Xin chao!
I love Vietnam! Probably more than China so far...the hot weather definitely helps...but the places we have visited are also pretty cool. We arrived in Hanoi about 10 days ago. The second we arrived the schemes began. The cost of the ride to the hotel ended up being far more expensive than it should have been due to a dodgy taxi meter. Alex refused to pay the full amount however as we weren't taken directly to the place we wanted to go. We spent ages looking for our hostel and had no luck. We eventually ended up in a hostel which was claiming to be the one we were looking for...they had just changed there name. I know this sounds like the most obvious con in the book, but the address and telephone number were both the same...it was confusing. They assured us that they had our online booking...they didn't. We ended up staying there, but it wasn't too bad. We only paid what we were quoted online for the other hotel which worked out cheaper than the price they were asking for.
The day after we arrived we headed for Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Unfortunately it was closed until the afternoon. We didn't bother waiting as we found out that Ho Chi Minh's body (the main attraction) wasn't there. In stead we headed for lunch at Kotos. The food was delicious. Most of the Vietnamese food we have eaten has been amazing, much better than the Chinese food. That night we met up with Alex's previous traveler buddy Bo, and he took us to this street restaurant type thing for pigeon! At first I was horrified...the two pigeons appeared...heads, feet, a fully cooked pigeon...(Shell Bell, your worst nightmare!)...I began on a leg, avoiding the feet at all costs...Surprisingly I ended up really liking the pigeon although I'm not sure I could eat it off the bone again. After dinner (and all the leftover food had been pushed off the table onto the floor by the staff members) we went for some drinks. Alex got very drunk and ended the night upset that Bo was going to remember him for having "a mop haircut". Haha.
Cat Ba Island was next on the list. Finally a beach! We took a boat trip around the island and were able to go canoeing for a little bit. It was unbelievably peaceful. Barely any boats or people. For a significant amount of time Alex and I were completely alone, and you couldn't hear a thing. The beaches on Cat Ba were also really nice and quiet. Unfortunately it was cold quite early so the tanning potential wasn't as high as I had hoped, but it was nice to be beside the sea. After 3ish days in Cat Ba we headed back to Hanoi to catch our plane.
We intended on staying in Nha Trang for at least 3 days...It is supposed to be beautiful...an ideal place to spend my birthday. When we arrived it was tipping down with rain. It rained for the majority of our 24 hour stay! The streets were completely flooded...check the photographs below. We couldn't really do anything else in Nha Trang but eat. I did however get a manicure and a pedicure for 2 pounds, cheap as chips. I was worried the bus wouldn't pick us up the next day considering the flooding and the rain...luckily it did.
Six hours later we were in Mui Ne, sunshine and beaches! Apart from our very quick trip to the yellow sand dunes, most of our time has been spent lounging on the beach. We met another group of travelers and have spent most of our evenings socialising with them...after yesterday night I am officially not drinking again for the rest of my life.
I had a very nice birthday, thank you all for my birthday messages! We were sat in a bar with live music as it turned midnight, and one of the guys got the singer to sing Happy birthday to me which was very nice. During the day I ended up changing all my plans and had no treatments at all! I attempted to windsurf, but stopped when I saw millions of jellyfish floating around trying to sting me. Swimming back to the shore was very scary...I swam for my life! I was able to watch 2 episodes of Eastenders as well and Alex couldn't complain once! We went for a very nice pizza in the evening and stopped at one of the fancier looking bars for a drink. I burnt my leg on a blooming bike exhaust though at the end of the night which wasn't very pleasant...I predict another scar.
Back to the beach!
xoxo
How come alex is riding up front on the moped, I think you should go on the front and alex on the back next time ;-)
ReplyDelete