Well, she's gone (sob sob) but not forgotten. We had a lovely time and a great trip to Vietnam. Here's how it went:
We got to Bangkok airport early, in plenty of time to find out that our flight to Hanoi was delayed one hour. Typi - bloody - cal. Never mind, we'd still be in time for a wander around Hanoi. As it happened, by the time we got to our hotel everything was closed except a place down the road called "The Pub". I got a beer, a souvenir t-shirt and food-poisoning. The latter was a pleasant surprise which began to take effect the next day. The "Classic Street" hotel:
..was very pleasant, in a French-colonial kind of way.
One of the first things we noticed about Hanoi was the style of driving. Basically it's the opposite of Thailand, in that everyone constantly uses the horn. I found this very annoying needless to say. Other things about Hanoi are in fact very similar to Bkk, for instance their ability to carry on as normal in situations which would bring western society to a shuddering, self-important halt...
..also their belief that there's nothing wrong with making money from someone else's genius..
Anyway, next morning after breakfast (which was nice in a French stylee) we boarded the bus for our four-hour trip to Ha Long. Problem one: I started to realise that last night's chicken was probably better the night before, or the night before that. Problem two: the Vietnamese, when presented with 23 tourists, see no problem with sending a 23 seater bus, leaving no room for luggage, and in some cases nowhere to put your legs. Problem three: there was an arch-complainer on the bus, masquerading as a smooth talking Lebanese guy called Mr. Khan. More of him later.
By the way, it had been raining hard since midnight and showed no sign of letting up. Between that and Mr Khan moaning, and my worsening stomach upset, I can't say this was the high point of the holiday. By bedtime I had horrible waves of stomach cramps and a temperature. Happy holidays!
On the way to Ha Long our tour guide Mr Sun did some very charming talking about Vietnam and about Ha Long. He was a complete star and definitely made the whole weekend more enjoyable. Here's a pic of him
Sun had a terrible time with Mr khan for the whole weekend but dealt with it like a seasoned veteran. Hats off to him - I'd have probably belted the smooth-talking, whingeing shyster. Upgrade this, free that, you owe me etc etc. It went on all weekend.
Luckily only four people had booked to stay on the Junk ..
...for a second night, so we didn't have to put up with Mr Khan on the second day. That day is the one we will remember, as it was a beautiful sunny day and we went off in a smaller boat and had a lovely peaceful day swimming, kayaking and visiting caves. Our companions for the day were an American Father and Daughter, Eric and Ashley (hello you two - I told you I'd make you famous!). We'd met them at dinner the previous night and noticed that they had a similar dislike to Mr Khan and his manipulative behaviour. It turned out we all had lots in common, and got along very well for the rest of the holiday. Here they are posing with Lyn on our day out together:
More snaps from the day:
..Lyn posing with the beautiful bay in the background..
..we'll go here, here and... er... here.
..No wonder her shoulders were sore next day..
..Our boat, our Kayaks. The meal they made for us on this boat (yes it has a kitchen) was truly wonderful.
.. sunset in the truckstop, as Eric called it. There are over 400 Junks using Ha Long Bay for overnight holidays. Needless to say it's quite crowded closer to the harbour.
Anyway, that day was over in a blink, and guess who had returned for another night on the Junk? None other than Mr Khan. We considered asking Sun to put Mr Khan on another table at dinner but thought better of it, which was a mistake. He was next to Lyn, and made two major errors which blotted his copybook completely in Lyn's eyes - namely touching her at every opportunity, and lighting up a cigarette immediately after the meal (which he complained about all the way through, needless to say). After dinner we had some cocktails and talked to our new mates until I began to slur my words, then carried on talking anyway. All in all a great day.
..I'm sure I asked for a Blue Hawaiian...
Next day was all about getting back to port, getting on yet another overcrowded bus (16 in a 16-seater this time) and heading back to Hanoi. We had another night in the Classic Street Hotel, then spent a day shopping, mooching about and drinking coffee. Here are some highlights:
..by now it was raining again...
..a lot...
..an awful lot...(yes that is a coke machine in a lake)..
Our flight back to Bangkok was delayed by nearly two hours, which meant we got to bed at around 2am. Lyn had a fittiing the next day for her party frock, of which pictures to follow.
In other news, I heard today that I'm off to the platform on monday for a 5-day stretch. I don't mind, I'd only be relaxing otherwise. Grumble grumble. On the work front, things have now quietened down somewhat and I have the chance to sit back and consider how tired I am of the whole expat work thing. I can't wait to get home but it looks likely to be some time next year before that happens. Ho hum. As they say in contracting, grin and bank it...
