How does anything not disappoint after the mini adventure of motorbiking...accidents and all? By going to Halong Bay, obviously? It's a world heritage site and you can forgive the rip-offs and the mass tourism...it is fantastic! As part of our day trip we visit a cave on one of the many islands, Darren and I both agree, it's probably the best one we have ever seen. I have visions of dragons unfurling their wings out of the limestone - I want to go on a longer trip! It's with a loss of magic and a heavy dose of reality that we get back to Hanoi - i don't like this city. It has really nice parts to it, but the further north we have headed in Vietnam the more times someone has tried to rip us off, the more times we have said no to a moto driver, and I'm really tired of all the noise and traffic. I need a holiday!
We visit a lot of the sites including the mausoleum of Uncle Ho. I admit i couldn't take it seriously, i tried very hard not to have this big grin on my face, and i distracted myself by counting security cameras...Darren was right to chastise me. Ho Chi Minh was a smart and i believe a good man. He may have been a Communist and that may have been a wax work in the mausoleum, but he does deserve my respect...
....There were 13 cameras.
It was Darren's turn to meet Mark and continue the saga of the dog tags - it's 10 days since I last saw him. Surely we can't see him again? It's obviously a small world - an Internet cafe that you get to by going through several peoples houses, through corridors and up stairs (trust me, you've never known an Internet place like it), and Darren does meet him.
The news about the dog tag...
...there is no news about the dog tag - he's had no email replies.
You draw your own conclusions - I've drawn mine...
Over 3 weeks of travelling with Darren and it's time to part - we celebrate our freedom by visiting happy hour in the nearby 5* hotel. happy hour turns into 10 happy (hiccup) hours...ouch my head...
