23rd Oct 2010: Heavy hearted

Had an excellent breakfast at the rooftop cafe of the hotel overlooking the busy pier.

Then it was time to head back to the busy street of Vietnam and the honk beats. We reach the Ha Long Pier at noon and got our lunch. The lunch was comparatively the best out of what we had over the past days in the past short tour we had in Vietnam. I would highly recommend Huang to all those who are interested to take such package in Vietnam.

We finally got back to Hanoi at the peak hour. The traffic was crazy as expected. Our last meal was authentic Vietnam dishes in the downtown.

Our tour finally came to an end when we returned to our homeland on the 24th Oct. Back to reality and work space :S

No photograph for the days as we were exhausted after the long tiring journey.

22nd Oct 2010: Cat Ba...best place for sunset

Me and my roomies all woke up early in hope to be able to catch a glimpse of the early light. However we were disappointed after shivering for close to an hour to witness nothing...to console ourselves, we earned some time to catch some good shots of ourselves on the junk.

After a fullfilling breakfast, we were transfered out of our junk to Cat Ba island enrouted to another nice island on the park. It was a really calm and enjoyable island. We went biking round the island, passing through jungle, tunnel and paddy fields.

We were then transferred to our hotel, Holiday View Hotel on the Cat Ba island. After the lunch, we got the whole afternoon to ourselves where we went explore along the beach and discovered the Sunspa Resort on the other corner of the island.

Then we spend some excellent time on pier, witnessing the sunset. The sunset was perfect with a golden yolk.

Ended the day over cards and beers...hooray!

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21st Oct 2010: Best day of the trip

We were picked up early morning by our guide, Huang. He was very knowledgeable about their history. He shared about their 1000 years of history since the celebration banner was still hanging everywhere along our way as our past tour, we got free ride round the city. Though this was already our 6th day of our trip, the city still remained unfamiliar for us.

On our hours of bus ride, we had a short stop at a craft shop...an overprice shop. Tour agent should have avoided this as they are scaring every tourist off. Everything was sold 3 to 4 times the usual price....my yam ice cream was 3 fold.

We finally arrived at Halong City at about 11.30am. The harbour was really happening. Huge tourist crowds and tens or hundreds of big and small junk cruises and boats at the harbour. It didn't look as good as we expected for the smoky sky. However the expression of those returning ones ensure us on the total fun we could have here.

We finally being transfered into our junk cruise, Imperial Cruise on a smaller boat. The Imperial Junk was beyond my expectation. With as little as USD97 for 3 days/2 nights, I was expecting something more economical. Our rooms were all with a/c and water heater. The bed were comfortable and clean as well. It was better than APTez in Hanoi City.

On board, we were welcomed by the crew and each being given a cold towel and welcoming tea...kind of like the mild flower aroma of the tea. After the drink, we were served with lunch. As usual, we have French fries, fried spring roll, fried cabbage and fried chicken with onion but this meal was outstanding with the fresh seafood and tasted to our liking. We loved the squid, fish cakes and spring rolls...satisfying meal!

While we were enjoying our lunch, the cruise was sailing towards the Sung Sot Cave aka the Amazing Cave. The sky got clearer and we got better view as we got further away from the harbour. We finally disembarked from the cruise and started our hike...it was more of a walk with occasional stair steps than a hike. The cave has few huge chambers filled with all sorts of natural formation resembling the shape of dragon, forest, tortoise, elephant, Buddha and etc. It was nicely light...humid and cold...unlike in Gua Tempurung. The view from the top overlooking the small islands and floating house in Halong Bay was an enjoyable one.

Next activity was the kayaking. This was the best activity on board. I got on a solo kayak....was really fast on it as the water is calmer than the Batu Ferringhi shore. We enjoyed kayaking despite witnessing a kayak overturned by the waves of a moving huge junk. We also witnessed how fast the crew responded. We enjoyed kayaking and wished we could have longer time here but without those junk around.

Back in our cruise, we saw 'Ang Mo's enjoyed their swim so HJ and I dared to follow but not daring enough to leave our life jacket behind. When we got into water, we got shock. The swim seemed harder than we have imagined. The wave was too strong for us. It swapped us on our face. We struggled to swim to the front of the junk...15 minutes in the water seemed like hours on shore.

After refreshing up, we went to the upper deck for sun set. It was not very nice as it was blocked by the many 'Long's there. We enjoyed the breeze and scenery and wait till the moon moved in with a can of Hanoi Beer on hand...beer was one of the cheapest drink on the menu despite the pricey menu, it was still relatively cheap compared to in Malaysia.

For dinner, we got to enjoy BBQ food...yummy seafood, the squid was exceptionally juicy and tender. The salad was good too. With another can of beer, the meal is perfect till I retired to my room for a hotel shower.

