Hanoi we're here!

We've made it to hanoi after a LONG nightbus, bus ride.
The buses here are bonkers. More so should I say the bus stations. Here you think you'll be dropped off or picked up from a legitimate place. Think again. The bus stations seem to be anywhere- at anytime. You'll get dropped off on the side of the road somewhere, and told to wait for your next bus. Low and behold it comes. Maybe a few hours late, but hey.

Anyways- we role into Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, early early in the morning. Though they call them 'sleeper buses' they hardly make for a goodnight's sleep.
You never know what awaits you when you step off your bus. For me today it was a nice slap. I had put my bag down on the side of the road- and I guess the bus driver didn't like that much. So he just had at the back of my legs. 'Ouch!'
We moved on quickly after that.

At any rate, not knowing exactly where we were (but thinking it must be close to the city centre because that's where we were told we'd get dropped off), we start to walk towards where we'd be able to find a hotel or hostel.
What we thought would be a short walk ended up being roughly 5kms. Doesn't seem like much, but at 5 in the morning its tiring, especially with packs on!
Anyways- we find a hotel for a relatively cheap price and we make our way upstairs. Its about 50 degrees outside and possibly the hottest day we've experience since arriving in the Nam.
After being assssured we had working air conditioning- we were both more then upset to be met with a swelteringly hot room. Like I've said before- we feel so ridiculous complaining about no AC... But I'm telling you- the weather messes with your head!
Being the Leaf fans we are (I say 'we' loosely (no offense!)), we listened to the leafs game in our boiling room. On the radio! We felt the most ghetto ever. Nonetheless it was a hard game to listen to, and after witnessing the embarrassing leaf loss we decided to go grab coffees.
I need to emphasize here how amazing the coffee is in Vietnam. It is SO strong- but so delicious and refreshing.
Steve and I had been in contact with Mihn, a family friend, who had family in Vietnam, and she got us in contact with a lady, who I have never met before, Mrs. Chi.
She had been emailing me for over a week, and we had arranged to meet that afternoon for an exciting evening just outside of the city.
Steve and I didn't know what to expect- but we had pictured a lady in her mid-40s coming to tour us around.
Little did we know, she thought that WE would be in our 40s!
Well we were both wrong.
Mrs. Chi ended up being in her mid 20s, and we had the best time together. She was completely awesome- and had planned us a couple really awesome days in Vietnam's capital.
Steve and I felt like royalty. We had a driver and everything. Super surreal.
First we went to a pottery village just outside of the city. When they say 'pottery village' that's what they mean. This was the most pottery I'd ever seen. It was roads and roads of hand made dishes and figurines-bracelets and statues.
We walked down and through the aisles and shops for hours and actually got our own private pottery lessons. It was really cool. We spun some bowls and cups. There was no electricity, so getting the trick of how to spin the tables right was a little difficult- but seeing our teacher do it was amazing. She would spin vases, cups, bowls, plates- anything, any size so effortlessly. Very cool.
Seeing as it was a bazillion degrees, it was nice to have a cool ride back into the city.
Mrs. Chi had booked us a reservation at what she called in her email as 'her favourite restaurant'...
Well it turns out that it was the FANCIEST of fancy-pants places you could imagine. And here Steve and I come traipsing in (again) like a heard of turtles.
We had the grubbiest of clothing on... Haven't showered in days.
We felt like ABSOLUTE shmucks!
Again we seem to be met with women in evening gowns and men in suits- when we ourselves are in scruffy shorts and a Tee.
Humpf. It is what it is.
We did get a DELICIOUS meal and great company.
To top off an already 'misfit-feeling dinner' we left the swanky joint by taking some photos here and there. The waiters were all chuckling at us. It was pretty cute.
Seeing as we had a really long day- we were excited to get to bed- even though we fell asleep in a pool of our own sweat! Yuckers.

We woke up the next morning- met Mrs. Chi outside our hotel, and made the 3 hour journey to Halong Bay.
This place is beautiful! Giant limestone islands jut out from the sea and make for the most picturesque surroundings.
We boarded an old ship, where they fed us a extra yummy lunch. Mrs. Chi and Steve got fresh sea-food. I wish I could have indulged- but the vegetarian stuff was pretty darn good too. After we were right full, we set sail!
We toured all around the islands and stopped at a little fishing village.
The village was all comprised of houses built on stilts as to not touch the water. It was pretty neat to see. Here we got to kayak around the islands and go explore a couple caves too!
Then we were taken by boat again, to Heavenly cave, apparently one of the seven wonders of the world. It was stunning to walk through. Steve and I had now been in a couple difference caves. By far Paradise cave was the most impressive- but we both agreed that caves in general had an eerie feeling about them. Its always a little dark and dingy- and all you can hear is the 'drip drip drip' of the water falling from the rock ceilings. Very cool to say the least.
It was an awesome day. And just as we thought it was over- Mrs. Chi had arranged for us to go out for beers with her and her boyfriend, Phi. We ended up going to a famous bar in Hanoi- and had a lot of fun talking and enjoying eachothers company.
After a day of feeling like a King and Queen we went to bed. I was forseeing a sleepin in our future!