We woke up as the train was arriving back in Hanoi. We went back to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and decided, since we were awake so early, to check out the local ritual that we'd heard happens every morning around the Hanoi Turtle lake: morning aerobics. We weren't sure what to expect, or how many people would be there. Jacob said he thought we were going to some small meet-up or club. Nope!
We walked by people aimlessly flailing their arms, old men using park benches to hold their knees as they did sit-ups, and others doing anything they could to keep their bodies continuously moving for long periods of time. Not wanting to miss out, we joined the biggest group we could find: about 35 older women (ages ~30-85) surrounding a young man doing laughing and smiling exercises. That's a surprisingly hard workout! And a great way to start the day. Since we didn't want to miss our bus to the bay (and since neither of us could handle more than 5-10 minutes of the aerobics, even the laughing kind), we skipped before the end of the class and headed back to the hotel.
The aerobics was funny. It's a little strange to see such a large number of people doing almost the same thing, but mostly separate from each other. We are probably wrong, but we decided that "go outside and move, and don't stop for 30 minutes" was probably a Communist mandate. And a good one. Glad it stuck. We could use some of that in the States. So maybe it's not just the rice and fish diet that gets southeast Asians so thin- maybe it's the aerobics at 6am!
Halong Bay Background: Going to Halong Bay was one of the few things that we were really looking forward to on our trip. Everyone kept telling us how incredible it is, and how we have to go. So we were really excited. We booked our trip out of the Rising Dragon Palace, our Hotel in Hanoi, which was a great hotel. But everything with the planning kept going wrong. It took 3 frustrating hours with the travel agent to actually book our trip. First, we agreed on a trip, but didn't know you have to "confirm." So they gave away our seats. Thanks. Then the second company (after we confirmed) just decided to cancel the trip entirely (we booked a 3 day, 2 night cruise; they decided, after they accepted our "confirmation", that they would now be offering only a 2 day, 1 night cruise). So we finally booked with the Paloma for a 2 day, 1 night cruise. Not what we initially were aiming for (we wanted the 3 day, 2 night-er), but we would take what we could get. The Paloma was supposed to be great, so we were psyched.
So on to the cruise. We were picked up at our hotel for our "3 hour trip" with a bunch of other couples. Just outside of Hanoi, our tour guide informed us that they had forgotten a family, so we had to turn back. It wasn't his fault, and he felt bad, so he stopped at a local store and bought us a round of beer and 'white wine' to apologize. (it was 9am, but appreciated all the same). We finally arrived to Halong Bay 5 hours later.
Immediately, you can see incredible limestone mountains jutting out from the water. It was spectacular and we understood why this was named a unesco heritage site.
We all boarded a small boat that took us to a bigger, old wooden riverboat that had been painted white. It was actually a beautiful ship with a cute room and balcony and and comfy deck furniture. It was perfect!
Of course, you have local women merchants selling wares. Someone must have told them "Americans love Oreos and Pringles", because half-way around the world, that's all they seem to try to sell.
We went to a meeting for all of us who just came on the ship and they told us the itinerary (kayaking, cave exploration, snorkeling, visiting a floating village, cooking classes, a welcome party on the deck) and some basic boat rules. They fed us lunch (and tofu that tasted and looked like pork) and we sat out on the deck. Our boat weaved through the incredible cliffs and it was amazing. About 30 minutes later (after 1.5 hours of being on the boat), we were all hurried into the dining room for an emergency meeting. "We have some bad news. We have to cancel the cruise due to weather. You can all either go 3 hours back to Hanoi or we will pay for a 4-star hotel in Halong Bay. Although the weather looks beautiful, the government is making all the ships go back because there is a typhoon coming." We were pretty surprised, but after all the other fun adventures we have experienced this trip we knew this was one for the books (at least for the blog).
The other passengers were very upset. Conspiracy theories floated around the boat including passengers having read stories on tripadvisor.com warning of the the "typhoon scam" and others claimed to have seen the staff working hard on the engine all afternoon and the ship was broken so they needed us to go back. We didn't know if we were going to have to pay, but most had already paid and were fighting for that. We were all scrambling for hotel rooms in Hanoi since Halong Bay was known to not be very nice and the cruise ship was not going to be able to take us out the next day either. Val was conspiring theories of her own. We both thought that it actually may be a blessing because 1. We had seen the bay. It was gorgeous and we won't forget it. But we saw most of it. 2. We were probably not going to have to pay (and using Jim Libby tactics we could have been paid). 3. We would be able to start the rest of our journey sooner!! So we enjoyed the boat for the next hour, they took us quickly to a huge cave inside a cliff that was pretty cool (and so they would be able to charge passengers for at least something), and we boarded the bus back to Hanoi, and 4. Because we were paying the high price of $40/night for our room in Hanoi, our Hotel, which initially said they were full, actually moved another customer's booking to their other hotel (not as nice) to make room for us. We assumed they gave them a deal somewhere else, and we appreciated having a place we trusted to go back to. We stopped at a random restaurant about half way for dinner and they claimed to have vegetarian noodle soup. It turned out to be ramen noodles with pork. Then, Jacob bought what looked like Rice Krispie treats but turned out to be covered in dried ham. We finally got home to our Hanoi hotel and went to sleep.
In Hanoi, we slept in and decided to take care of the boat issues from the day before. Haivng heard that the boat was charging everyone $60/person for the tour, we were not impressed. With inspiration from Val talking about the "Jimmy Libby" tactics, we decided what we felt comfortable paying for the day, tag teamed the travel agent and Paloma Company, and got exactly what we asked for. We paid them $30 each for the lunch, transportation, drinks, boat ride and cave. A novice performance, maybe, but we were happy.
We then set out for the city, smarter travellers. We first found the one western mart we knew and picked up some packaged foods that we could keep with us in case all we were offered was "tofu" pork. Those crackers were a huge addition for days! We found out that the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum (where he is cryogenically frozen and visible) closes early in the day, so we missed that. But we had plenty to keep us busy. Jacob wanted to see the "Hanoi Hilton" museum and Val had been expressing her desire for a "non-touristy" adventure. So we went to the Hilton (a little disappointing), and then went shopping for electronics (we thought electronics and computers might be cheaper in Vietnam since we're right next to China. Not really. Same prices, and the models are not the same ones we have in the states.) But it was still cool to be in a Vietnamese Best Buy type place and to see how the locals shop.
We got back to the hotel, had the most painful and aweful massages you can imagine (we basically paid them to punch and slap Jacob for a "Thai massage" and tapping session for an "NG massage." Neither masseuse understood us when we asked them to adjust, so we were just happy it was over.
Finally, it was time for our train to Hoi An. Instead of our 2 day tour of Halong bay, we had enough time to go check out Hoi An, a coastal ancient city in Vietnam known for tailoring and art. Friends had suggested it was fun, so even though there were no flights and the only way to get there was a 15 hour train ride in a 6 sleeper "hard bed" compartment, we booked it and off we went!
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