Back on the deck and tried to fish for squid. Finally heard that it takes time for the light to play its role to attract the squid. Left idle for an hour while we were on cards. When we were back on jarrod, there were fishes and squids around. when SY finally got the squid on hook, suddenly the light just dropped and gave us all a shock. That ends our day.

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20th Oct 2010: Nice excursion but disastrous evening

We arrived at Hanoi Railway Station at 5am in the morning. Not sure if it was the lower berth that was more comfortable or it was because I was too tired. I have a good night sleep. I slept all the way till our alarms rang. That was pretty unusual for me when I was travelling. Anyway, Mr Anh was there to pick us up 5 minutes after our arrival like he has told us earlier. He arranged for a van to drop us back in APTez Hotel.

We arrived at APTez Hotel too early. The employees were sleeping soundly when we knocked on the door. We was hoping to check in early but there was no room available. They were kind to arrange a room for us to freshen up. We left the hotel before 7 and went round to hunt for food. We have yummy clear soup chicken phon. As my sore throat and cough were worsening I skipped the chili. The chili was good according to others but it wasn't for me :-( After the meal, we walked around then headed back to our hotel and wait for Perfume pagoda pick up.

At 8, our guide for the day, X. arrived to pick us up. Then we went zig-zagging across the city to pick up other tourists. This was the 1st time to get to see more of the city on broad daylight. We passed by the shopping area in the downtown. There were lots of branded stores there...Gucci, Cartier, LV, Mont Blanc...most probably I were to name all those branded brands to me, they would have it there. After leaving the city, it took us another one and a half hour bus ride to arrive at the river.

There were 5 of us and another man, most probably a Singaporean on board with X. Our boat was hand rowed by a lady in her 30s. Quite small size for a boat of 8. X was very humorous. He spoke mandarin very well. It was an entertaining ride despite the slow pace rower and under the roasting sun. He could still make drastic moves to shake the boat left and right to make our ride more exciting. The scenery was postcard like and marvelous.

When we finally arrived on the other land, we stopped by the counter to claim our cable car ticket. Many foreigner ops for hike up and cable car down to see more. We were too tired for hiking and to race against the cable car. The waiting time and travelling time on cable car was about 30 minutes while the hike itself would take about 40 minutes if we were fit enough. So we stick to our original plan of cable car as our legs were aching. At the stop, I got my 1st cream of the trip despite my cough. The weather was too hot and the green bean ice cream was just too tempting. Glad that I took for it was refreshing on a hot sunny day.

Arriving at the top of the hill, we still have to descend on a long staircase into the Tiger Cave. The cave have a tiger similar natural limestone sculpture at the entrance. In the cave a a typical Chinese temple. There were few goddess and altars for the believer. I was more fond about the limestone :D Then he hike out of the cave and back to the cable car station to head downhill for our lunch in a local restaurant.

The scenery seem better on downhill ride. It was series of green mountains, undisturbed forest with occasional huts in between. Under the clear blue sky, yes no more polluted grey sky as in the city center, this was the best outdoor activity so far in Vietnam considering the weather, environment and the difficulty level. I just love it!

At the bottom, we were served with lunch in a huge local restaurant. The back of the restaurant seem more like a shelter for the pilgrims during festive season. There were lots of empty room with a huge plank platform for resting. There were 1 or 2 more luxury rooms with thin mattresses. This restaurant cum shelter can easily fit over hundred of people.

The lunch seemed to be the worst provided by our many tour package agents. We got the usual dishes but tasted the worst. For starter we have deep fried spring roll and French fries. For main course, we were served with stir fried cabbage, stir fried chicken with onion and lemon grass, deep fried tofu and deep fried fish with white rice. As usual, most Europeans or Australians would praise that the meals were excellent when in fact, they got all the flavors from the additional soy sauce they have requested from the waiter. Half bowl of soy sauce sauce for 1 bowl of rice.

After our lunch, we quickly made a detour to the silver pagoda. This was one of the newest and best maintained temple I have seen in Vietnam. This temple seemed to have element of Chinese and Japanese architecture. The shiny red pillars and windows were astonishing Chinese while the pagoda and it's roof edge were like the Japanese. Under the blue sky, the silver pagoda just stand out. It was a satisfying spot for photographer like myself.

Finally it was time to head back. We got on our sampan again and the ride back was more comfortable as it wasn't that hot. The sunset view from the bus over the paddy fields was mesmerizing. It was a nice short excursion but lots of time spend on travelling. I was too tired that I felt asleep on the bus after witnessing the sunset.

We asked for a drop off at the lake area. We intended to head to KFC for dinner...just curious of their menu in Vietnam but this short detour turned out to be a disaster strike. HJ's camera was stolen from her back on crowded street. Lucky for her purse and passport were in safe. Anyway we decided to lodge a police report. Finding a police station was a challenge to us. The word 'police' was not common here. We finally learnt it from a hotel reception.

