The architecture is heavily influenced by the French colonies who left Saigon for a cooler climate. Dalat is not the most common backpacker stop and is mainly favoured by Vietnamese honeymooners so romance is at every turn (which is fairly awkward as a solo traveller). Swan pedalos cover the lake and horse drawn carriages are a plenty. 

After exploring the town and the markets, I decided that I would go to the cinema. I saw Son of Bigfoot in Vietnamese, it’s a great show. Granted, I didn’t quite catch all of the jokes but I was able to follow the storyline, I think! 

Despite having had an early night, I woke up not feeling so great; a Vietnamese version of Delhi belly, which wasn’t convenient as I had booked a 4 hour bus to Nha Trang. I popped a few imodiums and said a few prayers. Thankfully there were no disasters!  

Again I was only spending one night in Nha Trang so that left me with only me day to explore. I hired an easy rider, hopped on the back of a motorbike and saw all the sights with my driver Tinh. We visited Pagodas, temples and I even spent some time with some locals making bed mats.

Monday night, I left Nha Trang for Hoi An via Da Nang. I got a night bus to Da Nang which took around 8 hours only for it to drop us in the arse-end of nowhere at 5.30am. Google maps notified me of another bus station less than 5 minutes away so I walked there and got a local bus to Hoi An. The local bus was filled to the rafters with vegetables and all sorts of produce and people were wedged in wherever possible. My rucksack was wedged between the driver’s seat and the gear stick and two workers sat on my feet keeping them warm. 

Hoi An is a joy! It is an instagrammers dream, filled with colour and lanterns and prettiness. The town is packed to the brim with tailors and cobblers and tourists flock to the town to have pieces made. In a day, I had a new pair of shoes and two days later (after a lot of alterations) I had a new jumpsuit, 2 dresses and a skirt. At night time Hoi An is lit by lanterns and the  comes alive. 

Many hostels recommend that travellers rent a motorbike and follow in the footsteps of Jeremy Clarkson and co by driving the Hai Van pass. After a few days of considering it and then talking myself out of it, I eventually signed up. I figured if Richard Hammond could complete it without sustaining major injuries then so could I! On Thursday, I drove 150kms on this bad boy.  Safety measures were pretty lazidasical. They never asked for a drivers license (which is good as I don’t have one!), there was no lesson on how to drive and, when I did eventually find a helmet to cover my gargantuan noggin, the one that did opened spontaneously at different points throughout the day. But despite the sheer disregard for my personal safety, I hit the highway and zipped past bikes, cars and lorries. My life only flashed before my eyes twice! Once when I passed a lorry only for the road ahead to be closed, forcing me to scramble to a halt in the loose gravel and again when I was too busy looking out at the beach to notice a ramp, which I hit side on and did a Dukes of  Hazzard style jump across before speeding down the motorway as though nothing had happened. The Hai Van pass is not 150kms long but I took a wrong turn and ended up doing another similarly impressive route out to Tho Quang where I drove 6.5kms to the top of a mountain beore concluding that I had definitely hit a dead end and turning back to eventually get into the Hai Van pass. The scenery was incredible.The weather was not so incredible. Most of the day was hot, dry and dusty, until around 35km from my destination of Hue. Wind and a lightening storm made driving almost impossible. I’ve never wished for wipers on my glasses as much as I did that day. I arrived into Hue city around 7 hours after leaving Hoi An and I was a very pretty  sight!

There was no long stay in Hue, as I flew to Hanoi the next morning to see what hi-jinx I could get up to in North Vietnam!