Day 86 - Ha Long Bay

16.10.09

I've booked a tour to Halong bay as it is the only way that you can get to tour the bay via boat and spend a night out in the bay. The bus comes to the hotel just after 8am to pick me and a girl called Kim from Liverpool up and drive us to the bay. I have paid 40 Dollars for travel to the bay, 3 meals a day, the boat tour and a night on the boat, kayaking, trekking in Cat Ba Island on the bay, a night staying on the Island and the boat back to coast and then a bus back to Hanoi. All in all it's 3 days and 2 nights and coming in at less than £30, it's the cheapest option available (mid- 50 Dollars and top 95 Dollars), so I'm slightly worried at the quality. Apparently the lady at reception from whom I booked it all, said that out of every ten people only 3 are happy and about 7 complain, I push on anyway as it can't be that bad.

We get to Ha Long bay and are left for about 30 mins doing nothing as everyone else around us gets on boats, is this a sign of things to come? Our leader then comes along and puts us on a boat, which is actually very nice and then we set off. There are only about 16 people on the boat in total and we have a good sized lunch before touring around the Islands and visiting one of the caves. In the evening the boats drops anchor along with about 40 others in an area sheltered by Islands on 3 sides, which I am told is due to safety if there is a storm in the night. A couple of weeks ago there was a typhoon that hit and the resulting storm overturned a boat and several crew and tourists died, so I'm glad for the shelter. Everyone is in bed by 11pm, but I stay up a bit later and end up talking to the tour operator and some of the crew and then they bring out a fish stew which they just cooked and we all tuck in to a midnight snack. The stars out here are nice and falling asleep on a boat in such beautiful surroundings is definitely an experience.

Day 85 - Hanoi

15.10.09

I have a relative lie in this morning and wake up at 10am, having a cold shower as there is no hot water to be found, although the high heat and humidity of Vietnam make it quite refreshing. Into the cafe for my free breakfast included in the deal and I head off into the labyrinth that is Hanoi once again. After a brief foray to the north of the old quarter and grabbing some deep fried nibbles for lunch, I take a wander over to the Temple of Literature. It's a big complex and is nice enough, although compared to the vast expanses of the Chinese Confucius temples, or the sheer brilliance and colour of the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, it is rather plain. As per usual outside the temple the hordes of motorbike drivers and pedal powered rickshaw drivers hawk for your business and will actually follow you down the road. I find that talking to them in Chinese gets a look of confusion and surprise, followed by disappointment at the fact they can't communicate and then they quickly leave you alone.

Walking back to the hotel I cross over the railway tracks and then somehow manage to double back on myself and cross over them again. I think that it must just be a siding and so keep on walking, 30mins later I am definitely in the wrong area, having a look at the map doesn't shed any light whatsoever on my location so I decide to keep wandering. Another 30 mins later and I ask a security guard who must have been trying to actively be unhelpful and so I keep wandering. About 20 mins later and I hit a road on the map, it turns out that I have managed for nearly and hour and a half, to systematically take every turning that would put me as far away as possible from my hotel, but all is well as I know where I am going now and I head off down the road... Turns out that I don't know where I am going and end up walking the wrong way down the road only to ask another security guard, who is more than helpful and points me in the right direction and points out my error on the map. It takes me about 2 hours to walk back home, I was way way way off track.

I also find out today my brand for Geneva, I am in Global Design for System Professional. It's a 'prestige' brand for high end hair salons and professional hair care. My new boss encourages me to visit high end hair salons before I head over to start work, I'm not sure if I'm in the right place for high end.