Today was our final morning on Cat Ba Island before our limousine pick up at 12.30pm. Before leaving, we made the most of our last few hours at the MGallery hotel.
Michelle had her latest book to finish so was ensconced in her reading in the hotel reception.
Andy went on a wander around the hotel and took a few snaps of its stunning bar, entrance foyer & entrance. It’s been a real pleasure staying here for the last 5 nights.
Before we go, we took one last visit to the beach with the sun in full flow (typical as we are leaving) and soaked in the view across the little islands facing us.
To cap it off, there was the view of the pool and our room up on the 5th floor.
After a 25min wait in the midday sun, the very fancy limousine coach turned up.
Within 20mins we had crossed the island and were back at the car ferry where we joined as foot passengers and enjoyed the 15min sail across to the main land.
Track forward another 2hrs and we were back in Hanoi after a 3 month break and were keen to explore the Old French quarter.
Our hotel is right in the thick of the action, staggering distance from ‘beer street’ and other more cultured attractions.
After re-acquainting ourselves with the key sights, we headed out for a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, a popular spot in the city and a great place to enjoy the sights.
We bought tickets to visit the Den Ngoc Son temple and crossed the famous red bridge to enter into the temple grounds.
From what we understand this is one for the most visited tourists spots in Hanoi, so a good starting point as we ‘tick’ off the must sees!
The scenery in Hanoi is spectacular and it’s such a wonderful city to explore. As today is Saturday it’s pretty busy, but the people are friendly and welcoming and you soon get into the groove of the Old French quarter.
The history of the temples dates back almost a thousand years with many featuring Chinese writing and images, reflecting the dominance that China had on the country right up to the 1800’s when France stepped in with their own colonial rule.
As we strolled around the lake, Andy picked out a local who was sporting a t-shirt that made us both smile. After a little explanation we managed to get him to pose in our photo – loving the Porsche reference..!!
No afternoon in Hanoi is complete without an ice-cream. We’d been recommended this local store which proved very reasonable at just 50p for a soft scoop.
Local group of dancers busting a few moves!
We were eager to explore and discover the famous ‘themed’ side streets, selling art, music, kitchen utensils, fans, even trains…
Hanoi is the home of copy-cat goods, so with Andy in need of a new pair of sunglasses we headed to a street that only sells sunnies…5 mins later, Andy was sporting a new pair of Ray-bans for just £8.
Later into the evening we went in search of more goodies and picked up some more ‘bargains’ with both of us buying replica aftershaves and perfumes. At least we should smell a little better for the next few weeks.
On the final walk to the hotel, around 9pm we watched a local group performing old traditional Vietnamese music. Great experience and so atmospheric.
Our hotel sits in an area awash with street art and given the amount of bars, it’s perhaps not surprisingly that they come with a drinking theme.
Tomorrow we have a full day of activities in front of us, starting with a Trishaw cycle tour in the morning, before we head over to the Ho Chin Minh memorial, One Pillar and Tran Quoc Pagodas as well as a visit to Train Street to watch a train coming along the track right next to our bar table. Until then.
@travellingwiththeateam 