We didn't depart from Yangshuo until after 6:30 pm Saturday evening. And when we got to Guilin we had to wait until midnight to catch a bus to Pinxiang. We left our bags at the travel office and walked the streets of Guilin that we were familiar with in search of food. I won't tell you where we planted ourselves, but it was satisfying!
When midnight came we were yelled at by a guy on a moped to come with him. We followed him over 8 lanes of traffic to a taxi that swiftly took us to our bus. Luckily, there were two sweaty beds left for us to take over. The people that got on shortly after us had to lay in the aisle. Phew! After about 4 hours of driving we stopped at a bus stop and I just assumed it was a regular stop. I had to use the bathroom so I got up to go, then I notice Mel is being yelled at to get off the bus. This was our stop to get off the bus and onto another bus. Luckily, this bus was very clean. Almost brand new. With only four other passengers on it. We got about three hours of sleep before we were woken up to more shouting to get off the bus. Of course there was a lovely taxi just waiting for us.
We had no idea where we were or where we were going so we just hopped in and let her lead the way. When we finally got to the border 20 kilos later, she demanded her money. She tried to charge us double for what she told Mel to begin with, but we only had so much so that's what she got. We walked to the border, waited for 2 minutes at the gate for it to open, then went through the procedures. Customs. All that good stuff. Now we are finally out of China. And into Vietnam. On the Vietnamese side were taxis waiting to take us for all that we had. We asked to be taken to the bus station, instead we got taken to his friends mini van company. Here they wanted to charge us triple for a bus ticket to Hanoi. After trying to bargain and threatening to leave we got somewhat of a better deal and said to hell with it.
We waited. Waited some more. Once the van filled up with other passengers and brand new suitcases to be sold on the streets of Hanoi, we were on our way. With the lovely sounds of a 13 year old girl puking her brains out every 30 minutes. Then proceeded to discard her waste out the window. That's just how they roll in Asia. If they only knew that plastic doesn't break down as well as banana leaves.
We made it to Hanoi in the span of 3 hours and it wasn't what we expected once we got here. Just another over crowded smoggy city with a million honking mopeds and not a sidewalk to walk on. Yet I find it to be very interesting. There is a lot of history floating around here. Vietnam has weathered war upon war, survived colonialism, a closed society and Communist rule, and come out alive and kicking as an intact culture. We visited the Hao Lo Prison Museum, ironically named the "Hanoi Hilton" by US POWs during the American War. The bulk of the exhibits focus on the Vietnamese struggle for independence from France. We got to see pictures of John McCain (don't vote for him, but if you do vote Republican he's the lesser of evils) being rescued from Hoam Kiem Lake among other things.
We also checked out the Water Puppet Show. Lamesky. No, it was cute. They had a live band playing traditional music, but the guy in front of us had the biggest head that we could hardly see a thing. I guess that's what we get for buying tickets at the last minute. We took a tour of Halong Bay. It has more than 3000 islands rising from the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. One of Vietnam's natural marvels. They want us to vote it to be one of the 7 Wonders Of the World. The islands are dotted with innumerable grottos created by the wind and waves and there are countless caves to explore. It was a nice little stroll along the water, but after being in Yangshuo, we've pretty much seen enough of limestone cliffs and caves.
We were definitely excited about leaving Hanoi to go to a more remote area called Ninh Binh. When we arrived here it was dead silence, then just before bed I hear trains honking and people on the intercom. Oh the lovely world of Asia. We can't get enough of the cheap beer and hot bowl of Pho for under $2.
The people are nice, but everybody is a salesman. And after awhile, you think they don't even see you as an individual, but more of a cash machine. Oh well. Everyone has to make a living, I suppose.
Today in Ninh Binh we rented a moped and drove to Tom Coc. Another place with enormous limestone cliffs. We took a paddle boat along the river and it was interesting to see the locals planting rice in the water fields. Man, do they work hard. And they get down and dirty while doing it. Knee deep in mud. While the "guides" are demanding a tip from us and boat vendors are trying to sell us sodas to give to the rowers (we read they just sell them back for half the price). For once we didn't get suckered into buying anything. We took a road less travelled to this ancient city that wasn't even worth visiting. But the drive was pleasant. And we had a couple of accidents along the way. Mel is okay. I however, almost lost both my limbs. I think she was doing that on purpose.
The next day we went to the Cuc Phong National Park to visit the Primate Preservation. I love monkeys! They take good care of them here. Some get to live in the semi-wild, while others are still caged because of their endangerment. We had a nice hike through the park. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any wildlife, but we heard some not too far from us. We got scared and scurried off. We were thinking it would've been a tiger or some other carnivore we read about in the pamphlet. That was a day's worth of work and by the time we got back we were pooped.
Later that night we hopped on a 12 hour bus ride to Hue. Of course we picked the two tiniest and cramped beds in the back so neither of us got any sleep. But when I did manage to pass out I woke up to a man rummaging through Mel's belongings. Luckily he didn't take anything. Luckily I woke up. Mel scolded him and I laughed. But it was kind of creepy. He was acting like he lost something. Riiiiight.
We wasted the first day trying to catch up on the sleep that we lost from the bus ride. But we took a boat tour down the Perfume River, which they say is the prettiest river in Vietnam. We saw more temples, pagodas and tombs. We met some nice people to chat with on the boat. That took up all of the day so we missed out on the Citadel.
It has been raining non-stop since last night.
Today we are heading down to Hoi An to get tailor made silk dresses. And from there it's off to the beaches.
