Vietnam - Heading to Hy Long Bay, direct but rough

We packed up and left our short stay in Hanoi, I felt I could have done with a few more hours. I actually was quite keen to see the dead body of Ho Chi Minh, but we really didn't have time. It was time though for our onward journey Easy,  heading to the coast for the sea of 1,969 islands - Hy Long Bay.

The journey was just a few hours by coach, so we made ourselves comfortable for the onward drive. Not long after leaving Hanoi on the grey, bleak highroads the heavens opened and the driver forged through torrential rains but this wasn't as bad as the way Vietnamese drive. The roads are full of potholes, and while they are meant to drive on the rightm if the driver wants to get somewhere fast he will take centre location between the two lanes and at full speed (of around 50km) swerve around Tuk Tuks, mo-peds, cars and lorries and should an even bigger vehicle be coming in the opposite direction will swerve right at the last minute to avoid a collison. I couldn't figure out if they are excellent drivers or totally insane.

We were being thrown left and right and it wasn't worth looking forward outside the drivers window - so I buried my head in a book.

We arrived in Hy Long Bay around 7pm as the sun was setting, it was very much dusk. The skies were a purple grey and the islands smoothly jutted out from the water, as was described, like "a dragon's back spikes as it descends into the sea." On the beach it was quiet, and romantic, not somewhere for a lone single man to be gazing into the placid evening sky. The water rippled gently and tourists were making their way to dinner. I had to wait to the morning to discover the true adventure in those 1000's islands.

The evening we dined on local fish, another 12-dish experience, giving me chance to explore as many different varieties of fish as I could for the first time in my life. Following food, there is little to do in Hy Long Bay. Walk along the bay, it's quiet yet warm. Stop and gaze at horrendous Vietnamese karaoke, burn your ears and move on. Shop in the tourist markets and barter to get a good deal. Head back to the hotel for an early night.

Next day, we hopped on a boat and headed out to the bay. Another overcast day made it somewhere cool, a mild 21/22 degrees. We made our way to some caves between the maze of jutting islands. Admittedly if the weather was clearer I would have been in my element, the water was an exciting green and the rock formations did put me somewhat in awe - but the weather lost the sparkle it would otherwise have. Keen to take photos, the images that were coming out weren't so impressive either - so I resided to chill out and follow the tour.

We cave walked, deciphered stalactites and stalagmites and the limestone interiors that at one point had also been submerged in water and battered by the sea. Stopping at a manmade beach we got the chance to swim - my first time in Asian sea. I had really wanted to jump from the boat, but that wasn't to happen. Instead I had to tiptoe in from the sand, surrounded by washed up debris and rubbish, to wade into waist height, quickly bathe, just to say I had been in. But it was hardly clean, very unfortunately.

Dinner was served on the boat, the boat that had been painted white under orders of the Government. Apparently a government minister had visited Europe and liked the look of all the white boats, and ordered for them to be painted in Vietnam - as you can imagine the owners were unhappy with it - and as you can further imagine, these wonderful wooden boats looked nothing as glamorous as the super-tanked 007 Sunseeker variety in Europe.....

Vietnam – visiting the Village of Dong Ho, the great cycle of West Lake

The deeper you delve into Hanoi the more that comes to life. It’s not the shabby city I thought it was on arrival, the Old Town, the Old French Quarter, the West Lake and beyond this city is expanding by the day.
 

Land is the price in Vietnam, explaining why buildings a slender and going up by the month. Families are using the space to the max, adding new floors to expand their home. In some areas these brightly coloured rendered home fronts show a very cosmopolitan feel, while in other areas it looks disheveled. But it very much reminds me of Europe.

Building appears to be the life of Vietnamese. It is obvious they WANT people to build, for the people to prosper. As we escape the city towers of bricks line the roads, huge clay craters tell the tale of construction. Hanoi is stretching for kilometers. House after house, fresh, new and simply designed. The year of construction firmly, proudly labeled affronts the roof. This is real brick, not cheap wood design.

Day two we take a cycle out to the Village of Dong Ho, about an hour from the city centre. Here we are dumped in rural Vietnam, surrounded by acres of paddy fields and banana plantations. We come across the home and business of artist Nguyen Che who produces original hand drawn designs from Papyrus paper, which is still handmade today. Colours made from the stone, leaves and seeds of the soil.

The landscape has been built in response to the local habitat, the villages have been protected from the over-flooding Duong River – as we cycle the great dykes that feels like a fortress of the city. Yet the river runs drier each year in response to the dam in China.

Day three we cycle the West Lake, the leisurely 23km ride takes us around the city visiting paragodas and temples along the way. The lake is the meeting place, where lovers canoodle, and friends while away their time – motorbikes and cycles line the road, dogs roam the streets. The backdrop a very dusty grey city sat upon a muggy sky, the people in modern designer brands clutching cigarettes.

I’m in the North and hear I see change on the horizon. Hanoi is about culture, people, community and family. There is much traditional here, and there is an obvious split between town and country. Market traders cycle or bike into town every morning to sell their goods, sometimes hours of commuting a day with their bikes stacked high with trade. How long can this last? How much more can this city sustain this dual lifestyle?

I leave Hanoi with questions in my mind as we climb aboard the mini-bus for Hy Long Bay

 MORE PHOTOS of HANOI

Vietnam - welcomed to a home of a local for lunch, Ninh Binh

Cycling or motorbiking can truly get you to the heart and soul of Vietnam. Cities have modernised and adopted many international and cosmopolitan attitudes but the countryside of any country will show you how people really live.

35km from the centre of Ninh Binh we're welcomed for lunch with a local farming family to enjoy a traditional meal. 5 days into the trip and every meal has been Vietnamese and delivered with enthusiasm with each chop stick load delivering a brilliant pang in the mouth and settling easy the stomach.

So to ensure you see what has been enjoyed check out the collection of photos from the traditional wooden house (built in 1963 before recently building a much larger place by brick).

The meal consisted of:
- spring rolls
- BBQ fish
- stewed pork
- sweet and sour beef and pineapple
- rice
- steamed vegetables
- watermelon