Catching up... Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sa Pa & Laos

OK so we have a little time now to write. It's extremely hot here in Laos and we just can't be outside right now.

We spent around 12 days in total in and around Hanoi. It was cloudy or rainy every day which at first was nice coming from so much sunny hot weather. Though we took a two night three day trip out to Halong Bay and there was so much fog we could hardly see anything the first day. It would have been fine had the tour we booked been nice. We booked it with our hotel and they had 4 prices we decided to choose one of the more expensive ones ($50 which was cheap considering everything we were to get). Everything was supposed to be nicer, the food, rooms, excursions, route the boat takes etc. The boat was great, or at least looked great. As the trip went on we realized more and more how cheated we were. No matter what price we paid we would have been on the same boat. Everyone we talked with paid a different price at their place of booking.

First thing we did was have lunch on the boat. Lunch was fine, nothing great or worth mentioning but no complaints (and I know how to complain). Though they made people move to sit at four tables instead of 5. It was much nicer to be a bit spread out and everyone was complaining to them asking why are you making us move. They told us that there was not enough food to put on 5 tables. Well, that was not true. After sitting down to eat we saw that the staff was sitting at the fifth table. It they had told everyone that we would have been fine.
It may be difficult to explain but this is an example of what we have experienced over and over in Asia (mostly northern Vietnam). When you ask a question you are NEVER given a straight answer. There is ALWAYS either an untrue or completely illogical explanation for your question. I would like to write an entire entry about this later. Though our boat trip had many examples I will mention. It's a very interesting topic. At least to us it is, we talk about it all of the time because the things people try to do are just amazing! We get so angry at ourselves when we fall for someones lie.

So, the first stop we were to make was at a cave. I asked if we could have our room so I could lock some of our things inside. We didn't want to carry everything. Here was my conversation with the man as best I can remember...
Me: Excuse me, could we please have our room so I can lock some things inside?
Him: OK, OK
(a few moments of silence)
Me: Our room, may we please have a key?
Him: OK, OK later. You can leave your things on the boat. Everything is fine.
Me: But can we please have our room so that we can lock our things inside?
Him: OK, OK everything is fine, leave your bags with everyone elses.
Me: No sir, I just want to leave a few things from our bags inside the room because they are heavy.
Him: OK, OK leave your bags and just take the important things.
Me: This is my only bag. Can we please have our room?
Him: (Nothing)
Me: I walked away angry.
We took our bags with us to the cave. When we returned to the boat they started handing out room keys to those staying the night on the boat.
One man and woman not traveling together, that were staying on the boat had paid for private rooms when booking. They were told that they would have to share a room because they did not pay for private rooms. They were very angry. They were being told that they would need to pay extra for a private room if they wanted one. There were a total of 7 rooms on the boat and only 5 people staying on the boat for the night. So that was only 4 rooms being used. It was just crazy. It's just one of the many situations you can find of being cheated for an extra dollar. I think one of the things causing it is that tourists over the years just agree to pay the extra fee. It's usually not that much and it makes the situation go away. In this situation $5 extra for them, not much really. These two people did what everyone should do, they didn't pay and got very angry and made them give them their own rooms. It wasn't easy and it took time but they did it.

After the whole room fiasco we stopped at an island where most of the people from the boat would be staying the night (we were to stay the second night). We were sitting in the boat while all the people were getting off and we heard a scream. We ran to the back of the boat and a woman trying to get off almost fell to the water and it was pretty high. They were having the people get off the boat from the side roof. It was slanted and wet. It was made of bamboo and looked a little rotten. Not safe at all. They had to step up to the dock and the boat was not close enough. We couldn't figure out what they were thinking. They could have pulled the boat to some steps that were very close and easy to walk off the lower level.
After that we were supposed to go Kayaking. Well, they wouldn't take us. They said only one day of kayaking. We said we paid for two days. They told us it was too late for kayaking. So, we sat on the boat in the fog with nothing to do until dinner. It was 4pm and dinner was at 6pm.
There were only 5 of us staying on the boat for the night and two got off to see the island. So, for dinner there were only 3 of us. We were told there would be more people on the boat. It was fine but it would have been nice to meet some people. When they served us dinner it was absolutely disgusting!! Three of the dishes we could not identify. We think one was some kind of fried spam. We didn't eat much. We had to pay for our drinks on the boat. We knew about that ahead of time so we brought water with us. But we read the drink list and it said we had to pay a 40% commission on any drinks we brought on ourselves, including water and according to their prices. We didn't pay that of course.
We were still docked at the island after dinner and I asked when we were going back on the water. We were told that the boat would be in the bay during the night. Well, the guy told me that we were going to stay docked for the night. I was questioning why but he would not say anything. Then we realized that he went over to the boat on the other side of the dock to sing karaoke with its staff. One of the girls staying on the boat got really angry at him and yelled at him to take us out on the water for the night. Thanks to her we didn't have to stay on the dock listening to karaoke all night.

