Hanoi

 

So we were due to be picked up from our hotel on Cat Ba @ 8.45am and dropped to meet the 9am bus. So at 8.45am, along came a chap on a motorbike, when it became clear that both myself and Craig and all our bags would not be getting on that bike, he took the big rucksack and then came back for us. We haired along the main rd and pulled up in front of the bus that was then pulling away, "where is our bag", we said, "just there", said motorbike man. And there it was sitting about 20ft away on the pavement, nice!

Once on the bus it was about 45 minutes to the ferry and then about 40 minutes back to the mainland. There we boarded another bus which was supposed to take us directly to Hanoi. This bus in fact took us to the bus station at Haiphong where we sat on the bus for 45mins apparently for no reason. When we did finally got going i wished we hadn't, this is no word of a lie, the driver was a complete maniac and this is what we heard for four hours solid.

 

 

 

So by about an hour into the journey i had a banging headache, and was not a happy bunny. We must have stopped about 7 times and each time a rep from the bus company got on the bus with a clip board, walked up and down the aisle and then got off again. Considering there is a driver and another rep from the bus company on the bus at all times, this got a little tedious. Eventually 5 hours later we arrived in Hanoi, and we were actually dropped in a bus station which was a novelty. However when we got our big backpack out of the hold of the bus, it was covered in fish juice and absolutely stunk, and yes it had soaked through to most of our clothes, it just gets better and better!

After consulting the map and realising that there was no way we where walking to our hotel we jumped in cab, luckily agreeing the price before we set off. We got dropped at the end of an alley way, and about half way down was our hotel. Now for the last 2 days i had been trying to book flights to Sumatra, Indonesia, but the internet was shocking and the payment would not go through. So as soon as we got into our room, i tried again and again both my bank cards were rejected. Eventually i managed to get through to someone at the airline in Singapore and managed to book some flights for 1pm in a couple of days. So now off to explore Hanoi, but no because the lock on our door did not work, so for half an hour we sat on the step whilst the hotel guy jiggled and wiggled the lock to no avail. Eventually he said he would have to get someone to come and fix and that we could store our stuff in another room until then. Happy days, well sort of, except because of the whole bag fish situation we had, had to take everything out and wash the bag. So our entire collection of belongings then had to be lugged to another room before we could leave, typical. Our hotel was based in the Old quarter, which is a crazy place, so we spent a couple of hours wandering and then found something to eat.

The following morning we were on a mission to get Craig some trainers for trekking in Indonesia, as the pair we brought with us were stolen in India. We asked a few people where the shopping malls were and we directed to this amazing place. Not quite what we were looking for, it was very plush and only had designer shops, very bling.

 

 

 

 

Nothing there for us but it was nice to go into some proper shops, which we haven't done since we left home. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam and also its second largest city, most of the activity in the city seems to centre around Hoan Kiem Lake. This where people go to socialise and exercise, and its pretty funny to see lots of old ladies along the banks practising their Thai Chi.

In Hoan Kiem Lake there is a legendary urban turtle, Cu Rua weighs 200 kg and widely considered to be a deity that has protected the city for hundreds of years. In April 2001 the turtle was caught by dozens of Vietnamese soldiers after a first attempt to take the turtle in for medical treatment the previous month failed. This is a picture from the paper of him being captured, we didn't see him because the lake is really murky.

He was captured because photos of him with lesions and sores appeared in local papers. A cold, dry winter lowered the urban lake's water levels and pollution from nearby cafés and unusually high acidity levels in the lake also raised concerns. Cu Rua was then transferred to a specially prepared enclosure on an island in the lake to have some tests and possible medical treatment. is that it is one of the most endangered species in the world. Many scientists think Cu Rua it is one of four known Rafetus swinhoei turtles living today.

After a wander around the lake we found the market street selling all the fake trainers and picked up a nice pair of black Adidas for £10.

Then because we have not been to any museums in Vietnam, we headed to the Vietnamese military museum. On our way to the museum we came across this interesting street, and there are no warning signals, but at least you would never miss the train!

The museum was really interesting but a little weird to be honest, there were a lot of pictures of American planes being shot down and photos of captured American military personnel. But all in all it was pretty interesting to see the war from the Vietnamese perspective.

That evening, to be our last in Hanoi we had booked tickets to the Water Puppet Theatre show. Water puppetry is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play.

The show was really well done, and it lots of helpful narration as well to help you understand whats going on. It was really hard to take pictures, but here are a couple of the puppets they use and a little video of the highlights will follow when I can get it uploaded.

We then headed back to the hotel to pack up bag, which Craig had scrubbed with all his might to get the fish juice out, and all our clothes which had been washed by the hotel. Tomorrow we have a flights booked to Pekanbaru, Sumatra. We wanted to fly to Medan, but that involved a 9 hour layover in Singapore. So now we are flying to Pekanbaru and then booking an internal flight to Medan. We have had to throw away a few bits and pieces to get down to the one big rucksack and one little rucksack, to fly, but we got there in the end.

So next stop on the epic adventure is Sumatra, Indonesia, so until then........