Well arriving in Halong Bay was not all it was cracked up to be. I arrived after the last ferry had left to Cat Ba island so I stayed in Halong City for the night and planned to get on the ferry the next morning. That night I picked up some great food at the local market, some spring rolls, some warm potato dish and some bread. There was not a lot to do in the town so I relaxed and then went for a run(first one in about two months). I have been walking a lot but the fitness is really different, I kept going as I wanted to run over a huge bridge, which included jogging about 12 stories of stairs to get to the top (now that was tiring). By the time I was back at the hotel sopping it was a great feeling 
The next day I caught the ferry to Cat Ba along the way we stopped at some caves and a floating village. The bay is amazing with hundreds of limestone islands rising sharply out of the water. The water is also an amazing emerald green colour and it truly is a great sight. The Islands (almost all of them) are not inhabited as they are too small and inhospitable. Cat Ba is the largest island at about 17km long. On arrival the Cat Ba town i found a hotel (with an awesome view over the harbour and a balcony) and proceeded to have a snooze. This was a welcome siesta and well worth the time. Since arrival I had a strange feeling that there was absolutely nothing to do on Cat Ba Island, and I was soon to be proved right. Don’t get me wrong there are a few attractions and they are beautiful but they are hard to get to unless you are on a tour.
That night I met a few people from Spain and Belgium and had a few drinks which was a welcome change from the towns pace of which there was none. The next day I decided to go to China, I was so close and had a visa so why not. I caught a local ferry to a town called Hai Phong (2 hours), then a bus 6 hours to a town called Mong Cai which is on the border with China. I arrived there at about 10pm and found a hotel which was good. I did not find anyone who speaks English all night and then went to bed watching some average movie. Mong Cai is an interesting place. The town is literally split in two halves China half Vietnam, obviously different names. Every shop is full of useless shit and heaps of it. Apparently lots of Chinese bring over all their goods to sell and a good profit to Vietnamese.
This brings me to a point of contention that I can usually deal with but it is starting to get to me Dual Pricing. When I boarded the ferry I saw the lady holding a ticket book and she reached in her bad to get another ticket book, I said I wanted the original ticket book and she said no you have to use this one. It was either 30000 Dong or 70000 Dong(Westerner). I can understand this at national monuments or points of interest for a moderate tax on tourism but transport is ridiculous. It is getting a little bit old. Can you imagine if in Australia we charged people with Blue eyes double for everything. So you go to buy a coke and they say $5, there would be absolute mayhem. Maybe it is me being tired or whatever but they really need to respect tourists more and not just treat them all as rich westerners especially when we are travelling on a budget!
Scott Fletcher
Halong Bay Photos
A funny thing happened on the 14 hour bus, I was looking out the window with my earphones on when I was tapped on the shoulder. It was Richard Clifton Smith from school I was in his brothers year, and he was in Greg’s(my brother) year! He is travelling for 6 months with a mate Lachlan Robison (also St Aloysius ’01). So we got chatting and we ended up sharing a room in Hanoi. The bus was pretty good considering the length, having two seats makes the difference. We were in the heart of the old quarter and 100m from 15 cent beers so that was the main thing.
We found a hotel with three beds fairly easily and it was only $3 a night so that was a bonus. Time for breakfast we decided to go to a cafe where they teach street kids to cook and about hospitality, the meal was great and I would thoroughly recommend Koto. Then it was off to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, but we arrived at 11:30 and it was closed. What about the museum, well that closes at 12. So after making a the decision to lye on the grass and have a read until it reopened at 2pm it was finally time for a rest. When 2pm came around we went to the door and found out that it was not open in the afternoon on Fridays for some strange reason, at this point it was home time via the market for some fried dumplings YUM! The rest of the day was chilling out, it was so hot there that it was hard to want to go outside, i know why they sleep between 11-3.
The next day Rich and Lachlan went to Halong bay and I stayed behind as I was doing it later. I thought this would be a good opportunity to go and check out Ho Chi Minh. I did not realise how crazy it would be on a Saturday of the Independance day weekend, the line was about 2km long, security was tight and it was bloody hot! He looks in very good nick (no photos allowed anywhere near there, wouldn’t take one even if they were), there is a joke that it is a wax body not really him. The main guards are like the guards at Buckingham palace, they are perfectly rigid and do not move (unless you watch them for a while). After this I went around the grounds where he worked and lived. He must have been a very humble guy because he could have lived in palaces had anything he wanted, but lived in a two room stilt house next to a lake! If i ever get some land I would love to build a place just like it, really simple, but everything you need at the same time.
The next day was a day was Vietnam’s Independence day 2nd of September. I could not find any particular celebrations but there were a lot of people around. I went for a long walk around town and then it started pouring for about an hour, I was soaked through, by the time i made it home to the hotel it looked as if I was swimming in them. I didn’t mind this break from the heat it was a welcome distraction really, and well worth it too.
On the 3rd it was raining so I took it easy and planned my trip to Halong Bay the next day. It is time for a rest this makes it 7 straight weeks on the road and I am getting tired. I think four days lying on a beach should sort that problem out for a while! I will let you know.
Scott Fletcher
Well I thought I would give you some stats about what I have done so far.
I have travelled 2300km on motor bikes over 12 days
Accommodation
- HCMC $12 USD/night
- Mytho $8
- Rach Gia $7
- Phu Quoc $6
- Chau Doc $4
- Phenom Penh $3
- Shioukville $2.50
- Badambang $2
- Siem Reap $2
- Kompong Cham $3
- Dalat $6
- Lak $6
- Nha Trang $7
- Hoi An $5
- Hue $5
- Hanoi $5
Travel Time
- Syd to Ho Chi Minh 9 hrs $360
- Ho Chi to Mytho 2.5hrs
- Mytho Phu Quoc 7.5 hrs
- Phy Quoc to Chau Doc 10hrs
- Chau Doc to PP 5 hours
- PP to Shinoukville 4 hours
- Shinoukville to PP 4 hours
- PP to Battembang 6 hours
- Battemband to Siem Reap 7 hours
- Siem Reap to Kampong Cham 5 hours
- Kampong Cham to Nha Trang 23 hours
- Nha Trang to Dalat and back on bike 5 days 22hrs
- Nha Trang to Hoi An 12 hrs
- Hoi An to Hue 5 hrs
- Bike aroudn DMZ 5 days 18 hours
- Hue Hanoi 14 hrs
Crazy hey!
I decided to have a rest in Hue after the ride which was a great idea in retrospect!
A lot of people have been asking me where I have been and where that is in the world. So I have made a map of my adventure so far, the maps over here are pretty dodge but this is as good as I can right now
Map
Scott
