Hectic Hanoi and Heavenly Halong

We arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, and on leaving the airport were immediately approached by loads of taxi drivers and mini bus companies.  We were fully prepared, though, and politely ignored them all whilst marching to the “Vietnam Airways” minibuses lined up, which had been recommended in the guide book.  However, we hadn’t taken into account Vietnams copy-cat culture, which means that pretty much every name mentioned in the Lonely Planet is taken on by several other businesses trying to cash in on the “brand”.  We eventually asked some Vietnam Airlines staff where we needed to go and they pointed us in the right direction.  We negotiated down to a sensible price and then sat waiting in the minibus for half an hour.  A Belgian guy was with us and when we realised we weren’t going anywhere until the bus was full, we climbed out and jumped into a taxi with him.  I was in Vietnam about 10 years ago, and it seems the traffic situation is much the same.  Thousands of motorbikes/mopeds weaving in and out of the cars and lorries, neither of which seems to understand the term “stay in your lane”.  So, it was a bit of a crazy half hour, and I spent much of it grabbing the handle on the inside of the car door and swearing a lot! Click here to read more…