Vietnam, penultimate chapter: 'Ha Noi, Ha Long & Ha Ha'

It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

I had been looking forward to this part of the trip for months.

And really only mentioned in passing, but I would just like to mention it briefly:

That was by far the most expensive part!

However:

It's just one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. ;)

(More on that in a moment!)

-------------------------------------------------- ----

When we returned from Laos to spend some time together in Vietnam Hanoi simply swallowed us up that evening and spat us out again at some point the next day.

Guys, please, what kind of city is this???

It's absolutely insane what's going on.

And I thought Ho Chi Minh City was insane!

But I take that back.

Ho Chi Minh City, on the other hand, is almost a village.

Well, the traffic is actually worse there, but the rest...

Phew!

In any case, I now have a new favorite city. :)

My new favorite city is the capital of Vietnam and has about as many inhabitants as Berlin.

It's fascinating there.

Exciting.

Loud

Busy.

Wild.

Just start running and you can discover so much.

So much new.

So much crazy.

& bizarre.

This city just makes me smile all the time.

And I know from many that after a visit here they would rather give Hanoi a wide berth in the future.

That they are rather put off.

But I feel completely different.

And I'm definitely not alone in that.

Every alley you come to is drastically different from the last.

The houses look so interesting.

Even more interesting when the gates and doors are open and you can take a look inside.

You want to absorb everything.

And that's what we did.

On the first evening with Tatti we came to an intersection, a square, by chance.

Cars didn't drive there.

It was the weekend and traffic was partially blocked in certain areas.

The locals had loud music on.

So they met at this huge intersection and danced.

They just danced away.

Big and small.

Young and old.

Beginners and professionals.

It was a different world.

So beautiful.

So funny.

And so unimaginable for us.

In fact, at first you have the feeling that this is one of those cities that never sleeps.

But that is a fallacy.

And that somehow makes it even more exciting.

One minute it's so busy and crowded that you can't get through anywhere and then you just blink and suddenly the lights are out everywhere...the little plastic chairs that are placed by the dozens on every corner to serve people with cheap alcohol To encourage people to sit and stand, stacked up at the closed stalls and suddenly it's so damn quiet.

Really.

You hardly hear anything anymore.

At least compared to the 'before'.

You can hear a murmur here and there.

Scraps of words in foreign languages.

A laugh from somewhere.

But everything is so muted.

People sweep trash off the streets.

Remove fish and bone remains

Or other stuff that they stuff into themselves all day long.

And speaking of:

By the way, that day I stopped eating meat.

Not forever, I guess.

But I would call myself a part-time vegetarian now.

I actually completely forgot about it.

I knew that the Vietnamese have a slightly different culinary approach than we do.

That there are certain aberrations .

But that was all just theoretical.

Maybe you can imagine what it was like when we came into an alley that evening and there was something else on the grill instead of chicken.

Yes, you immediately recognized what it was.

I mean 'acted'.

We asked anyway.

Just to be sure.

Only to be even more shocked afterwards.

A guest of the horror stand answered because the 'cook', the lady of the house, wasn't particularly amused.

Made a dismissive gesture towards Tatti.

Looked angry.

All in all, she didn't look like she wanted to be our buddy.

Two stalls further on the horror went even further.

I don't get lost in details and for reasons of piety I won't publish any pictures.

But this much:

I still get sick when I think about it.

I'm not sure how Tatti felt about it, but Horror Alley (as I've since called it) felt dark .

The atmosphere there is just more threatening in a way.

Whether imaginary or not.

We were happy when we returned to friendlier areas.

And anyway:

"Dogs are friends, not food."

Why don't these people know this?

________________________________________

And while we were just feeling sick a few sentences ago, I'm taking this opportunity that presents itself and using it as a transition.

The next morning we started our last big adventure.

At least the last one together .

I actually booked us a cruise.

A small luxury cruise on Halong Bay.

This is basically THE jewel of Vietnam.

When you google Vietnam, one of the first things that always pops up are images of this impressive region.

The bay is an area with a total of almost 2000 high rocks and uninhabited islands.

Some of them several hundred meters high.

I once saw a picture like this in a Lidl travel brochure while shopping around 300 years ago and always wondered what it was like in real life.

And what shall I tell you.

