l problem because our pickup from the hotel was not due come until 6. So after waiting in the rain (we heard it had been raining for 3 days straight before we got to Hanoi) for a little while trying to figure out what to do we decided to get a taxi.The taxi seemed great at first. He had some great techno beats going and we zipped around the empty streets of Hanoi. Then we noticed that his meter was jumping up quite quickly. We probably should have got out of the taxi but it was really early and we weren't sure that we'd be able to get another one so we sucked it up and paid. Oh well, lesson learned.
Our hotel is located a couple blocks away from Sword Lake which is a gorgeous place to go for a walk after dinner or have a coffee at the cafe. Our first day we just wandered around the lake taking in the scenery and relaxing in the room after the long train ride. The next day we headed out to the Temple of Literature which is Vietnam's oldest university. There are turtle statues that have the graduates of the university's stories inscribed on them and we went up and down the isles of turtles petting their heads for good luck.
We grabbed a taxi back to our hotel and stopped on the way to buy tickets for a very Vietnamese art form, Water Puppet Thea
tre. The show started at 5pm the next day and although Ryan thought that there needed to be more explosions and some puppet ninjas it was very cool. After the theatre we went back to the room and started packing for our Halong Bay tour that was scheduled for the next day.
tre. The show started at 5pm the next day and although Ryan thought that there needed to be more explosions and some puppet ninjas it was very cool. After the theatre we went back to the room and started packing for our Halong Bay tour that was scheduled for the next day.The bus that was due to pick us up and take us to Halong Bay arrived a little late because we switched hotels and although we informed the tour company the message did not get passed on. After a 15 minute delay they found us and we were on our way out of the city for the 3.5 hour drive. We arrived at the our amazing boat and had a wonderful lunch before checking into our cozy little room. Words cannot even begin describe Halong Bay. It was way more impressive and awesome than either of us could have ever imagined.
The tour's first stop was Amazing Cave and it was indeed amazing. As we walked in it was a little underwhel
ming because the first area in the cave was a little small but each area got bigger until we were in a huge cavern that was stunning. They had some of the spots lit up with colored lits which gave the cave a very surreal feeling to it.
ming because the first area in the cave was a little small but each area got bigger until we were in a huge cavern that was stunning. They had some of the spots lit up with colored lits which gave the cave a very surreal feeling to it.Once we got back on the boat we had a little time to change to get ready for kayaking. We hopped into a tandem kayak and paddled into a small cave which had a roof about 6 feet above you. At the other end of the cave, it opened up into a lagoon and the only entrance to the lagoon was the cave that we had just passed through. It was beautiful so we took our time and slowly paddled around enjoying the scenery and watching the birds circle over the large peaks jutting out of the water. I must admit that Ryan did most of the hard work during the kayaking and I'm really glad that he knew how to steer and has such strong arms!
We were quite hungry after our (well Ryan's) strenous excercise but the tour schedule allowed us a little free time before dinner to swim or take photos. Swimming would have been nice because it was crazy hot on the boat but when we looked down into the water we noticed that it was teeming with jellyfish. These jellyfish were not the harmless little kind either, they had tentacles about 5 feet long and looked painful. We decided that maybe swimming wasn't the best idea especially after we heard that one of the other guests on the boat had been stung a little earlier and did not enjoy the experience.
Dinner was served at about 7:30 and there must have been about 8 courses of the tastiest food that was so well presented. There were fruits that were carved in the shape of the boat and a pineapple that was hollowed out with a candle in it like a little pineapple jack o lantern. We were so full after the meal so we went up to the top of the boat and watched the stars from the sun deck. We hadn't seen so many stars in the sky since we were kids and it was truly an epic and romantic evening.
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