Arriving at the police station, our communication skills were put to challenges. No one seem to understand what exactly we were speaking. Only 1 young officer could clearly say 'I know. I know' when we asked if anyone speak English. Those were the only 2 English words from him. After long hand and body gesture communication, they finally got our intention and as usual they were reluctant to take our case.

They asked for hotel contact and got the hotel staff over to talk us into dropping the case. They told us that the camera can not be recovered. Cost incurred on us would be more that what the camera worth...guess they meant they were expecting some bribe to get those officer to hunt the culprit down. We didn't felt bad over the remark for this was not something new we learn about Vietnam and it wasn't our country after all. We were pissed when the hotel staff tried to condemn our country by comparing his friend murder case in Malaysia. Though he may be true to certain extend but when you hear it from him, you just get pissed off.

We have no choice but to drop the case. We headed back to our hotel while searching for food but have no luck. We ended our day with dinner at Hue where we bumped into a Korean with her local friend. They were so nice to show us the right way to wrapped our BBQ meat. Another 鬼佬凉茶, Hanoi beer!

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19th Oct 2010: 3 falls in a day

We started our day with a healthy and filling complementary breakfast from Thai Binh. We were served with egg omelet/scramble egg with French bread with local coffee/tea at Thai Binh Hotel. I have tea as I was coughing very badly and have bad sore throat. Decided not to put up fight against my throat.

Hien met us at 9pm. We quickly finished our breakfast, checkout from the hotel and on our feet towards the valley. Not to forget to mention here was the magically treat of Cinnamon stick. Hien introduces us to the Cinnamon stick. It was almost 1cm thick...guess tenth fold of what we normally use in kitchen back at home. He said that this spice can cure sore throat. So I got my share. It has mild sweetness and a little menthol and anesthetic effect...cooling and a little numbness. I proved to be at help for me.

The moment we stepped out of the hotel, we were swarm by the ladies in black/blue. The scenario was as though as we are honey and bees are all after us. The early of our journey was along tarred road downhill to the valley. The scenery of the valley from the high up was good. I could imagine that it would be better if the crop has yet to be harvested. Anyway it still worth our visit here. Along the way, we passed by the Rose Valley. It was empty as well all the flowers have been harvest for the Women Day.

Along our way, we met a lot of LIB. There were old and young. Some were too young to sell but yet she could still carry along a baby on her back. These children are really poor and forced to skip school over few dollars each day. :S We came across a pair of siblings that were farming on steep hill side, could be about 45 degrees. At one point, he almost slipped and some shouted out in fear for him. After about 4km, we started to dive on a muddy path.

I didn't have difficultly hopping around avoiding the mud spot and natural fertilizer until a steep slope. I tried my best to descent slowly but with my nike air sneaker, it was not helpful at all as compared to their rubber slipper. On the muddy path, my sneaker turned out to be a ski board. the narrow lines were filled with mud. So there I slipped and fell. Quickly, I was back on my feet again.

Then my 2nd fall followed, it really hurts. My reflex system did exactly like what KS done during our Balik Pulau field trip. I held my camera high and allowing myself to fall hard on my buttock. It hurts this time. After the 2nd fall, I decided to keep my camera safe in bag. Looking at my 2nd humpty dumpy fall, Hien offered to carry my precious camera for me.

I continued the rest of my hike with her help...shitly I fell again at another narrow and steep path. Ouch...my buttocks!

After 1 and a half hour and 3 falls, we finally arrived at flat land. By then we have already arrived in the Black Hmong Village. She showed me her house from far, it seem simple and small in between those paddy fields. So after purchasing some pricey souvenir from her, we bid farewell.

We finally stopped at a local operated restaurant by the river side. That meal was remarkable. It top our list of worst meals in Vietnam. The noodle soup has very strong meat smell despite having pork only. The pork taste 10x smellier than what we usually have. I have to force myself to swallow the noodle dry...avoiding the meat, soup and the bad aroma from it.

After the noodle, we were back on track. On our way through the village, we passed by a primary school and hospital. Those children were worries free. They just love his company. The remarkable part of the hospital was the small steel box right outside, looked like a post box, hanging on the pillar was in fact a condom distributor point. The government gave out free condom and encourage them to use it to curb their over populated issue...Bravo! This project should also include STD transmission prevention into its' objective.

Moving on into the 2nd village, there were less LIB. Most ladies are dressed in bright colour. This village also seem less crowded and has more business opportunities. There were many shops selling locally crafted souvenirs. There were also slight change in terms of the architecture, more cement and concrete were used.

At the end of our trek, we passed by another primary school and a community hall. Those ladies and children seemed to be enjoying their time around their family members there. We headed back to our hotel at Sapa along steep and narrow winding road.

