Blog 21 – Annoyed in Hanoi, Happy in Ha Long, and Can’t sleep in Cat Ba

Cambodia was hard to beat… But, we had faith in the Kangaroo Café to pull together a memorable trip through northern Vietnam.  Our planning started with a blank sheet of paper, a couple of ideas, and then closed with a google picture search and a few friends’ recommendations. 

For us, Northern Vietnam was Ha Long Bay.  Do a quick google search and you will understand.  The problem was finding the right itinerary at the right price.  This was a big challenge.  Generally, I like starting with blank sheets of paper, but in this case it is very hard to find reliable information online.  Like any vacation spot, there are thousands of fraudulent “mom & pop” shops that promise the “best ever”.  Lucky for us one of Jacob’s soccer friends lived there previously and gave us a great contact.

We left Siem Reap late and arrived in Hanoi around 11pm.  We couldn’t pre-book transportation because of the Lunar New Year and relied on a taxi… this meant 7 people squished into 5 seats and 9 bags on top of Jacob in the back.  Traffic started ok, but then gradually built as midnight approached.  As it turned out, we were driving directly Vietnam’s version of Time Square.  We arrived at the hotel just before midnight, but the clock struck 12 just before all of us could enter the hotel… This meant we had to wait outside until the hotel owner arrived because he wanted to be the first person to enter the hotel in the new year.  During the wait we got to watch some pretty good fireworks and watch the owner pass out red envelops.  In the end, it was a cool experience, but totally frustrating in the moment. 

We had three days in Vietnam; 1 day in Hanoi, 1 day on a boat in Ha Long Bay, and 1 day on Cat Ba Island.  Day 1 started all wrong.  We didn’t know anything about Hanoi and everything we decided to do was shut down for the lunar holiday.  We wandered around a bit, looked for souvenir shops, and finally found a plan.  We spent most of the day riding golf carts on presubscribed routes to see the city.  New Year’s Day appears to be a heavy religious day and so every temple was open, but really nothing else.  We saw a church, experience the massive crowds of Hanoi, and dodged the traffic, but the normal routes were off the grid.  It was an annoying start in Hanoi. 

Driving in Hanoi is insane.  A different kind of insane that India, but on the same level.  In india, the quality of infrastructure that makes everything difficult… However, in Hanoi it is the volume of traffic and how the flow interacts with the crowds.  There aren’t any working cross walks and there is never a break in the flow… so as a pedestrian, you just have to start walking.  The traffic will ultimately swerve around you or occasionally stop, but if you don’t make the move then you won’t get where you’re going.  Working this out with three small kids was a challenge.  I think there are 1-2 pictures that paint the picture pretty well and Amanda and I got T-shirts that describe it. 

After Hanoi we started our journey to Ha Long Bay.  This place is a geological paradise.  The 3000 islands dot the landscape from Vietnam to China, provide homes to monkeys and fish farms, and about 790 tourist boats.  This part of the trip was cool.  It took a 4hr bus ride to get there from Hanoi, but our boat was waiting with a full 5 course meal for lunch.  The boat was perfect; not too big to be tripping over people, but also big enough to have the basic needs.  The food totally surprised us.  

First, we didn’t know it was included in the base price and second, it was good.  Our guides Max and Thuy were fantastic.  They organized a nice itinerary, kept everyone feeling engaged with good conversation, and were just good nice people.  We got lucky here. 

I don’t know how to describe Ha Long Bay…  It is a juxtaposed reality.  You have eye-popping beauty everywhere, but then also have a lingering smell of diesel exhaust hanging over tourist pollution floating on the water.  Too many boats and people.  It was really too bad.  Still we loved it. 

These two days were mostly just floating and relaxing.  We had a few stops at some fun spots for kayaking, boating through a cave, biking on an island (for a little bit), climbing a mountain, and playing soccer on a beach.  The evenings with Euchre and talking.  The Kangaroo Café didn’t disappoint, they served up a nice meal each day and filled the time with lots of stories. 

The most excitement came while biking.  For this excursion we jumped on a used (but, serviceable) bike and started for a ride.  Unfortunately, I didn’t check Jacob’s brakes quite well enough and he took a tumble at the bottom of a hill.  He fell, rolled 5-6 times, and tore himself up pretty good.  It could have been 1000 times worse, but lucky for all of us, it only left a few scrapes.  Still though – we opted not to press our luck anymore and ended the bike ride early. 

