Hanoi and Halong Bay

We flew from HCMC to Hanoi, and it only took about an hour and a half. But since I had a cold, my ears refused to pop, and it was one of the most painful experiences ever! I thought I was going to die. But I didn't, and we found ourselves in Hanoi. We took a minibus into the city, which took over an hour, traffic in Hanoi is pretty much as crazy as Saigon. We were wandering around the streets looking for somewhere to land, and I was feeling really tired and sick. We walked in some place that looked nice, and the manager was there. He told us there was no availability, but he owns another hotel a few blocks down that we could stay for 50% off. So we hopped on motos and he took us to this other hotel, which was super nice!! We got a huge room with a flat screen TV, our own computer with internet, tea bags and a water heater, so I could have tea whenever I wanted, and a great big bathtub. Everything was clean and really nice! All for $25 a night - I was in heaven! I spent the next three days in that room, mostly sleeping, with intervals of baths, tea, or TV. Jordi was a trooper and spent most of the time with me, or out on the streets hunting for food to bring me. (There were no saltine crackers to be found, unfortunately). I didn't get to see much of the city, but Jordi walked around and took pictures for me ;) After 3 nights in our glorious hotel room, my fever finally left and I was feeling better. So we decided to get out of the city and take a tour to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is located about three hours from Hanoi, in the Gulf of Tonkin. There are thousands of tall, green islands dotting the water, and everyone is proud to let you know it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the morning after our 3rd night in Hanoi, a bus came to the hotel to pick us up. We got to Halong Bay around noon, and got on our boat. It was an old wooden boat, but it was really nice! They served us lunch, which was a feast of squid, fish, other interesting things, and white rice. We got to hang out on the lounge chairs on the top deck for a few hours as we winded our way through the islands. We came to a famous cave, and everyone got off the boat. Our tour guide took us through this cave, which is absolutely huge. It goes on and on, very spacious and cavernous. When we were through exploring the cave, we got back on our boat and got dropped off at a little place that rents kayaks. Kayaking was included in our tour, so we didn't have to pay seperately which was nice. Jord and I got a tandem, and it was sooo much fun cruising around the islands and finding little caves to paddle through. It was absolutely gorgeous, and felt like we were in a different world. We paddled back and got back on our boat, and everyone went swimming while we waited for dinner to cook. The water was warm and gorgeous, and it was really fun to get in and swim. Dinner was yet another feast of rice, and plates and plates of dishes that go with it. We met a couple fun people on the boat that we ate dinner with, and hung out afterwards as we went "squid fishing" (didn't catch anything).
The next morning they served us breakfast and we puttered over to an island called Cat Ba Island. This island is big enough to have a couple towns and roads. We got off the boat and onto a bus, which took us to a nature reserve in the middle of the island, where we all went for a hike. The hike was beautiful, but there were dozens of people in front of us walking really slow. So Jordi and I scrambled up in front of everyone else, had an awesome view at the top, and then scrambled down again before it got too crowded.
After the hike, the bus took us to our hotel, which was at the little town of Cat Ba. They fed us a feast lunch at the hotel, and then we spent the afternoon on our own. We found a beautiful little beach with white sand and warm water, and a view of dozens of little islands. We hung out there for the afternoon, and even found a cliff walk that was really beautiful. That night everyone had dinner at the hotel again, and after dinner Jordi and I walked all around the town. There is a little night market that we walked through, and a pretty boardwalk.
The next morning, we loaded up on the bus which took us back to the boat. We spent a couple hours on the boat heading back to Ha Long. Once there we were herded to a huge restaurant for lunch and then piled in our little bus for the ride back to Hanoi. We got to Hanoi in the late afternoon, and hunted around for another hotel. We found a good one, and then walked around the town looking for dinner. It was so nice to be able to walk around and not feel sick, and Jordi was glad to not walk around by himself. Hanoi is a crazy little town also. Motos are whipping around every corner, and every little house is a store of some kind. The people sit on itsy bitsy preschool plastic chairs to eat their dinners on the sidewalks, and it feels like everyone is either vying for your attention or about to run you over.
The next day, we walked half an hour to the Temple of Literature, an old University where Confucius once studied. It's an awesome building, and quiet - it was really nice to walk around. Afterwards we took a moto ride back to town, which is so much fun. When you're on a moto you don't have to worry about being run over by one - you just grab on and join the ride. Riding on a moto in asia should be ride at Disneyland. It would certainly be more exciting than Star Tours.
Anyways, we were walking around the lake when we ran into our friends from the boat! So we visited a temple with them and decided to meet up later that afternoon. We met at a place that is a really old house turned into a restaurant, it was really cool. We got fresh juices and hung out until they had to catch their bus.
The next day Jordi and I did errands (such as send packages back home, print out our e-tickets, find and ATM, etc etc) and then we found the taxi bus that goes to the airport. We waited for half an hour as the van filled up, and then bumped our way for an hour and a half to the airport. Goodbye Vietnam. Interesting, beautiful, chaotic country.