In the morning they served us breakfast. We really couldn't believe them at this point... one tiny omelet for 5 people, a loaf of white bread (like Wonder bread) with 5 small squares of butter, one of the dishes from the night before re-fried and one banana each. Jose asked if we could at least get some more butter. The guy went to check the kitchen and came back telling us that there was no more butter (yeah right). I would have thought at least the banana would have been good, it was the worst banana I have ever tasted.

After breakfast we went hiking on the island. We didn't know much about the hike and they didn't tell us anything. Our boat guide walked us to the bottom of the trail and said he was going to stay there and we should be back by 11:30am. We really didn't care that he would not be with us but it was strange to send us on our own with no explanation of where we were going. They don't have the greatest marked or kept trails like at home. Well, in the end it was a great hike and we loved it but we would have liked to be told about it. It was very wet, rocky, steep and slippery. We had to use our hands for most of it. There were other groups on the trail as well and some people got minor injuries. They were told by their guides that their shoes would be fine, they had on sandals and tiny canvas shoes.
The view on top was great a bit foggy but great. Though once we were on top of the mountain we realized how crazy he was for telling us to be back by 11:30. There was no way!
When we made it back down he asked why we didn't stay with a group that was ahead of us. Basically he was mad that we were late.
At the bottom of the trail there was a woman with a bucket of water letting people rinse their hands off. Our guide said we could wash off. So we did. After she said we had to buy a drink from her. We didn't. At this point we should have known better. Nothing absolutely nothing is without a catch. It may sound mean that we did not buy something from her but when day after day you have to watch what everyone says to you and be careful not to accept anything without thinking... wait, what's the catch? Your brain becomes very tired. We know there are nice people here and we have met some but we are always thinking... What do they want from us? And usually we are right in thinking this. It's sad really.
This is only through my own observations but I think that you can only really see what a country is like after traveling it on a tight budget. We have talked with many travelers that agree with us and also many that we think are not on as tight a budget because they don't have the experiences we have had, or at least don't look at them the same way. Maybe they go ahead and pay the extra dollar or two when in a sticky situation and don't think twice about it. We can't do that so we see things in a different way I guess. We see it as one we have a tight budget and two it's wrong.

OK, back to Halong Bay... After our hike we were taken to our Hotel on the island where we were staying our last night. When we got there they told us to wash off our shoes before coming in. That was fine of course, we were really muddy. But they gave us one scrub brush and bucket for 9 people. We did the best we could and took our shoes off to carry them into the hotel. They were standing in the doorway and they wouldn't let us in. They said to clean them better. We felt like children. So we washed them again and they let us in. They gave us our room key and told us we had 20 minutes to be back down for lunch. It was crazy. We were really dirty from our hike. While in our room they called us twice telling us to come down for lunch. When we finally went down lunch wasn't even ready yet.

Over and over (bus rides, excursions, hikes, whatever) we have found that when "they" want us to be ready we must be ready but if we need a minute or two to use a bathroom, or get cleaned up the answer is no.

So after lunch we were to go kayaking. If we hadn't insisted we probably would not have been taken. Luckily he didn't make us pay more. One other man and his son were to go kayaking also but were told they had to pay $10 extra. They said they wouldn't go. We think they were also fed up with the whole "you didn't pay for that" thing.

