Horner travels ... Of all the pages in a book, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport...

The saga continues - slept well despite the threat of a conductor coming to get an extra fare from us.  The sleeper train was very comfortable - after buses as not as bumpy and definately feel  lot safer. Around 4am I awoke and realised we were approaching the city of Hanoi. A few people had started to emerge from their cabins so I woke the family and got ready for our quick departure to try and avoid any staff. When our train came to a stop, our carriage doors didn't open and I began to see passengers from the next carriage (owned by a different company) moving along the platform. I directed our troupe throuhg to the next company ad left the train hastily. As it was dark and busy at the train sttaion with taxi drivers inside the compound, it was easy to sneak out with only 3 tickets. We told Nim to keep walking as we handed in our three tickets to two different porters - deviants! Then we walked through the dark streets of Hanoi looking for somewhere open to get coffee but found no where until we reached the  area of the bus depot with trips to Halong bay area. We ended up in a taxi which only took 10 minutes more to get there as the kids were tired having been woken so early. There we organised a bus to the dock area outside of Halong City. It was a hell of a ride - again. Adrian and I just kept shaking our heads and rolling our eyes at each other not being able to comprehend how people can have so little interest in preserving their own lives as well as ours. It turned out to be a local, not express bus, so we kept stopping to pick up passengers. The driver and his assistant were obviously desperate for more fares as they would swerve across lanes anytime someone was standing at the side of the road and shout at them to see if they wanted to jump on. Regularly, there was not enough seats and people were shuffled around us to make more room. Most moved without complaint and they never tried to move us. The bus hardly stopped to let people off - the assistant would jump off while the bus was still moving and throw the luggage on the ground and then push the passenger off  with little warning. They looked used to it but we were a bit worried about being rushed. Despite this, Ash left a plastic bag behind that had some fruit in it. He had put it on the floor instead of away after eating. Later we realised that he had also put his stationary and more importantly his beautiful diary of his trip along with all his tickets and mementos in the bag also. We tried to call them once we knew but they said they didn't see it. Some lucky kid got some tasty fruit and some pens. We found a hotel quickly and at a bargain basement price. Half the hotels were boarded up and there was the  feeling of a sad decaying suburb or ghost town. We were told this always happens in the off season. Along the foreshore was the same with half the cafes and markets stalls shut, the lockers rusting and the beach chairs falling to bits. Not a nice feeling. I was planning to go to the dock to shop around for a Halong tour on a  junk but Adrian ended up in bed with a fever and the shivers so I talked to the Hotel and ended up booking a tour through their agent and after haggling got 3 days, 2 nights with one night on Cat Ba and everything included - food , accomodation and tours as well as a tourist bus back to Hanoi after lunch in a restaurant by the dock for $290. That was $95 per adult and half price for kids and $3.50 each for the bus back. It seemed like a bargain after what I'd researched in Brisbane via the internet and the photos looked good with a beautiful bedroom and fancy bathroom on the boat, seafood meals etc. Later, as Adrian was still sweating in bed, we lovingly left him and went out for dinner in a local cafe which was cheap and cheerful. The kids shared spaghetti bog and I had giant prawns with salty lime and vegies - delicious.