See Travel Blog

It’s the fifth day of our holiday and the lack of sleep is really starting to catch up with me.  A 5:45am alarm call is the third 6am or earlier wake up in a row.  However this morning is for good reason. 

Still aboard the Hera cruise somewhere in Ha Long Bay, we have a Tai Chi class on the top deck of the boat at 6am.  Tai Chi is a Chinese martial art which is very popular in south east Asia.  Tour guide Dan has done this every morning for 8 years to stretch muscles, clear the mind and start the day with fresh purpose.

Dan was a good instructor, but I wasn’t quite able to replicate what he was showing us.  At one point I lost my balance transferring weight from the back leg to front leg, and nearly fell over.  Think I managed to get away with it!

We were hoping to catch a stunning sunrise over the bay during the Tai Chi class but unfortunately the cloud from yesterday is still lingering, although thankfully there is no rain.

This morning’s excursion was to the Luon Cave for a spot of kayaking.  Looking for a more relaxing experience (and to stay dry) I chose the alternative option – to be rowed by a local with 10-15 others.

The whole area is pretty sheltered, there are breakwaters the whole way around, and beyond the cave is a pool roughly 100 metres in diameter.  In said pool, hundreds of kayaks and several rowing boats try their best not to bump into each other.

The cave is quite unspectacular compared with the one we saw yesterday, but the outer slopes of the cave have one thing that yesterday’s one didn’t – monkeys.

The monkeys were pretty popular, and largely concentrated in one area, so a lot of people had paddled over to watch.  The monkeys were jumping from rock to rock on what looked like a near vertical surface.  One person threw a banana at a monkey but it fell short and landed in the water.  The monkey jumped into the water to fetch the banana and then back up to where it had come from, before proceeding to eat the banana.

Speaking on fruit, back on board the main boat, I tried a green orange.  Spoiler alert, aside from the skin, they’re not really any different to orange oranges, but this one wasn’t very sweet.

After lunch it was time to bid adieu to Ha Long Bay and head back to the Vietnamese mainland.  

Saying farewell to Dan the tour guide, we discovered that he is 32 years old, has a wife aged 20, and a young daughter 3 months old.  His life sounds pretty gruelling, he only gets 4 days off per month, and lives on the boat for the rest.  He must be itching to see his family, and his poor wife is left behind doing all the heavy lifting.

It was also goodbye to our new pal Phil Mitchell (actually called Lee) and his friend Sean.  They’re from the not from the East End of London, but Birmingham.  Nice guys and gave us some tips for Cambodia and Thailand.

Next on the agenda was a bus back to Hanoi.  The buses tend to stop at a service station mid journey for a toilet break.  This one stopped at the same place as the journey out to Ha Long.  Coming in, I noticed a nice looking gate a little down the road, so walked up to it.

I hear someone shout “how are you?” From the other side of the road.  There, three girls on bicycles are waving from the other side of the road.  

The Vietnamese people are so friendly, and often go out of their way to wave at strangers. They all have such a cute wave!

It was only looking back at the photo that I spotted the girl on the right giving me what appeared to be the finger. 😂 It’s hard to tell… maybe not?

Also beside the gate, a mobile gym gave me a chance to boost my step count.  It turns out boats aren’t great for getting lots of steps.  Who knew?  🤷🏻‍♂️ 

The bus dropped us off outside Hanoi’s opera building.  Built at the start of the 20th century when the French were ruling Vietnam, this is the biggest theatre in Vietnam.  It’s modelled on the Garnier Opera House in Paris and was Vietnam’s first exposure to European art & music.

I wanted to head back to Hoan Kiem Lake which was dark when we were for the Water Puppets on Day 2.  By this stage, the rain had made an unwelcome return and the sun was well and truly covered by thick cloud.

The lake measures 700 metres x 250 metres and means ‘lake of the reclaimed sword’.  This refers to a local legend whereby Emperor Lê Loi after defeating the Chinese was boating on the lake, when a golden turtle god surfaced and asked for his magic sword.  Loi determined that the turtle had come to reclaim the sword which its master – the Dragon King had given him some time previous.  Emperor Loi renamed the lake to commemorate this event.

On an islet in the lake stands Turtle Tower, and is one of the most iconic landmarks in Hanoi.  

In 1886, a musician secretly working for the French was given permission to build a tower in the middle of the lake in honour of Emperor Lê Loi.  However he had a cunning plan to secretly bury his dead father under the tower, which in feng shui would give him and his family good luck.  The local builders cottoned onto this, and while the tower was built, the father was dumped elsewhere.

A few years later, the French added a mini Statue of Liberty on top, but unsurprisingly this didn’t survive the end of French colonisation in Vietnam.

After photographing Turtle Tower, the rain was getting heavier and we ran for cover to The Note Coffee Shop.

Here, visitors are asked to help out with the decorating, by writing a note and sticking it on the wall.  

This place, while the photos look good, that doesn’t carry through when you’re there in person.  The novelty quickly wears off, and the tight concrete walls resemble a prison more than a cosy coffee shop.  I’m told the coffee is nice (I opted for a hot chocolate) and it’s nice reading the messages.

Of course everyone is encouraged to add their own, and it would be regretful not to follow suit.

We headed back to the hotel via a shop specialising in passport photos (that’s another story for the don’t ask pile).

As tonight is our last night in Hanoi, we wanted to visit the observation deck and sky bar at the Lotte Centre.  Would this be a Lotte laughs, a Lotte fun or a Lotte disappointment.  Only time would tell!

We headed there by foot, it was about 7pm and the traffic was nuts again.  

Because the roads were so busy, scooter riders were cutting onto the footpath and driving down it, dodging pedestrians in the process, before rejoining later.  

The Lotte Centre wasn’t hard to find thankfully.  It helps to have the name in big red lettering at the top.

This is the third tallest building in Vietnam and operates as – hotel, offices, shopping centre and exhibition centre.  The observation deck on the 65th floor, is serviced by lifts travelling up to 6 metres per second. 

It’s an impressive attraction and there’s plenty to do at the top – two shops, two bars, a VR hang gliding experience, and VR gaming zone and obviously plenty of space to admire the views.

The only landmark I could make out (with binocular assistance) was the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, which now had two flags displayed behind it.  

Not for the faint hearted, is the skywalk – a glass floored box sticking out over the streets below.  Interestingly, there are two of these and one was closed off for repairs.  I wonder if the glass had cracked?

We enjoyed drinks, cheese, cold cut meats and kimchi while watching life go by in the busy city below.  What a way to conclude our time in Hanoi.  Tomorrow we head south.