Hanoi, homestays in Mai Chau Valley and a trip to Halong Bay, Vietnam

Thankful to have better seats than last time we had an ok sleep and drifted in and out till early morning when we arrived at the boarder. We waited for over an hour for the office to open and were finally free to be stamped out and walk across the road to enter Vietnam. Back on the bus hours passed by as hunger daunted on us.. We finally made a food stop at lunch time and devoured plates of stewed beef and rice at a garage like cafe.
Tropical forests faded away and houses became more heavily packed as we drove onto the afternoon. Traffic started to squeeze the journey and we finally arrived into Hanoi just on dark. Sharing a tuk tuk with a German couple we befriended we darted in and out of scooters and packed cars all the way to downtown area. We walked down a street shut off from traffic and found our busy hostel ‘Vietnam downtown backpackers’ easily.. Perhaps it was the westerners spilling from the front door with beer and novelty singlets that screamed ‘backpackers’! 
We checked into a dorm and walked two doors down to a corner side cafe with ‘241 beer’ and pho… To my disappointment the pho was maggi noodles, fatty beef, hot water and some spring onions. My expectations were that of a Vietnamese restaurant in sydney boasting flavoursome pho that warms you heart and melts your tastebuds! We went back to our rowdy hostel to book a homestay tour leaving early the next morning, fitting as much as we could into the time we had in Vietnam. We opted for Mai Chau valley over sapa as  friends had recommended it to be less touristy and more authentic! Packing our big bags into storage and just using our small day packs for the three days, we were bed bound just before 12. 
Woken at 4am to dorm antics, there was a bunch of English lads who drunkenly made it their mission to offend everyone sleeping. An American girl politely asked them to be aware that we were all asleep and he replied with ‘are you a girl’, ‘let’s get really drunk in sapa together’ and telling his mates ‘there’s chicks in here and they have their period times 10’.. Wankers! I know it’s a dorm, and I expect to be woken but not by disrespectful loudmouth arseholes. Needless to say I fell back to sleep silently smiling that we were NOT going to sapa with idiots like that. 
At 7am, a fruit bowl, pancakes and coffee set us on our way in a car to Mai Chau Valley. We collected two lovely English girls on route; Gabbi and Laura who were just staying for the one night. The drive took about 4 hours and once or of Hanoi went quite quickly. The houses and traffic started to become sparse as we started to climb rockey mountains and over through vast green luscious fields. 
We arrived to our homestay at about 12pm greeted with smiles and a spread of tasty food, enough to feed 10 of us!! Dropping our bags in our room which was a massive  vast hut set up with mattresses, mosquito nets and fans, simple but adorable. We were quick to run back to the table to devour the tastiest meal we’d had in South East Asia and it fueled us for our bike ride through the country side. 

We followed our leader around rice fields and down small dirt tracks, over tared roads and by handmade woven markets. The scenery was gorgeous and only obstructed by Sean’s dodgy bike causing him to crash twice and graze his knees.. We called it quits and went home in search of first aid to stop his bloody knees from oozing down his leg. A few beers, some antiseptic cream and another delicious spread of food took away his pain and we played cards until the late hours of the eve. 

In the morning after a sweet sleep and  breaky, we split from the girls as they were heading back to Hanoi. Sean and I jumped on separate scooters and followed our guide up around some mountains for some gorgeous village views! Back down and around the road was flooding and filled with mud from last night’s poring rain! I tried to follow on a small muddy track but my back wheel came out from under me and slid down.. In slow motion I fell with it! A minor cut compared to Sean’s bicycle wounds so we challenged on! 
We came across a massive chopstick factory and one that exports to the entire world!!it was crazy to watch the lady’s sit, sheltered only by a tin roof and swiftly in a routine manner stick shards of bamboo into a machine that chops them to size. This lady is the highest paid in the factory as it involves a little bit of skill and risk, however she still takes home no more than $4 Aussie a day. A different lady then bundles the sticks into kilo stacks and piles them high, they will then do into a large sanding machine to smoothen the edges and dry. So much in one little chopstick!! #appreciatethechopstick

We then made it to a small village which was where we had lunch! Cooked by a local family we all sat together devoured delicious crispy pork (their specialty), lots of greens and juicy garlic chicken! This was washed down with an entire jug of rice wine which they kept feeding us in shot glasses, I had to start refusing them as the weak booze soon catches up! 

We took off in the early afternoon rode for another hour back towards the village of Mai Chau, thankful to avoid the rains!! We stopped in the town, where Sean and I were sent off to hike up thousands of steps to gaze upon a gorgeous but polluted natural cave in the mountain. 

A large bunch of school children at the top stopped us from staying too long and we descended back to our bikes. Arriving home we found a new group of girls bunking with us, and all chatted about our travels until dinner arrived, then checked out a neighbouring bar for a night cap! 
Rising early again to the sound of the rooster and nature, the bright sun warned my soul as I breathed in the fresh country air. Sean and I headed off on the bikes again with a different guide and found ourselves curving in, up and around forest lined mountains until we came to a giant blue lake. We were then used on to a cute wooden ricidy boat and driven to the other side to splash amongst a natural waterfall that cascaded from high up above. The fresh, cold replenishing water was like a natural shower which contrasted the murkey, warm bath water in the lake. 

One final lunch back at the homestay and we farewelled the friendly hosts as we jumped in a car and headed the 4 hour journey back to the city. It was such a gorgeous way to see an authentic Vietnamese rural area and to take some time out of ‘Rush’ side of travelling. We checked back into the down town hostel then went in search of pho!! We settled on a few bad draught beers and a beef salad, booking a Halong bay tour on route back to the hostel. 
The next morning we were collected at 8am and packed into a Minivan to drive the 4 hours to reach Halong bay. We arrived at a busy dock, spilling with outspoken and hyper coloured dressed booze cruisers set for castaway island. We boarded a quaint ‘junk’ boat and ate a tasty enough lunch as we headed out through the rough shimmering seas bursting with stunning karst limestone peaks. Made up of more than 2000 small islands we were spinning in 360 degrees to take it all in. 

We pulled into a small lagoon area set up with rafts, where we were able to hire kayaks off. We drifted into small polluted and bunking grottos and the stench drive us straight out.. (TOURISM IS RUINING IT AS THE POACHES ARE NOT TAKING CARE OF THE WORLD HERITAGE WONDER)!! 

Back on the boat a sprinkle turned into a drizzle and led into a heavy downpour. We were happy to have seen it and did find it enchanting and beautiful. However I can imagine in a better time of the year and in the right weather could be a paradise but we were also glad to be not staying a night on the boat or on a party island with a bunch of loud, egotistic and drunk travellers.
We arrived back into Hanoi at about 7pm and jumped off the bus prematurely as we knew of a restaurant near by famous for its pho.. And finally I wand my disappointed!!!! It was all that I wanted and more! She even threw raw mince in which cooked right before my eyes! I added fresh chilli and soy and it was perfection… IT WAS PHOTASTIC!!! Back at the hostel we ran into our roomies for a beer and then caught up with the girls from Mai Chau for another.. Which led to another, until our big day send us to bed! 
We woke up to an important day, Vietnam was celebration 70 years of independence and did so with patriotic tshirts, festivities and parades throughout the city!! After checking out of our room and enjoying breakfast we headed out on a free city walking tour which took us to sites around the lake. Instead of returning Sean and I browsed some shops in the afternoon and jumped on an over night sleeper bus Hue bound after an early dinner. Happy to have fitted so much into our first few days in Vietnam we were sad to leave the bustling little downtown area but excited to explore our next stop; Hoi Ann.