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.
anitamaguire 