Hanoi Dos

Woken this morning at 4:45AM by a rooster next door and the start of the motorbike tooting competition. By 6AM Flash and I were both up... that is SOOO not like either one of us!! Of course, the hotel guys were still asleep on their fold-out beds in the reception area when we went down for "breakfast at 7AM before the tour". So, of course, the tour guide came for us a few minutes early and we weren't ready. Lucky we were the first pick up, so none of the time-conscious westerners were waiting for us...

Bus to tourist trap ("for handicapped kids" in huge red letters. Wonder what handicapped kids is in Vietnamese) on the way from Hanoi to Halong City and boat tour around Halong Bay. Passed small towns, pony and carts, the usual insane cyclists and motorcyclists. Of particular note the water bufflao and strange stacks of hay in giant toadstool shapes. ? I have been wondering what it is that causes business confidence to be high enough to fund some of the new hotels and other structures along that road... in between the broken down shacks and rice paddies (tended by women in conical hats, as you might expect).

Did I mention it rained all morning? Not a bad time to be in a bus I suppose.

Another strike of the Flash Custard.... boat tour started late (after fab Vietnamese lunch) due to engine trouble with our boat. An alternative (small!) boat was found, which took us only as far as the first island, before a bigger boat took up the chase. The "surprising" cave/grotto really was. The disco lights and fake fountains were the most surprising features! We have much footage and photos. The second cave was ho-hum in comparison, and we were being hustled to catch up with the group... who obviously don't have the appreciation for nature, and need to capture it on as many media as humanly possible, that we do. We are but slaves to our art. I hate group tours. Especially the whole "spend the day with foreigners instead of locals" thing.

Witnessed the floating houses... these people don't live on boats. They live in houses built on rafts. Tiny prettty deco coloured (like a lot of everything here) single room houses. Purchased the obligatory bananas from local boat peddler. And sampled the 'milk' of young coconut. It was very proper.

Finally arrive at Cat Ba as it was getting dark. Everything was going fine on the bus from the jetty to the hotel, until we came in view of the HUGE concert spotlights, the flashing neon street decorations and the Michael Jackson at 40000 decibels! Aargh, I'm in Hell... ;-)

The room is a suite. :-) But we are sharing the room with the two beds away from the street. Fortunately, I haven't had trouble with the aircon in this room. ;-) The shower has a curtain, for the first time. And the music from the street has stopped, has also the hum from the water heating unit. Sigh, maybe it IS heaven after all...

Well having had 5 hours sleep each night for the past 4 straight. I'm off to bed at 9PM. And I don't think there will be much motorcyle beeping in the morning. This place isn't very big. :-)

"Trekking" tomorrow. At the moment it seems like it might be just us and a guide. Now that would be something!!!

GREAT! Soooo much FUN!
Love and Hugs
GBFSB