So long Vietnam, hello Singapore!

The next morning we'd packed and checked out, and got to Hanoi Airport well in time for our flight to Singapore.

Hanoi airport

We'd become used to the more comfortable climate of the north of Vietnam, and had travelled to the airport in a temperature of around 19C.  So we were unprepared for the shock of the temperature in the 30Cs when we landed in Singapore that afternoon.  R had to explain to me that Singapore is only 1 degree north of the equator.  I'd always imagined it to be closer to the Tropic of Cancer, so again my poor geography was demonstrated in bucket loads.

Once we'd arrived at R & J's house, we were shown our room, and then R suggested we head into Singapore town to see the sights.   Either my camera didn't like the new temperature or I'd not got the setting right for night time shots, but these are the best few of the 20+ shots I took that evening...

Ah.  Bright lights, big city!

Each night there's a water show - fountains and special effects including lasers and music.

Looking across the bay to the Colonial side of town - note the Singapore mascot, the water lion with the jet of water from his mouth.

Keeping it short tonight, been a busy day in realtime, and I'm getting over a stinky cold, so need to catch up on my beauty sleep!  

Night y'all.  Kat

Hanoi nightlife

At this stage of the holiday/adventure we'd become more confident in going out to eat unchaperoned in the evening.  We found that most of the Vietnamese we encountered could manage some English, either as a courtesy, as we were obviously racially foreigners and English would be a good 'lingua-Franca', or as a safe bet so that they could sell us something.  Either way, we took a taxi ride away from the hotel and found a place to eat, and did a bit of people watching as well.

Street food - noodles

ah.  I love the smell of the durian fruit in the evening

pavement parking seemed pretty normal - a bit hazardous if you're taking everything else in and not looking where you're going...

Cafe-bar in Hanoi, overlooking the Red Bridge in the park

The Huc, meaning Morning Sunlight Bridge - see this link to Wikipedia for more information:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho%C3%A0n_Ki%E1%BA%BFm_Lake

Tom thought the Cafe band were really cool, and they kindly let us take his photo with them.  They were singing covers of blues, R&B songs in English

This was the end of our Vietnamese adventure, but not the end of the holiday.  The next day we took to the sky to fly down to Singapore, which is where R and his family live, and was the reason for us making the trip in the first place.

Kat.

Ha Long Bay, part two

There was an early morning yoga on the top deck before breakfast, so I made my way upstairs to give it a go.  About 6 of us copied the leader, who was all dressed in white, and had a CD playing peaceful meditative music to aid the ambiance.  After about 20 minutes we'd all finished, and I had to smile to myself as the yoga leader swiftly changed out of his white robes to reveal that he was in fact one of the cooks.

Early morning from the top deck

the view to Dao Ti Top - you can see the temple / viewpoint on top of the island, and the beach where some of our party went swimming...

The next activity on offer was kayaking.  So we boarded the transfer boat and headed off to join in.  

This was the Ha Long Bay taxi for those not kayaking

Their first time in a kayak!

Water monkey

another water monkey

In the lagoon

Lagoon entrance/exit

Piccadilly Circus?

Now the pith helmet makes sense...

Ramming speed?

Kayak station

kids will be kids!

 And all too soon it was over.  The activity was well organised, and I'm sure health and safety issues and risk assessments had all been fully addressed, but there seemed to be a distinctly more relaxed, old fashioned, grown up approach to the whole shebang.  And it was all the better for it.

We returned to our boat, had lunch, packed, paid the onboard expenses, and then set off for shore and the coach transfer back to Hanoi.

I will never get over the VietNam wires!

 On the way out to Ha Long Bay we'd noticed a couple of war cemeteries, so I asked if we could stop at one on the way back.  Having visited the Military and War Memorial Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, the 'American War of Aggression' was still fresh in my mind, and as with all war, the tragic waste of life on all sides needed to be remembered and commemorated.