Be good.
We got to Bangkok airport early, in plenty of time to find out that our flight to Hanoi was delayed one hour. Typi - bloody - cal. Never mind, we'd still be in time for a wander around Hanoi. As it happened, by the time we got to our hotel everything was closed except a place down the road called "The Pub". I got a beer, a souvenir t-shirt and food-poisoning. The latter was a pleasant surprise which began to take effect the next day. The "Classic Street" hotel:
..was very pleasant, in a French-colonial kind of way.
One of the first things we noticed about Hanoi was the style of driving. Basically it's the opposite of Thailand, in that everyone constantly uses the horn. I found this very annoying needless to say. Other things about Hanoi are in fact very similar to Bkk, for instance their ability to carry on as normal in situations which would bring western society to a shuddering, self-important halt...
..also their belief that there's nothing wrong with making money from someone else's genius..
Anyway, next morning after breakfast (which was nice in a French stylee) we boarded the bus for our four-hour trip to Ha Long. Problem one: I started to realise that last night's chicken was probably better the night before, or the night before that. Problem two: the Vietnamese, when presented with 23 tourists, see no problem with sending a 23 seater bus, leaving no room for luggage, and in some cases nowhere to put your legs. Problem three: there was an arch-complainer on the bus, masquerading as a smooth talking Lebanese guy called Mr. Khan. More of him later.
By the way, it had been raining hard since midnight and showed no sign of letting up. Between that and Mr Khan moaning, and my worsening stomach upset, I can't say this was the high point of the holiday. By bedtime I had horrible waves of stomach cramps and a temperature. Happy holidays!
On the way to Ha Long our tour guide Mr Sun did some very charming talking about Vietnam and about Ha Long. He was a complete star and definitely made the whole weekend more enjoyable. Here's a pic of him
Sun had a terrible time with Mr khan for the whole weekend but dealt with it like a seasoned veteran. Hats off to him - I'd have probably belted the smooth-talking, whingeing shyster. Upgrade this, free that, you owe me etc etc. It went on all weekend.
Luckily only four people had booked to stay on the Junk ..
...for a second night, so we didn't have to put up with Mr Khan on the second day. That day is the one we will remember, as it was a beautiful sunny day and we went off in a smaller boat and had a lovely peaceful day swimming, kayaking and visiting caves. Our companions for the day were an American Father and Daughter, Eric and Ashley (hello you two - I told you I'd make you famous!). We'd met them at dinner the previous night and noticed that they had a similar dislike to Mr Khan and his manipulative behaviour. It turned out we all had lots in common, and got along very well for the rest of the holiday. Here they are posing with Lyn on our day out together:
More snaps from the day:
..Lyn posing with the beautiful bay in the background..
..we'll go here, here and... er... here.
..No wonder her shoulders were sore next day..
..Our boat, our Kayaks. The meal they made for us on this boat (yes it has a kitchen) was truly wonderful.
.. sunset in the truckstop, as Eric called it. There are over 400 Junks using Ha Long Bay for overnight holidays. Needless to say it's quite crowded closer to the harbour.Anyway, that day was over in a blink, and guess who had returned for another night on the Junk? None other than Mr Khan. We considered asking Sun to put Mr Khan on another table at dinner but thought better of it, which was a mistake. He was next to Lyn, and made two major errors which blotted his copybook completely in Lyn's eyes - namely touching her at every opportunity, and lighting up a cigarette immediately after the meal (which he complained about all the way through, needless to say). After dinner we had some cocktails and talked to our new mates until I began to slur my words, then carried on talking anyway. All in all a great day.
..I'm sure I asked for a Blue Hawaiian...Next day was all about getting back to port, getting on yet another overcrowded bus (16 in a 16-seater this time) and heading back to Hanoi. We had another night in the Classic Street Hotel, then spent a day shopping, mooching about and drinking coffee. Here are some highlights:
..by now it was raining again...
..a lot...
..an awful lot...(yes that is a coke machine in a lake)..Our flight back to Bangkok was delayed by nearly two hours, which meant we got to bed at around 2am. Lyn had a fittiing the next day for her party frock, of which pictures to follow.
In other news, I heard today that I'm off to the platform on monday for a 5-day stretch. I don't mind, I'd only be relaxing otherwise. Grumble grumble. On the work front, things have now quietened down somewhat and I have the chance to sit back and consider how tired I am of the whole expat work thing. I can't wait to get home but it looks likely to be some time next year before that happens. Ho hum. As they say in contracting, grin and bank it...
Be good.
wonderful prose as usual, where's the video?
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