30 Dec - Hanoi to Ha Long Bay

It was a night of horns, rocking motion and strange dreams on the train. I managed about a couple of hours though Kerry got a lot less with the 5am wake up. Outside Hanoi's train station it was still typically loud with taxi car horns as we bused it to our temporary hotel to store our main baggage and get some breakfast. There was added sleep deprived hassle of having to repack for the overnight boat trip.

At 7.30am we left for our first tour destination of the Hanoi Hilton or the city's old prison. We were in there before the cleaners! The Communist slant on the 'fair' treatment on US POWs was interesting. Check out the unusual souvenirs above.

Second was the Confucius temple which we'd just arrived at the same time with about 200 school kids. Lots of stone tablets on turtles being rubbed for luck. Hanoi seems a lot less intense than Ho Chi Min City but has more cars. The rest of the morning was a 4 hour journey by bus. It appears that the north of Vietnam is a lot more industrial with factories and power plants, passing through a town where everything was covered in coal dust. The roads are just as bouncy as before but with added traffic and riskier drivers seeing a few too close near misses.

Ha Long port was really busy with every boat leaving at the same time of around 12.30pm. The captain looked about 19 years old. As we pulled away there were at least 30 or more boats ahead or around us heading for the cluster of stone islands. However, the area was so vast there were plenty of routes and places to feel less crowded. There were so many photo opportunities I'm sure they'll make dull viewing after awhile. Even when lunch was being served I couldn't wait to nip out and take more pictures. The food was very tasty too but as soon as you felt full another dish would come out including the rice which would've been better as the first course.

After lunch we laid anchor at an island with a small beach so we could rent some kayaks and paddle around the island. Having never done this before we managed to make our way around but panicked slightly near bigger boats. Returned to the island for some sunset photos at the top of the hill and just relaxed at the sheer beauty of the place on the beach and boat.

Spoke to Long about how the Communists control the media and people learn about news etc. Word of mouth still goes on and the internet news from other countries is accessible. Only Facebook gets banned every so often. Like lunch, dinner was a feast that should've stopped before another belly busting 3 courses than actually needed with a lot food going to waste or rather the crew to eat. By 9.30pm everyone was too tired with the early start from the train and so went to bed.

Related articles

• 31 Dec - Ha Long Bay to Hanoi (gingerdjrob.com)
• Ha Long Bay, Con Dao Islands among best tourist destinations (lookatvietnam.com)