My bucket list will getting shorter and shorter and it definitely gave me goosebumps to see the limestone cliffs for the first time.

There we were sitting on a bus.

A bus limousine that was supposed to take us to the Bay.

With seats like those in business class on a plane.

With all the comfort you can imagine.

Includes WiFi.

The journey took 3 hours.

Tatti slept the whole time and I was excited about what would happen in the next 3 days.

And I expected a lot, but not this.

I'm starting to be a bit of an exaggerator when it comes to accommodation and of course I didn't go too far and booked the most expensive cabin on the whole ship.

Right at the front.

At the bow.

Directly below the captain.

The room was just huge.

Nice.

Luxurious.

And equipped with a large terrace.

I was so happy.

These were going to be the best 3 days ever!!

Oh, I was stupid.

I'll give a spoiler:

I was happy when these 3 days were over.

The staff anticipated your every wish.

There was a mega hot tub on the deck.

And there was always food.

The ship is not in motion all the time.

Often you anchor somewhere in the bay and stand in one spot forever.

There is this mystical coastal landscape all around.

That's why it almost doesn't matter whether you move or not.

We enjoyed the first afternoon to the fullest and looked forward to the next one.

I was just so tired suddenly.

It was like the 'off' button had been pressed in my head.

From one second to the next it was over for me and I was already in a deep sleep before 7 p.m.

Tatti had to enjoy himself without me and I slept through the night for almost 11 hours...and that, dear friends, is absolutely unusual for me.

And it wasn't like I was well rested in the morning either.

I was almost as tired as the night before.

And anyway... Somehow... I sometimes felt... just for 1 second... a certain dimness ... really just a minimal dizziness, which was already over the moment I asked myself, what that could be.

After breakfast we should go to Cat Ba.

This was an inhabited island about 1 hour away from our anchorage.

None of the excursion boats took us there.

And that was basically the beginning of the end.

The beginning of all evil.

(In the truest sense of the word.)

A smaller boat usually rocks more than a larger one.

You can feel every little wave.

And actually the sea was calm.

It wasn't particularly windy and we were protected from the swell thanks to all the rocks, but the more minutes passed, the quieter I became.

Well, on the one hand it was because my homie was sleeping again, but on the other hand it was because I kept wondering whether I was really getting seasick.

The suspicion was confirmed when we reached a section of the bay that was a little wavier than the rest and the contents of my stomach wanted to say hello again.

Breathing exercises saved me from the worst and when we docked I was happy. (Too early)

We were on this island for about 2.5 hours.

2.5 hours during which I was sick to my stomach.

2.5 hours in which I couldn't tolerate any smells without feeling miserable.

Tatti's mosquito stuff.

The food in the restaurant.

Petrol.

No matter what.

I just couldn't take it.

Why doesn't this damn nausea go away?

I've been back in the country for a long time?!

I really didn't understand it.

When the others ate, I had to sit several meters away.

Almost cried.

I couldn't stand it and knew there were still about 5 hours to go back.

And then??

I'd be back on a boat then.

At some point the trip was over.

I was stuffed full of Vomex and Canadian pills from other travelers.

Nothing really helped.

Back on the big ship I just wanted to throw up.

But couldn't.

And anyway.

What should change then?

18 hours left until the end of the cruise.

For me it felt like 18 years.

I did not want to anymore.

I wanted a helicopter to come and pick me up.

I would have paid any price.

EVERY !

I had headache.

Stomach pain.

And then chills too.

I had to google it from time to time because I briefly thought it was something other than seasickness, but in fact those are exactly the symptoms.

Everything was fine.

Google said you often don't notice it at first.

That sometimes you're just tired at first.

In the end, in addition to the nausea, there can also be headaches, vague stomach aches and chills.

That the body is essentially fighting against poisoning.

Because he doesn't understand what's going on.

Complete system crash.

I lay in bed for hours.

Once again.

Tatti spent time without me.

Once again.

The next morning it was slightly better and I was happy to just be able to get off this shitty ship.

But.

Despite everything, I can only recommend a cruise there to everyone.

At least anyone who is seaworthy.

Check it out!

Yes, the sky was gray.

Basically all the time.

The water is not very inviting.

Basically all the time.

But

But

But:

It's just one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. ;)