No words needed.

another scooter.  The sign google translates as:  'promote cultural tradition and way of carrying money, rich districts build beautiful modern civilisation'

It's getting late.  Hanoi nightlife next time.

keep it real y'all!  Kat

Ha Long Bay, part one

The Vietnamese Tourist Industry is rightly exploiting their natural treasure(s) in order to bring prosperity to the country.  Ha Long Bay is a must-see tourist destination, and the rest of the tourists boarded their respective boats and sailed off.  We boarded our junk, which slept about 30 people in total, and sailed off in procession to find our mooring spot.  The weather was overcast, and somewhat cooler than the south of the country, but comfortable compared to the UK at around 18 degrees C.

This is what our boat looked like, with the transfer junk towing behind it

Our room was comfortable

Sailing towards the islands

Bia Ha Noi - Hanoi Beer

After lunch on board we were taken to one of the islands to see a famous limestone cave.  Whilst not my favourite of pastimes, it would have been amiss to miss it.  As it was the cave was immense - much larger than any cave I'd been in on the school geography trips in the late 1970's.

Nice to see what Ha Long Bay looks like on a sunny day...

The view from the entrance to the cave - we'd climbed quite a few steps 

So, then we went into the depths of the island.  This part of the holiday for me felt the most manufactured, the most packaged, but I can't see how else it could have been presented without spending a substantial amount to reserve a more exclusive part of Ha Long Bay (if that option existed).  So we queued and followed our leader into the cave.  The size of it can be judged by the figures in the photos.

Stalagtites or mites?  Not easy to get a good focus on the camera when you're conscious of not losing your guide.

Slightly better focus here, good lighting colours.

And then what else would you like to do when in Ha Long Bay - how about swimming?  In the rain?  Yep, our group were the only people on board who opted for swimming, so we took the transfer boat to Dao Ti Top island, and the brave went for a swim.

Tourists from another boat, gain admission to the island to climb to the summit to take photos

The island is called Dao Ti Top after the USSR cosmonaut Giec Man Ti Top who visited it with Ho Chi Minh on 22.11.1962.

Our transfer boat waiting to take us back.  The bowl of water is to wash the sand off people's feet to prevent taking it on board the junk.

That evening we were given a cookery demonstration in the dining room, where the chef cooked about 3 dozen king prawns in vodka over hot rocks.  Unfortunately I had my camera battery on charge in the bedroom, and couldn't take any photos.  As we went to bed that evening I took a wobbly watery impression of the shimmering lights of another boat in the bay...

Ha Long Bay's natural darkness interrupted by boat lights

That's the end of day one in Ha Long Bay.  More next time.  ttfn.  Kat.

Time flies

Err.  Well, this is embarrassing.  I've not blogged since forever, not finished the posts about VietNam, and it's almost a year since we went there already.  OK.  Skip to the chase.  I've not died.  No one's died. Life just got .... busy, I got distracted, there were a multitude of other things to do, which is not an excuse, just a reason.  Anyhoo, as they say.  Where, exactly, where we?

We left our sponsored child, and drove back to Hanoi.  The next day we packed again, got into the minibus and were on our way for a 4 hour drive to the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay.  This long journey was broken up with a half-way comfort stop for Services which as well as toilets and food, had a full shopping experience, including (to our bewilderment) an opportunity to buy your marble statuary.

There was clothing, crockery, jewellery, nik naks, art, kitchenware, food, postcards and more....

The rate to ship to Oxford = £96.  Actually seems quite reasonable....

I'm fairly sure we weren't supposed to take photos of the pieces on display... but sometimes you've just got to bend the rules a little...

We resisted the urge to buy, got back on the minibus, and passed through a fairly industrial zone,

 then we passed through more rice fields.  We stopped the minibus in order to take photos.  I like the man with the dual watering cans.

LUSH!

Blurry chickens on scooter shot!

We then arrived at the departure point for Ha Long Bay.

We were not the only ones....

More next time.  Kat.