Then we were back in Thai Binh to collect our luggage and head to the Hoang Ha Hotel for shower. Glad that our agent already made arrangement for us to have shower there. It was so nice to have hot shower without have to worry about burning the hotel down. Then it was another less delighting meal at that hotel.

By 6pm, we left Sapa on a packed van through winding road downhill. Thanks to the reckless driver, I experienced the latitude sickness...my ear almost burst and I almost throw out. We reached Lao Cai at about 8pm and have to wait long till our train SP4 arrived at the station.

So this was my day. After the 3 falls, my whole body ached and hurts. I have to resort to take the lower deck in hope for a comfy sleep.

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18th Oct 2010: First minority tribe village visit

Even with the late departing, we still managed to make it to Lao Cai before dawn. We were alerted of our arrival minutes before the train stopped at the station. It was a quick packed up.

In the station, we were received by our driver. There were ten plus other who were with us on the bus. The scenery uphill was good. It kept getting nicer as we travel further up.

After an hour long bus ride along winding road uphill. We finally arrived at the Hoang Ha Hotel. We ate our breakfast at the hotel. The buffet was rather simple, fried noodles, fried rice, noodle soup and deep fried eggs. It wasn't to our liking, not because lack of variety but due to the tasteless dishes. The coffee was disappointing too...tasted like burned charcoal. We were thankful for not settling with this hotel as suggested by Anh during our reservation.

Then our guide, Hien came over to our table and introduced himself. He was a young man at about our age and with a smiley face. His command of English was much better than those that we have met in Hanoi this far. He then got his friend to take us to our hotel which I guessed was about half km away from where we were. So with big luggages, we braved the road under the light drizzle.

We didn't know what to expect from Thai Binh Hotel until it was within our sight. Looking through the wide glass door gave us all a relieve and a smile on our face. My first impression was this was a small cozy and warmth hotel. It was a narrow 4 story high hotel. It stood out among others with a natural tone furniture. The white wall looks best with the maple or perhaps white oak wood ceiling and reception counter. I love the fireplace too. Nice to sit beside it.

We got into our room, 302 but later to discover that we have got ourselves 3 rooms instead of 2. So I moved to 303. The room was as cozy as the reception. Each room was equips with a fireplace and an electric heater. The window opens to the pine tree wood behind the hotel. It was so simple yet very comfortable.

Then by 10am, we were back at the lobby to meet Hien. We headed to the Cat Cat Village. We were surrounded by many Black Hmong ladies along our winding journey down the valley. Their English were generally good and understandable. It was surprising that these ladies can speak way better than men in the city. Perhaps their encounter with foreign tourist really change their way of life. They were selling their handmade crafts.

Cat Cat Village is resided by the Hmong tribe. It was down in the valley about 4km away from the Sapa Town. It seemed that this tribe actually shares the same ancestry as the 苗 in China. We have a pleasure time hiking with Hien. We talked about so many things and learned that his hometown was actually under the flood water too. Other than the side talk, we learned the meaning of tea leave hung outside of the Hmong house. It symbolized solemn event in that family and guests were not welcome.

We walked through the paddy fields and houses to arrive at the breath taking Cat Cat Waterfall. It was a great spot for photographing but sadly my batteries were flat :-( The waterfall was our last site of the hike of the day. We hike up the valley and continued to the town on a charted army jeep. We were too exhausted after the bumpy night ride.

We have our yummy lunch at a conducive restaurant by the hill sight. The local dishes were yummy. After the late lunch, it was free time for us to wonder around and to rest. We walked back to our hotel but with a few pit stop. We could not help but to get attracted to the local pastries shop. Those chocolate tarts were so tempting. We did another stop at the Sapa Market. The minority tribes stores were all manned by ladies. They were all so busy sewing their traditional clothings and weaving. Impressive to see that the government gave them so much... assuming that they got it free...hahaha. We were back in hotel after buying few XL size fruits :D

I wanted to hike up to the Ham Rong Mountain but just couldn't get enough strength to go further. By the time I have enough of recharge, it was close to 5pm. It was getting dark and the hike up the hill seem like a mission impossible. So instead, we headed down to the the market. Glad that we all returned with bags and bags of triumphs. Shopping could be one of the best activities on a cold day.

We were back in hotel and waited patiently for Hien's pickup. He arranged for a Vietnamese meal in an Italian Restaurant. Again, the environment was very comfy. After the meal, it was shopping time again and again I returned with bags loaded. I got my best buddies sleeping bags. These were the best gift ever and I was sure we would be using them pretty soon.

Back in the hotel, it was hot shower time. I enjoyed mine but sadly the HJs got traumatized after a nearly blown off experience they got from the gas powered heater. The flame indicator was scary. We ended our night with Heineken beers, cookies and our chocolate tarts over few card games.

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