Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sa Pa

Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa

Vietnam

We tentatively joined the back backers 'Rock Hard Rock Long' tour to Halong Bay. Fortunately our fears subsided when we noticed that the age gap wasn't as bad as we'd feared, although we did chop a few years off our age - pity Kerry and Sally kept forgetting what age we'd decided on!

We spent the first night on a junk ship and the other in "bungalows" on a Robinson Crusoe deserted island where our days were spent kayaking, wakeboarding, swimming and our nights playing drinking games and getting to know the rest of the gang. Our new favourite addition to drinking games is ""change clothes with the person on your left" - leading to some hilarious outfit changes, particularly Kerry, who was wearing only a dress and had to swop for a T shirt in front of everyone, whilst at the same time atempting to hide a bright green thong! We arrived back in Hanoi having made some great friends as well as a few more facebook friends and commended ourselves on taking the plunge with the 1985 + babies.

We then a few spent days in Hanoi waiting for overnight train to Sa Pa. We ended up having a huge night out with some of the Hanoi backpacker team at the Irish bar followed by a random techno-joint in the middle of suburbs with Vietnamese men dancing around with their shirts pulled up above their pot-bellies. We also managed to squeeze in a bit of culture and watched The Water Puppet Show, a uniquely Vietnamese art form where puppets literally dance on the water accompanied by a live traditional orchestra.

We spent 4 days in Sa Pa, a bustling market town nestled in the northern mountains of Vietnam, walking through rice paddies and ethnic minority villages of the Hmong and Dzo people. For once we weren't all vying for the sweaty beast bangle and Gayle was very excited to feel goosebumps for the first time in weeks!

Sadly this was shortlived. Hanoi welcomed us with outstretched 45 degree heat arms forcing us to set up camp in our favourite coffee shop. Against all sensible advice from those who'd made the border crossing to Laos before, the budget chose the 24 hour bus trip over flying. Apart from the 'charming' toilet stops and the locals sleeping in the aisle it wasn't quite as bad as we'd anticipated.