Baileys saves the day

Once you understand and accept the fact that litter gets thrown on the streets to be brushed up in the evening, pedestrians are invisible when crossing the road, people speak using their horn more often than their mouth and most hotels and travel agents are out to scam you, it's possible to grow quite fond of this city. That's the way it is for me anyway. I think I was still suffering from culture shock during Tet eve but the 30 minutes fireworks display was really cool and we went back to our hotel to find free food and BAILEYS waiting for us at a mini new years party, coutesy of the owner. Someone must have been watching over us! Though they could have removed the plate of chicken on top of which was perched the animal's head!!!

We went to Halong City the next morning to catch a Junk (Pirates of the Carribean-esque boat) around Halong Bay. The drive there took us past some really nice places (paddy fields, narrow houses, mountains and a chinese dragon!) and when the mist cleared the boat showed us some really nice scenery. The Bay has hundreds of small islands dotted everywhere which made for a peaceful afternoon, and we met some really nice people including a really old lady travelling alone who was more than happy to share her life stories with us. We stopped at the gorgeous Amazing Cave which had a ceiling that reminded me of the moon and loads of incredible rock formations to oo and ahh at. We had opted to stay in a hotel on Cat Ba island instead of the boat - big mistake! It was gross, non-english speaking and the food wasn't up to much, and the nightlife was non-existent unless you're into your vietnamese karaoke! We were hoping to go kayaking and swimming the next day as the weather was better but apparently we couldn't because it was Tet (a suspiciously common excuse!), so we made do with some more island spotting before lunch and the journey back to Hanoi.

Our tours package included accommodation for last night but when we saw how skanky it was and the big fat cockroach lying on the floor we quickly found the nicest place we've stayed in yet, which I'm guessing is 4* and has a real shower with a door and hot water and everything! All for only 2 pounds each. Found some nice bars last night and today we hope to see the mueums and mausoleum etc before our night train to Sapa in the highlands of North-West Vietnam. I'm not counting on getting any sleep but hopefully we'll be surprised!