Day 2 - Vietnam Discovery from Hanoi to the Meekong Delta - 'Inside Vietnam' adventure with EXPLORE

Day 2 – Hanoi to Ha Long Bay

You can try sleeping with the air-con off as you think it’s a bit noisy.  You'll eventually concede at some point in the middle of the night and turn it, defeated by the humidity.

We're discovering the strength and diverse range of quality of the Vietnamese coffee.  As we will discover on this journey, no two hotels have the same way of delivering the morning caffeine hit.  The heat range also comes in anywhere between nuclear-hot to a tepid warmth.

Explore trips tend to have an interesting mix of people and this journey is no different.  Ours is a mostly home nations affair of English, Scottish and Welsh making up our small band of travellers.  Three of whom are on their first adventure trip ever.  The sole representative breaking up the UK monopoly is a well-travelled young lady from New Zealand touring her way around Asia.

It's one of the things I and many others find fascinating when meeting fellow travellers is discovering the journeys they are on, what motivates their travel  and  the things they get out of travelling.   Three in our group are on journeys into the many months around Asia and the rest of the world, including one who has retired from the rat race and is now spending his hard-earned money enjoying the offerings of the world’s cultures and nations, basing himself in Cambodia. 

There's even someone with such a passion for travel they're trying to make a living from it (ok, that’s me!).  It's early days but I really hope I can succeed at it, it's currently not looking good but no-one said it would be easy.  I can't think of anything else in the world I would enjoy more than helping others to experience it.

We're off out and our first visit of the day is Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, an imposing brutalist structure interning the body of modern day founder of Vietnam.  Unfortunately, we’re told it’s closed on Mondays.   Joseph, our always happy tour guide explains along the way some Vietnamese history regarding their dear leader.  It’s all fascinating to learn about not just for history buffs like me.

Following this short visit we travel the short hop back to the old town and Joseph grabs us all a rickshaw each in sharp fashion, prices negotiated and paid.  Nine rickshaws form a convoy in the blink of an eye.  Our train of three wheeled chariots begins navigating its way through the winding streets and every busy traffic.  It’s a fascinating way to see Hanoi, it saves your legs and having to dodge scooters and hazards.  We scoot around a couple of kilometers to another major attraction of Hanoi, the famous "Tang Long Water Puppet Theatre". 

It's starting to rain as we shuffle in with the crowd to our back row seats for an excellent view of the stage below.  The musicians are all adorned in colourful dress and bookend either side of the water stage.  The lights dim and the show begins. Vietnamese history is sung and narrated, fables are told through intricate and skilful water puppetry.  Our Vietnamese vocabulary is three words currently, so we use our imagination for the captivating stories unfolding on stage.

Another downpour outside as we shuffle out with the crowd.  We hail two taxis and jump in.  We're back at the hotel and like stage actors it’s another quick costume change.  We're headed out to a busy restaurant recommended by our guide Joseph.  We’re let loose out on our own for the first time.  The large restaurant is adorned with many colourful lanterns and plenty of flora and fauna.  It’s lively and bustling with locals and tourists alike. 

Menus mostly have pictures here so far and come with English descriptions, but it doesn't prevent the mild bemusement as to what it is we're looking at sometimes.  There’s a buzzing atmosphere in the restaurant as people chatter and enjoy putting the world to rights.  I've avoided anything like shellfish and snails so far thankfully.

Plates arrive, the hot and fragrant meals are shuffled around between us as we match pictures to what we ordered.  We chatter and joke as I enjoy my vegetable spring rolls, not the taste I was expecting for sure but ok.  It is only when another plate of spring rolls arrives that my fellow traveller sat next to me exclaims that “erm, those spring rolls Ash, they're my shredded snail spring rolls”!  This does of course bring plenty of amusement to our little gathering!

Dinner finished and we navigated our way back with a bit of Google assistance.  A couple of sociable nightcaps of local beer are consumed to digest the day’s events.  And it is then time to retire and rest, ready for tomorrow’s early journey to Ha Long Bay, a couple of hours drive east of Hanoi.