My time in Sapa was at an end, I was a bit sad to be leaving but was looking forward to some slightly warmer weather. My last day was spent doing a cooking class at a mountain retreat overlooking Lao Chai. Amy, Marie (also volunteers at Sapa O’Chau) and I got to make spring rolls, a salad and beef wrapped in betel leaves. With the rain getting heavier I boarded a mini bus to take me down the windy roads back to Lao Cai to catch the night train. Amy was catching the same train, but we were on different mini buses so we decided to meet at the train station. I got there and waited...and waited, I was at the point of giving up when Amy finally arrived. Turns out her mini bus had forgotten to pick her up. After a bit of mucking around we managed to convince some Vietnamese guys to change compartments so we could be in the same one. I’d heard some horror stories from other tourists about noisy or disrespectful people on the train (we were in 4 bunk compartments) so was glad that the two Vietnamese guys in our compartment just went straight to sleep.
I’d actually spent a day in Hanoi before going to Sapa. I didn’t have that much time to look around then, but did join a street food tour run by Hanoi Cooking Centre. The tour was great, we got to try lots of different foods and the other people doing the tour were really friendly. It was a good introduction to Hanoi. I don’t think I would have been so keen to try the street food by myself, but after doing the tour I was confident about ordering food from street stalls. Plus it is a great way to save money, the street food is a lot cheaper than going to restaurants and tastes just as good or better.
On my second trip to Hanoi I focussed more on seeing the big sights and the museums. I went to the temple of literature (bit disappointed- seen better temples in Laos), Ho Chi Mihn’s mansoleum (was closed, but did have a wander round the presidential palace complex), Hoan Kiem Lake, and a couple of museums (ethnology and womens museum). I found the ethnology museum really interesting, especially after spending time in Sapa. The Viets make up about 85% of the population with the remainder made up of about 50 or so ethnic minorities. The ethnic minorities all have different traditions and wear different traditional costumes. It was interesting reading about all the different groups as well as checking out some of the traditional houses in the grounds outside the museum. I timed it right to catch the water puppet performance (only on weekends).
A few things about Hanoi and Vietnam
- The traffic is mad, apparently there are 3 million motobikes in Hanoi (for 8 million people). When crossing the road its best not to look...just hope that it goes around you.
- A red light doesn’t mean stop.
- Exercise in the city includes: randomly swinging your arms around (favoured by the older generation) and badminton (played on the street and footpath, without or with nets...until they snare a motorcyclist in the net).
- There are almost no dogs, only a few very prized pets. This may have something to do with the fact that they eat dog meat.
- On every corner there seems to be an informal motorcycle taxi. I did a lot of walking in Hanoi and the number of times I heard “motorbike...madam motorbike...madam” (and waving their hands) must have got into the hundreds.
- Posting packages from Vietnam is a lot easier than from South America. There is quite a bit of paperwork to fill out but they package it up for you...no need to find random boxes on the side of the road as had to on our travels.
My last few days of the trip were spent in Halong Bay. I heard that it was worth paying a bit extra for a good tour company as there are some pretty cheap and nasty operations that run tours in the bay. Being by myself, many companies make you pay an extra single supplement (up to 50% of the price). To avoid the single supplement I booked the trip at the last minute. When I got on the boat I was quite surprised to end up with a really good cabin at the bow of the boat. An Australian couple who also booked last minute also ended up with a cabin like mine and we were all a bit miffed why we appeared to have better cabins than others. Turns out there was one big drawback, at night while we were moored in the bay the anchor chain constantly banged against the front of the boat...right by our cabins. Because to the noise I got a terrible night sleep, but otherwise the trip was really good. We got to go kayaking and swimming (although the weather was not that warm). They also ran a few activities on the boat including having a go at squid fishing and a vegetable carving demonstration (the amount of time and patience that goes into the vegetable flowers used as decorations!). The highlight for me was visiting one the floating fishing villages in the bay. If the weather had been better I would have liked to do a longer trip (3 day) trip there. It is 4 hour drive each way from Hanoi to Halong Bay, a lot of driving for only an overnight trip.
