Ha long Bay - Goodbye Vietnam

We went on a trip to Ha long bay which on a sunny day is beautiful by all accounts, sadly we had no sunshine.

It's a 'must do' while in the area so we booked a day trip and this is what was promised:
8am pick up
3 hr coach journey
4hr cruise around Ha long Bay
No more than 16 people on the boat
No extra costs
No kayaking (or waiting on the boat while others did kayaking)
Sun deck with seats
Seafood lunch

This is what we got:
8:50 pick up
3hr 45 min  journey in cramped mini bus
1 and half hour of cruising
43 people on the boat
Boat stopped after half hour for locals to row us through caves at extra cost of $3 (if you didn't want to go you waited on the boat)
Another hour wait while people kayaked (which they pre paid for  with their booking agents)
4 seats on sun deck the rest of us sat on the floor boards
1 grilled fish between 6 people with some rice and noodles

What a rip off, and, as with most of the tours there is no come back as they deny all.

I am now in Luang Prabang Laos, I arrived last night at 7:30pm, I met a couple of girls at airport and we travelled here together, we met up this morning and spent much of the day walking through this tranquil town.

It is absolutely beautiful, I got a double room in a guest house with views over the river, it had a  power shower and breakfast included which I ate on the river side this morning, the views are stunning and the town so laid back, the contrast between here and Hanoi couldn't be more different - and it's hot!!!

I left a piece of my heart in Cambodia and I left certainly some of my nerves in the cities of Vietnam.
The mopeds and beeping of horns was continuous, trying to cross the roads with 6 lanes of traffic  and arriving the other side with your life in tact was an accomplishment in itself.
You literally had to walk right out into the traffic at a slow speed and let them negotiate around you.
I am so pleased to have left the madness behind.

It wasn't all bad, the Mekong Delta river market was wonderful and some of the other places were lovely but the big cities were not. And the grey weather up north, yuk!

Before I leave Vietnam behind there are a few stories to tell.

Before we went to Hanoi I decided to prepare myself and get some warm garments so I took myself off the the local cheap  clothes market. I was he only foreigner for miles.

As I was browsing a local lady tried to sell me clothes I didn't want by shoving them under my nose.
I said I was going to Hanoi and needed a coat and trainers and a scarf, not the nasty flowered shirts she was trying to sell me.
The only word she understood was Hanoi and before I knew it 10 or so stall holders were all laughing and shouting Hanoi Hanoi, rushing over with massive thick coats indicating that it would be cold.

When I got to the trainer section a woman literally got me by the arm and pulled me into her den of plastic, horrible cheap shoes and sat me on a small stool.
She took off my flip flops and began to put on every dam shoe she had, most of which were either far too small or big as well as being awful colours like pink with yellow stripes or black with red stars.
Every time I resisted she talked really loudly in Vietnamese (well, obviously) and kept saying yes, Hanoi, she was trying to force on shoes on that were 2 sizes too small.
The whole thing was really funny and I kept  laughing loudly at her persistence.
It paid off as eventually she managed to get me to part with my money on a semi ok pair, when I got out of her den another women tugged my arm and put it into the sleeve of  mans donkey type jacket saying Hanoi Hanoi.
I declined the offer and bought one resembling something you might find in Primark  and paid 4.50.

There was the time on Phu Quoc Island that we came back from the beach and  I left my one and only pair of leather flip flops outside the bungalow so as not to take sand in.
When we went to go out that eve there was only one to be found, we both started looking and had all the staff  hunting high and low around the gardens and bungalows.
By morning it was still no where to be found and I had to face to prospect of leaving without it and buying a plastic pair.
Then, by chance I saw it right over the other side of the complex under a sun lounger.
It had been taken by one of the family dogs and had been chewed on one side and had canine teeth holes through the leather.
After a repair job with needle and thread it was wearable so happy ending.

A funny thing we saw was  a place to eat called 'My Dung Restaurant' and would you believe they were selling steamed crap!
Truly, it was on the menu ( maybe it should have been steamed crab?)  We didn't go in to find out.

Speaking of food, it turned out that the cuisine was not as good as the guide book had suggested.
Maybe it was the language barrier but we never seemed to get what we ordered, at least half of the meals we were served were wrong.
A lot of stir fried vegetable dishes  included chunks of onion and green pepper which neither of us like, every time we asked for the dish without  half the time it would come with both or one of them included, luckily for me Frans is as particular if not more than I am so he would always say something.

They also never served 2 meals at once so one of you had always eaten at least half the meal before the other one arrived.
You wondered if they had any common sense as the hot dish would come before the salad or they would bring out the meat followed ages later by the veg or rice.
One time a  girl on the next table only ordered a baguette and french fries to make a sarnie (yes, she deserved all she got) firstly the chips came. then 5 min later she was brought a  toasted baguette cut into slices.
She said she only wanted a  baguette to make a sandwich 'yes, baguette' the waitress replied. After a lot of explaining that she just wanted plain bread the waitress went off again.
By now the fries were cold and the girl was stressed.
After at least another 5 mins, her boyfriend had long eaten his food and was now outside having a cigarette, along came a very toasted almost burnt baguette.
The girl left it and ate 3 of her cold chips.

One lunch time I ordered a seafood salad  described on the menu with carrot, green mango, tomato and lettuce. When it came it had no carrot tomato or lettuce but onion, green pepper and loads of crushed peanuts on top, why would you peanuts with your prawns?
After 3 attempts of having the salad taken away and  having  variations on the theme put on front of me I got the menu and pointed out the ingredients printed, to which the waitress replied 'oh! you want what is on the menu'
Hardly rocket science. Needless to say Frans had eaten his long before.

There are still Xmas trees, Happy Christmas wishes and decorations all over Vietnam. not sure when or if they ever take them down.

We went on a trip and I fancied an ice cream, I opened the freezer and took one out and it had clearly been defrosted and refrozen as it was misshapen, on inspection they were all the same.
The lady came over and said hello lady 30 Vietnamese dong please.
I told her that they were not good and handed her one, she yelled out to colleagues and there were 2 pr 3 of them rummaging through the freezer, when they found one only slightly the wrong shape (but clearly had been defrosted at some point) she said ok lady you only pay 20 Vietnamese dong.
I told her I wasn't even going to pay 60p for salmonella, bloody cheek of it.

One of my favourites is how you are sometimes addressed by what they are selling, so Frans has been greeted with "Hello Banana' which always makes me laugh, I have sometimes taken the title of 'Madam Tuk tuk' or 'Madam Coconut'.
Recently a seller came up to me saying 'Hello donut', I know I am not slim but there is no need to call me names!

So, the Laos chapter begins, so far so good, I won't mind spending a few days chilling out here,
Will get some photos up soon