Hanoi and Halong Bay

So we arrived in Hanoi and nothing could have prepared us for how mental and crazy this place is...mum and dad had warned us and so had a few friends but really you don't appreciate the scale of the carnage until you witness it yourself.  A few of the common sightings in this city are...

• No lights at junctions cars and bikes just beep their horns to say they are coming through and basically its every man for himself.
• Millions of motorbikes everywhere
• Motorbikes with 4 ppl on them, 2 people and a child standing on the seat at the back, a cage of alive ducks, a man and a pig, a man and a fridge, 2 men and 2 ladders....the list is endless, think of the most random and unexpected thing to see on a motorbike and we probably saw it the people are mad (see some sample pics below!)
• Chickens/hens walking up and down the street like pedestrians
• A car doing a Uturn in the middle of the motorway with rest of traffic just driving around him
• Cows walking up the side of a road
• A family of geese trying to cross a road between motorbikes
• Cars just overtake things on the wrong side of the road and beep their horn expecting the car coming towards it to veer into the hard shoulder/dust on side of the road.

This is jsut a sample that I can think of now - you took your live in your hands every time you crossed a road but all in all it was a scary but fun experience.  

A sample of a small junction

Spot the people in the background with 4 ppl on their bike

3 people on motorway with a child about 4/5 on the front

A girl casually sitting sideways with 6 inch heels on the motorway going approx  50.60 mph!!

We visited the outside of a few museums as monday seems to be their day of rest and everything was closed we couldnt venture inside (no big loss im not a big museum person!!).  We sampled delicious food at a restaurant called KOTO (Know one teach one) which is a Jamie Oliver esq restaurant where they take in street kids and educate them in cooking and teach them English - the food is fab and its a lovely charity - hihgly recommend it if anyone is planning a vietnam trip soon!

We booked on the Hanoi Backpackers trip to Halong Bay for 2 days and 1 night, I was slightly apprehensive about the overnight thing on the boat after the recent death of people when one of the junk boats sank but apparently after that accident they pulled in all the boats and 350 were pulled in and only 120 were allowed to go back out again!! So we felt safe enough.  The boat was a banter boat really, during the  day we sailed out to swimming spot and did some jumping off the side of the boat - flipping scary as it was very high but it was fun - the water was salty which was wierd lol!! Then we went kayaking to a fishing village and caves it was fun but hard work!! In the evening we had a nice fish based meal and then some beverage orientated banter on the bus...it brought back old school dundee memories as they were very strict about the left hand drinking rule - it was good fun and a late night but enjoyable and nice to meet new people and have a bita craic.  The weather unfortunately was a bit dull and rainy on our trip but the place is still beautiful and gorgeous scenery we were really glad we made the trip out to see it.

Halong Bay

The boat we were on (and height we had to jump from - see the people at the top deck!!)

James and me pre jump! Lookin nervous!! 

We look a bit gay but we made it!!! 

Lovely scenery!

The next day we travelled back to Hanoi and late in the evening we flew to Danang ready to head out to Hoi An a beautiful beach resort and small town - we are loving it this is our first night here so more news on this will follow...but this is a taste of what we are going to wake up to tomorrow...its a tough life I know!

The private beach at our hotel

J got in the Hamock and it hit the ground...later in the evening the tailor in the suit shop said he should drink less beer and fit into suit better haha!! Very funny - he thinks this country is built for smaller people!

This picture is deceptive I actually did not hit the bottom surprisingly lol!! Those were our loungers on the beach beyond me!

So from a very happy NWJW I will check out for a couple of days sunbathing...hopefully the next pictures you will notice a difference in my skin colour (after the application of factor 30 on a regular basis of course!!)

Love

xx