Our last night was on Cat Ba Island…  Quite honestly, here we expected a little more.  Jacob was still recovery from a nasty bike wreck and we were all ready to go home… so, we found a quick pharmacy for basic bandages and then found a fun little western restaurant for pasta and burgers. 

The downside to Catba was the hotel. What a wreck.  This place was built on a budget.  The walls were thin, nothing worked right, there were too many people staying there, and there was a Karaoke room right over our room.  I guess this is what you get when you travel during Chinese New Year. 

We left the next morning and followed a bit different route back to Hanoi.  It took nearly 5 hrs and it would have seemed longer if we didn’t have Euchre. 

Once we arrived in Hanoi, we planned a last minute souvenir grab for all of us.  The girls found stuff quickly (Tuk Tuks to support their polly pockets addiction) and Jacob eventually found Soccer jerseys on the street.  We gave each kids 10 bucks to spend and negotiate wisely… they did… highlighted by Jacob by scoring 3 jersey sets (shirt and shorts) for 10usd. 

We finished the night with a great Vietnamese sandwich shop (and one burger king value meal). 

Hanoi actually improved for us…  we found our second stop there to be much more endearing.  The traffic was still horrible and the city chaos is horrible, but for whatever reason we liked it more.

We left in the morning and found our way back home.  It was a great, great trip.  Not a bad way to kick off our first Chinese New Year.  

Picture 1 - Happy Captains:  Jacob and Caroline both got to drive our boat.  Pretty cool boat; lots of space teak, wood on the inside, and great chef on board. 

Picture 2 - Excursions:  It was a little like a cruise in the sense that we stopped periodically to do stuff.  At this stop we took a boat through a cave into the middle of an island.  It was fun.  Note Emily holding court with Jason and Terri. 

Picture 3 - Spectacular views:  Ha Long Bay is just spectacular.  The mountains peak up through the water like alligator eyes.  We found ourselves snapping picture after picture after picture. 

Picture 4 - Top of the mountain:  For this stop the boys ventured up the mountain to get a great view and the girls stayed on the beach.  I think both groups were happy with their decisions.  However, I think this spot yielded the best views of the trip. 

Picture 5 - Jacob nailed this one:  While on top of the mountain Jacob was trying his hand a panoramic pictures.  I think this picture is the best of the trip. 

Picture 6 - Beauty:  The sunset were good, but my bride is better. 

Picture 7 - Fun stuff:  We had two rooms on the boat.  The kids shared one room with two beds... we maneuvered them so that three would fit.  The rest of the pictures are just random stops; restaurants, Cat Ba Island art, and squid fishing boats.  The squid fishing is pretty cool.  Those boats have hundreds of lights on booms and they swing them over the water to draw in the squid.  Note:  Lyondellbasell (LYB) representing at one of our stops. 

Picture 8 - Jason and Terri are great travel friends.  We've been all over the world together.  My niece Addison gave me a great gift at Christmas... a leather name tag with my name on it.  We've taken it everywhere for pictures.  It is our little way of sharing travels together. 

Picture 9 - Could have been much worse:  This excursion was all about bike riding.  Unfortunately, Jacob made it all about bike falling.  He lost control at the bottom of a hill and went flying.  None of us were immediately next to him when it happened, but we got there very quickly and we saw it happen.  He rolled 4-5 times on the ground and scratched himself up, but came out better than expected.  That ended our bike ride. 

Picture 10 - Hanoi:  Vietnamese sandwiches are awesome... if you haven't had one, get one.  The traffic in Hanoi is totally unbearable; like the craziest you've ever seen times 10... and worse that India.  The top two "non-natural" causes of death are traffic injuries and electrocution.  The bottom-middle picture is from an interesting museum.  This was an old prison set up by the French to hold communists during the cold war.  When the Vietnam War ended, these folks were released and rose to high levels in the government. 

Picture 11 - More excursions:  There are literally thousands of islands here and I am sure that everyone has a story.  For Cat Ba, there was a gunner station at the top that we visited... and at another island, we went to an impressive cave that was used as a headquarters during the war. 

Picture 12 - Back home:  Vacation ended and we were wore out.  We spent one more day with the Sheltons and enjoyed downtown and the fake market.