Vietnam

Hanoi

We got off the plane and were greeted by someone from our hotel at the airport. The hotel is definitely worth mentioning, and staying at if you are ever in Hanoi. The place is called May De Ville and just opened three weeks ago. Private rooms are on sale right now for 20$ a night complete with full bathroom (a real shower OMG), twin beds, fridge, safe, flatscreen TV (finally some Gray's Anatomy), and air con. This place is amazing. One thing that stood out was the Westerner who was greeting people as they came it. Turns out the manager is a guy from Alberta who is travelling SEA and got stuck in Vietnam after he was offered a job here. The hotel is beautiful but the streets are even more lively. Motor bikes and cars are everywhere, you have no room to walk on the sidewalk and you need to watch your toes or else they'll get run over. We arrived at the hotel, dropped off our bags, showered and headed out to a local restaurant that was recommended by the Albertan. The place served the biggest margaritas I've ever seen followed by fresh spring rolls filled with shrimp, glass noddles and cilantro (fish sauce sweetened and spiced with sugar and chillies served on the side), and authentic Vietnamese Pho which were all amazing. We headed back in the direction of our hotel and stopped on "the beer corner" which is literally a corner of the street that is filled with plastic chairs and beers are served for 1$. We were well warned that people are not allowed to sit on the street so when the police pass by everyone grabs their chairs and squishes onto the side walk until they pass. We had a beer and then excitedly walked back to our hotel, ready to enjoy staying in such a luxurious (and amazingly cheap place) for the night. Tomorrow we leave bright and early for Ha Long Bay.

Ha Long Bay
Ha Long means descending dragon. The bay was named this because it is believed that during a war between China and Vietnam, a dragon descended from the heavens to help the Vietnamese win the war, and once the war was over, he thought the bay was so beautiful he decided to stay for eternity. Katie and I were picked up by our bus at the hotel at around 9 am and driven the 4 hours to Ha Long town. We were dropped off at the pier and boarded our cruise ship. Originally we had asked for a cruise that consisted mostly of young people but in the end they upgraded us to a better ship so we didn't complain (we were saving 50$, just our luck!). We boarded the boat and were pleased to see how beautiful it was. Our rooms were small but very nicely decorated and most importantly had air conditioning (that only ran from 5pm - 7am, however). We cruised through the 1960 limestone islands and eventually the ship's captain threw down the anchor. We were told our first activity would be going to see the Amazing Cave. Once inside I was surprised to see just how massive this cave was. The biggest part could hold over 10,000 people. the cave was formed by an underground river, but now the sea level is lower and the cave is what remains. We learned that stalagmites and stalactites grow at a rate of one cm every 80 years and that this cave is millions of years old. UNESCO has built stairs throughout the cave making it easier for tourists to visit (a little too touristy). It was a breathtaking site, especially with the colored lights that have been installed to help illuminate the massiveness of the cave.

Cruise boat similar to ours



View from the boat





Ha Long Bay



Amazing Cave



Inside the cave



After caving we headed back to the boat for dinner. I cannot even begin to describe the food on this boat. The plates kept coming. We were served Vietnamese food by the platefull. Every meal consisted of at least 8 dishes, served with rice. Katie and I were in heaven. We tried everything from stuffed crab and steamed prawns to pumpkin soup and sliced dragon fruit. We met some students from Singapore, two of which were also in medical school so we talked to them until 10:30, discussing the differences between the medical system in Singapore, Canada and the UK where they study. We then moved onto lighter topics and talked about what we did for fun and what the social life was like in our parts of the world. We also asked them if they had heard of Epic Meal Time (Montreal group who makes YouTube videos of meals with extraordinary amounts of bacon) and of course they had. It always surprises me how fast things can travel around the globe.
The next morning started with breakfast at 7:00 followed by kayaking to a bay that was only accessible by a small boat. Ha Long Bay is a an amazingly beautiful place and it is no wonder it is a world heritage site. We spent the rest of the morning cruising past islands back to the harbor and tanning on the sundeck (in 35C weather). We lunched at 11:00 (again, the plates just kept on coming) and then said a final goodbye to the crew as we headed back to Hanoi.

Tanning on the sundeck



Houseboat
Sometimes families of 4 lives their lives on these boats, making a living by fishing



Ha Long bay at night