After Hoi An, we left very stressed as our tayloring wasnt finished (hopefully it looks good and arrives in London ok) for Hue. Unfortnatley we didnt get to do anything here becuase it was flooding! It was non stop rain for a good 32 hours! Water was up to our knees and almost coming into our hotel! Lucky we had a room with satilite TV! We did go out for some good curry that night so it wasnt all bad! We were also freaking out as we thought we wouldnt be able to get to our next destitation but it was all ok!
We travelled up to Hanoi and the rain had stopped! YAY! In Hanoi we were staying at a guest house that was in the middle of a food market which was exciting and also very smelly! There were ladies chopping up fish and meat and all sorts of things right at our front door! In Hanoi we walked around the lake and went to the Temple of Literature during the day and then went to a puppet show! It was pretty tacky but funny! Had to go! That night we had the BEST chicken Schnitzel for dinner! We were sick of asian food so went to an Aussie cafe for a feast! =)
After that we went on a 3 day cruise in Halong Bay! Its such a beautiful place! First day we cruised around in the Junk and then we stopped to go kayacking and also went in one of the caves. We slept on the Junk that night and then next day we stopped in at Cat Ba Island. We went on a very steap 2 hour trek/rock climbing adventure! My legs were KILLING me! We didnt read the itinerary either so me and lisa didnt take shoes! We did it in our thongs and almost lost them a few times! Once we got to the top we had a great view but because of the weather it was really foggy! In the afternoon we went a little crazy on purchasing pearls! Becuase they farm them in Halong bay they are CHEAP CHEAP!
That night our tour guide Jimbo took us all out to a karaoke bar! It was hilarious! The asians LOVE it! We all had a few too many to drink and i ended up singing about 10 songs! I feel sorry for the people who listened to me because I cannot sing!
Next day we just travelled back to Hanoi for our last night in Vietnam! A few of us from our cruise hooked up for dinner and then went to Funky Monkey bar for numerous cocktails!
Overall had a great time in Vietnam! Wish we had better weather up north but it happens. Halong Bay is def one of the highlights of our trip!
I definately WONT miss the car/moto horns and the crazy bus drivers!
