Hanoi Revisited

Back to the chaos in Hanoi city.

We stayed at a different hotel when we returned and in the morning the alley turned into a food market!

It sold fruit, veg, meat - you name it!

Not stopping them playing a quick game of cards though!

This is the alley to the hotel.

This is St Josephs Cathedral - took us ages to find but was worth a peek!

The Opera house in the French Quarter, you can see the French influence in the buildings.

The Hoa Lo Prison was our next stop. It was  later sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton"!  It was a prison used by the French colonists  in Vietnam for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.

This was the main sewer  from 'death row' yard.  Some Vietnamese prisoners escaped through this way- its a good job they are tiny!

French Guillotine - nice :-(

Example of the prisoner shackled to the bed even in the cell.

Floating Village Ha Long Bay

After Cat Ba we board the boat again to return to Ha Long City.

See the guard dog having his breakfast outside- can't see that they get much exercise.

We stopped via the floating village, its hard to believe people still live like this! 

This lady was collecting clams.

This is the village school.

The kids just rowing home from school :-)

Another example of a floating home!

They even have floating shops that call door to door selling their goods lol!

Cat Ba Island.

The following morning we left the boat for a night on Cat Ba Island, Ha Long Bay.

We did a little bicycle tour of the nearby village & Hospital cave.

The view from Hospital cave.

Hospital Cave oozes historical significance, as it served as a secret, bomb-proof hospital during the American War

This was a fully operational hospital carved into the mountain.

There was treatment rooms and even a swimming pool! It also provided an area of training for the troops!

This entrance is so well hidden you would never know it was there!

Cat Ba was quite built up but round the corner we found this beautiful beach.

Even better was the stunning walk back from the beach with more views of Ha Long Bay!

Incredible :-)

Ha Long Bay.

Fantasea was our 'junk' boat for the Ha Long boat trip.

13 of us were aboard overnight!

There was plenty of space for everyone to chill out and admire the view and get to know one another ;-)

The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. 

The scenery was amazing as we had expected.

First stop was 'Surprise cave' .What's the surprise? The French arrived and said, "Mon dieu! Why, it is a cave!" Discovered in 1901, this very large grotto was used by Viet Cong as a hideout during the war with the United States. A short, steep climb up paved steps leads you to three chambers, the last being the largest.

The cave was magnificent inside with lots of shapes and textures.

When we got back to the boat the table was set ready for our evening meal.

First though, time to freshen up ;-)

Mark jumped from the roof of the boat & enjoyed it so much he kept going back for more!

We watched the sunset over this stunning bay.

After a seafood supper, time for karaoke, yikes !

Hanoi

We arrived in Hanoi late afternoon, ditched the bags and headed out to explore.

Back to the chaos!

How Random anyone for meat?  We didn't think so ...

We decided to get a birds eye view from this coffee shop,  it was amazing watching the traffic at work.

Getting busier as  night falls on Hanoi!

We set off early morning to Ha Long bay before the weather changes!

Hoi An

Hoi An is a beautiful city in Vietnam, it has an old town which is a World Heritage Site.

The Old town has some  beautiful buildings, this is the Japanese Bridge which was built in the 1600's before they left the city 40 years later.

We hired bikes to get around Hoi An in the mayhem traffic.  It was a good way to see the sights and even biked to the beach for the day.  As the traffic has no rules you just had to keep going through junctions without stopping which goes against all we know back home.

Hoi An is also famous for its silk, you can get anything you like made to measure in a day or two by its renowned taylors.

Yalys was Marks choice of taylor for his suit.

Check out what he picked for his suit lining lol!

'Mai' Kates tailor at work on one of Kates dresses.

You pick the type of garment you want, the material you like and they do the rest!

Kate wanted to bring Mai home - she was fab!

In the heart of the city is the Old Town,  full of winding lanes and Chinese-styled shophouses, which is particularly atmospheric in the evening as the sun goes down.

The lanterns are everywhere and  it is nice to sit & watch them come alive as the sun goes down.

The Old town lit up at night.

This is a little culture show in the old town which had the locals laughing.

Which lantern to pick!

An Bang Beach is 2.5km away from town so we biked it there.

We hadn't expected such a beautiful beach.  Definitely worth the chaotic & bumpy bike ride!

This may well be up there with one of favourite beaches!