Hanoi Bo'n (accents missing)

Been here so long now we're fluent. ;-)

So, where were we? Ah, still on Cat Ba waiting to go to floating restaurant. It was FAB. Best meal we've had here. We just offered them 100,000D (about US$7) and asked them to provide a meal for us. We had small salt and pepper crayfish (looked like scampi), squid, a whole sea bass, some yummy asian vegetable, spring rolls (different from all the others we've had, as usual) and a plate of fries! Needless to say, the fries did not get touched, but everything else was demolished! Sitting on the porch of a floating restaurant looking back over the shore with the flashing disco lighting and hearing the occassional sound check on the huge sound system... :-) This whole event was perfected by the man who rowed us back to shore in one of the woven, tar-bottomed boats we've seen in the floating villages (it was a motorised boat to get out there, no newer but less quaint).

The second night in the hotel was as blissfully quiet as the first. :-) Breakfast was a badly done as all "European" breakfasts here. But we had the fabulous entertainment of witnessing one british woman go completely bananas at the wait staff. Because she was shouting and swearing at them in English (which they barely understand in a slow careful voice, explained a couple of times) their response to her was laghter... which incited more rage. Man was she pissed! In fact, it seemed to us that she had the same trouble I did the previous day... getting some jam for her toast, when she'd ordered the eggs. The trouble was that she didn't "get" the solution quickly enough (offer to pay... which, by the way, never did turn up on the bill). And the waiter must have poiinted animatedly to her eggs, and touched them (by mistake, or because it's not such a big deal to touch peples food in Vietnam). She went ballistic about him poking his fingers in her food... etc. etc. etc. Later we heard that it was probably the same woman who had trouble with the hotel restaurant the night before (while we were having fab dinner on a boat). It seems she wasn't getting the service she ovbiously thought she deserved. We think she's in the wrong country!

The trip back to Hanoi was pretty uneventful. The day was clear to start with and we watched islands and fishing boats slide by, whilest reading our books. It fogged in, until we had true pea-soup fog as we neared the Ha Long City wharf. Our boat obviously didn't have SATNAV because we zigged and zagged all the way back into the bay to avoid hitting other boats, and trying to follow someone who knew where they were going. We found a military looking boat going in a staright line eventually, and followed that home. :-) The one interesting event on the way was when our boat pulled alongside another one and our guide was trying to transfer us to the second boat (which had better deack chairs on the roof). The other boat had broken down, so we didn't transfer (the passengers on the other boat looked rather like they would have liked to switch the other way). Not sure what it was all about, maybe a cheaper fare? But the owner of the boat we were on was trying to convince us to stay on his boat, rather than follow our guide. Yeah right!

We had lunch at the same restaurant in Ha Long City. Not as good this time, but still pretty good. Then we bussed back to our hotel, which had sold out (despite our reservation). Fortunately they did the right thing and taxied us at no charge to a sister hotel. It turns out that our new room is easily as good as the old one, and we slept until 7:30AM before the light and traffic woke us the next morning!

Went for an emergency stroll before dinner to find a chemist to sell us distinctly illegal looking drugs for Flash's sore throat. Don't be getting sick Flash, we have two days of cycling on the Mekong Delta starting Friday!

Then we went for dinner at Highway 4 with Lan Anh and husband (sorry still not sure how to spell his name). This was a place I'd heard about but didn't realise we were at until we left. It was good. Of course. Owned by an ex-pat Aussie I think, but the chefs were obviously local. :-)
Thursday's agenda is seeing the last of Hanoi's hotspots, and buying fake Nikes for Flash. :-)

More later
GBFSB

P.S Did I mention that neithe one of us can walk very well. downward stairs are a killer on all those screaming muscles from yesterday's hike. Getting off the boat at lunch time was fun. There was so much traffic (boat) that we couldn't get close to the steps. So we had to climb up (ouch) onto the side of our boat and jump down (wearing heavy packs, ouch ouch) onto the next boat, and then repeat the process a couple more times until we got to the jetty. Thursday's tourism is going to involve a lot of taxis! :-)