Day 8

Today was definitely not an enjoyable one, but I guess it has to happen occasionally. The beds in this hotel were very comfortable, but sleeping wasn’t as easy as we’d hoped due to the noise of someone talking in the room next door, and the elevator bell ringing every time someone arrived on our floor! Breakfast wasn’t served until 7.30am, and was table service as opposed to buffet. They offered us two breakfasts for the price of one, and I think they were grateful for the business.

Ted walked down to the beach to do some exercise, whilst I continued writing this blog. When he returned, he suggested we go for a walk but this time we turned right at the end of the street not left, like yesterday.

Well it turned out there was a whole tourist area we had no knowledge of! To be fair, the receptionist at our hotel hadn’t told us anything about it, there was nothing highlighted on Tripadvisor, and Ted had spoken to someone on our cruise who had similarly said there was nothing to see. Whilst it wasn’t exactly Disneyland, it was still a collection of restaurants and cafes, with a small amusement park and cable car as well (not the same amusement park with the huge Ferris wheel which is still closed). Whilst we were disappointed we only discovered this on the same day we’re leaving, at least it was better than not seeing it at all.

We ate lunch at this new area (I was craving something healthy like broccoli) before taking a taxi back to the hotel to pack up and wait for our transfer to Hanoi. Unfortunately this didn’t turn out as planned - when our limousine bus I’d ordered didn’t turn up within ten minutes, I asked the hotel receptionist if she could check with the car company if it was still coming. As it turned out, they had forgotten to collect us, and was already on the way to Hanoi!

After my shocked face prompted a response, the receptionist also said that another vehicle was coming to collect us as it was the responsibility of the car company. We relaxed slightly although we were advised we just needed to wait another half an hour. Well the wait certainly wasn’t worth it. Instead of the limousine I’d ordered, a 30 seat tourist bus turned up 50 minutes late instead.

When we boarded, we realised there were literally only two seats left (not together) and whilst I have travelled on some poor transportation before, this was undoubtedly the most uncomfortable vehicle I have ever travelled on. The seat was so small there was no room to move, with no legroom either. And we would have to be on it for 3 hours!

Within ten minutes my back was badly hurting and I tried to move around in the small space I had. We had a comfort stop halfway and I asked some of the other passengers if the bus had needed to turn back just to collect us. Luckily it hadn’t, otherwise it would’ve meant that we had inconvenienced everyone.

I managed to get through the rest of the trip by crossing my arms over the seat in front and resting my head on my arms, trying to watch a Harry Potter movie to distract myself. We were the last passengers to be dropped off, made difficult due to the Hanoi traffic, but at least it was right out front of the train station.

We were still a few hours early to check in for our train journey so we walked across the street to have some dinner at a local eatery. Ted walked to a nearby convenience store to buy some snacks for our trip before going back to the hotel across the street where the check in for the train journey was.

We booked the Laman Express carriage for this journey, which has the high-end 2 berth cabins. When it was time to board, the attendant collected the passengers from the hotel waiting room and walked us all directly to our cabins, which are quite nice, with snacks, water and a packed breakfast included.

We settled into our cabin before the train departed about 20 minutes later. To be honest, the train is quite noisy so we’ll definitely need ear plugs tonight. It was pretty cool seeing the city at night from the train and once we were on the outskirts of town, got ourselves ready for a night in.Read more