Vietnam: The North (Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sa Pa)

Vietnam started off sensational, namely with the fulfillment of a childhood dream. Walking out of the airport and being the person who is picked up by a well-dressed (in a suit) Asian with their own name card. Done! We went directly to our hostel (Hanoi Rocks) in the middle of the Old Quarter of Hanoi. In my cozy 14-bed dorm, I immediately met Will from New Zealand, and Rahel made herself comfortable in her 20-bed women's room. We arranged to meet for the first round of free beer at 6 p.m. in the lobby to plan the following days before we wanted to get to know the city better and enjoy some food and drinks.

Punctually for the free beer, we also got to know the rest of the hostel: Drunk Englishmen. Because of this and the weather forecast, we decided to change our planned trip to Halong Bay by one day and then go out with a few people.

There is chaos on the streets of Hanoi, with small restaurants, bars, people, and on the weekends there is a night market, which means a ban on motorcycles and cars. Nevertheless, we were fascinated and overwhelmed by the coherent chaos that unfolded in front of us.

We returned early to the hostel to be somewhat fit for the next day and to pack our bags.

It was a short night because at 7 a.m. we headed to Halong Bay, and a 14-bed dorm is not a particularly quiet spot, especially when sharing the room with 4 guys from Leeds who should have gone to sleep after the free beer at 6 p.m.

The 2-hour bus ride to the transfer to a speedboat that took us to our actual boat flew by, and we were able to catch up on some sleep (even though the buses are not European-sized, legroom is definitely a foreign word here).

Finally arrived at our boat, the adventure 'Cocktail Cruise' started with a welcome drink and an introduction to the day's program by our guide Thin (or however you spell it). It was a nice group consisting of 15 girls from different countries (Holland, Belgium, Germany, England), a New Zealander (who could have passed as Chinese), and us. To escape the initial small talk, we first retreated to the upper deck and enjoyed the landscape and tranquility to the fullest. Sensational view, beautiful islands, and hardly any other boats around us. Our journey did not go to the highest, most amazing, and famous islands, but we were traveling alone without encountering thousands of other tourist boats.

Our first stop was in the middle of nowhere to switch to 2-person kayaks and paddle for an hour through caves, a lagoon, and the open sea. We also caught sight of a monkey, so everything was included. Dreamlike nature, a bit of wildlife, and just a fun experience, especially in a group of women. Sensational! But we were also lucky because when we started, everything was calm and pure nature, just like the entire trip. However, when we returned, there were about 15 other boats full of tourists who were also ready for their kayak tour. That was everything but calm and pure nature...

So, let's get back on our Cocktail Cruiser and continue towards Cat Ong Island after a quick swimming stop. An incredibly beautiful island where we spent the night, which can accommodate 50 people and has four different beaches. What more could you want? The plan was actually to leave the next day around noon to have time to explore the island, but since a typhoon was approaching, we had to leave the island at 8 a.m. Even at night, there was already a good storm that took away some of our clothing.

We then went back first with a boat to the main island Cat Ba, and from there with a bus across the island to the speedboat. Not as nice as hoped, but you can't fool around with a typhoon. The typhoon eventually changed direction during the day and spared Vietnam, but you never know, and safety first still applies.

Back in Hanoi, we checked into a hotel for 2 nights for some restful sleep and enjoyed a hearty meal before going to bed early.

We used the next day to get to know Hanoi better and plan the following days. Sa Pa in the north with its world-famous rice fields was high on the list, so we inquired at a 'travel agency' or whatever it was (there was still a pharmacy in the back room) to find out what was available and how much it would cost, and in the end, we booked the tour again at Hanoi Rocks. For dinner, we arranged to meet Chloe and Will again, had an amazing meal (we were in a restaurant that only had 2-3 dishes, but they tasted sensational!), had a few more beers, and exchanged stories about Halong Bay and Sa Pa (they went to Halong Bay the next day, and we went to Sa Pa).

The next day, we checked out and spent some more time in Hanoi before taking the sleeper bus at 9 p.m. (actually at 10 p.m. because the Vietnamese are anything but punctual, unbelievable!) to Sa Pa. The sleeper bus is actually a cool invention, but you definitely shouldn't be taller than 1.75m to have a somewhat relaxed ride. Anything above the height of the Vietnamese (I would guess around 1.70m) is challenging, similar to buying a pair of shoes in Hanoi when you have bigger feet than shoe size 41, for men, that is. I think size 38 is already critical for women. Everything is tailored to the local market ;-).

We arrived in Sa Pa at around 4 a.m. and were allowed to 'sleep' until 6 a.m. After that, we took a taxi to our homestay, quickly dropped off our things, had breakfast, and at 8:30 a.m., the first hike with our adorable rice guide, Ku (or however you spell it), began. Our group consisted of 5 people, Beccy from Newcastle, Tom from London, Stefan from Linz, and both of us, all around the same age. A great group and also the perfect size, not too small (we also saw individual people with a guide in between) and not too large (there were, of course, groups of 20). Ku guided us over mountains, through the jungle, over kilometers of rice terraces, and across rivers. Incredibly beautiful nature, even though we were here after the harvest season, and it wasn't as green everywhere. We walked through small villages, through a school, and had our lunch on a big rock on some river. Nevertheless, we didn't encounter many people and other tour groups on the first day (we only met them all on the second day). So, we were lucky again with our route and also with Ku. We could ask her anything, like how rice cultivation works, how people live here, and even personal things about her marriage, etc. It was strange, though, that they live in wooden huts, practice animal husbandry and rice cultivation as they did 100 years ago, but they also own a smartphone and have WiFi. In the evening, after a super tasty meal in our homestay and a few beers (Stefan had definitely had more, I've never met anyone who drinks so quickly!!! Great talent, my boy!!), we had wild thoughts about the residents and why they no longer use the internet to simplify their lives. But in a village where the man chooses the woman and occasionally kidnaps her for 3 days (Ku's wording: getting kidnapped) to spend 3 days with the man's family so that the parents can judge whether the woman is worth it or not, and then go to the woman's parents (with money and a pig, the money is a dowry, and the pig is eaten at the wedding) to ask for her hand, the internet cannot solve all problems... Nevertheless, we had enough funny ideas and theories about what was happening there.

The next day, we were on the road for another 3 hours. Among other things, we visited a waterfall, which was naturally swarming with tourists, before being taken back to Sa Pa to take the sleeper bus back to Hanoi from there (departure at 4 p.m., so not much sleeping).

We arrived in Hanoi around 10 p.m., and after a Skype session with my niece Sophie for her first birthday (greetings to you, sweetie), we went out with the others because it was also Tom's birthday. And that ended up being celebrated more extensively than expected... Actually not too bad, if the next day hadn't been the departure day again...