Stayed on a traditional junk which was by no means junk at all. The boat was refurbished to Western standards so was real luxury and drinking on (and jumping off) the roof was heaps of fun. Also did some trekking which the guide assured us was 12km but in reality was about 3km and some kayaking through a few caves and into some awesome coves. Plenty of cool caves to check out too.
I'm back in Hanoi now which is currently hosting the world hooting championships. Hootie (my driver from my story below) definitely made it and I felt really nostalgic when I heard him going mental on his little hooter in the street outside my hotel at 5 this morning. Bless his soul. He officially opened the games and it's been non stop all day. Even an afternoon rain storm just made them all a bit more excited (like frogs before the rains). I think the one guy was just hooting at the rain drops - must be part of the special olympics or something.... But he definitely showed those raindrops who's boss and I'm pretty sure he'll get a medal for his efforts!
Besides Halong Bay, Vietnam has been a bit of a letdown in all honesty. The locals are all out to rip you off as much as possible and always seem like they feel so hard done by. Also not shy to ask for tips (when not deserved at all) and make you feel really shit if you don't give or only give them a small amount. Quite a contrast to Cambodia where the people are all just so grateful for anything they get from the tourists and seem far more genuine, honest and friendly. But really glad I got to come here. I'm off to Bangkok tomorrow for 2 days before flying out to London on the 3rd.
This is a floating village - all the houses are floating on pontoons out in the middle of nowhere. They all farm fish in big nets on the pontoons cos the local waters are all fished out. Each house has about 3 dogs on average. Poor things can't really run around but they seem happy enough...
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