So we had two motor bikes come to pick us up and take us to the kayaks. Jose got on the first one and I got on the second. I could see him ahead holding the driver around the waist and I could not stop laughing. I guessed he didn't see the handles at his sides. When we were dropped off I walked over to him still laughing saying I saw him holding the driver around the waist. I told him there were handles at his sides. He said he didn't realize and that the driver kept turning his head and saying OK, OK, OK but he didn't know where else to hold. Well, my driver was to be our guide kayaking and he walked over to us asking where Jose's driver went because he was supposed to pay him. We looked around and he was gone. Jose scarred him away. The guide was laughing wondering why he didn't stick around to get paid. We were laughing because we knew why.

So at least our kayaking was great!!! Our guide grew up there on the island so he knew a lot and gave us a great tour. We saw some floating villages and really quiet bay's surrounded by huge mountainous rocks. It was really beautiful. When we got back our guide invited us for some local beer. He was really nice. Finally we met a genuinely nice person that wasn't trying to get into our pockets. When we were leaving he tried to pay for the beer. Of course we didn't let him but we realized that he really wanted to pay for it. He was able to get us the Vietnamese price instead of the foreigner price. 8000 dong for two pitchers of beer, 16,000 equals $1. It's amazing how much they adjust the prices for tourists.

So the next day we got back on the boat for the end of our trip. The fog cleared some so we could see a lot more. We thought we would be taken around a little so we could see more. They took us straight back to the main land and hurried us to have lunch and then wait at the bus station for 2 and a half hours for the bus to arrive. Well, the buses were already there, they just didn't want to leave yet. So many people were so angry. There were people from many different tours waiting around. We could have stayed on the water for longer.

We got back to Hanoi and we complained at the hotel we booked the trip. They seemed very concerned and they were very embarrassed about everything. They said a lot of things but we knew nothing would happen. We just needed to vent.
We were supposed to stay there for the night but we didn't. We found a new place.

I think everything I say may sound negative but I don't mean for it to. It's just our experiences and what budget traveling involves.

Sa Pa...
It was beautiful but foggy. We went for two days one night... two nights on an overnight train to and from Hanoi. We had a great hike our last day. We were able to walk far enough away from the fog to see a little sun. The town of Sa Pa stayed in a pretty thick fog the entire time. The mountains are beautiful and we hiked past many hillside tribes. The farther we got away from Sa Pa the nicer the people were. Tourism has spoiled the area quite a bit. The children close to town were very mean. Yelling at us if we didn't buy something from them. As we got farther we saw such a change in attitude. They were not expecting anything from us. They would just say hello and smile or look at us with a bit of fear and interest. One little girl followed us for a while but kept her distance.
You can really see the negative effects of tourism to tribal areas. It drains their resources rapidly. When once the land was for them to work and live off of now it has to support many many tourists visiting every day of the year. So now they need money and they become desperate to keep up with everyone in the modern world.
When they are given small things for free it rapidly changes the way they live. They see that it is more economical to send their children out to beg for money or sell small things than to send them to school.

OK, I'll TRY to end this long entry. We are in Vientiane, Laos now. The bus to get here was hell! 24+ hours. I got sick! Great timing. The bus was a government bus, so it wasn't so great. No AC and kinda smelly. If you don't know about my nose well, it's very sensitive. I don't like bad smells, also meaning Asia has been a challenge for that but I have been doing quite well I would like to say.
Luckily the bus was full of Canadian students and just a handful of locals. Very lucky for me because the locals were smoking most of the journey.
So about an hour into the bus ride I started feeling sick. We stopped to pick up some more people and while they were trying to rearrange the bags I had to run off the bus jumping over bags to throw-up. I didn't think I could get back on the bus but I didn't have much choice. When they were ready to leave again they yelled at Jose and I to get back on the bus. They were not very sympathetic at all. I was feeling a little better. It didn't take long to start feeling sick again. Luckily the bus got a flat tire and we stopped just in time! I ran off the bus again. Someone was watching out for me because those guys would not have stopped the bus if I begged them! This really showed us the generosity of people from the west... the Canadians were concerned and offering water and a French couple kept asking Jose if I was OK and offered something to take for a bad stomach.
The staff of the bus was about four guys I think and there really was no need for all of them. I won't say anything about them because there is nothing nice to say.
I was getting sick again and just in time we stopped for gas. Luckily the gas station was not open. I was taking care of being sick while the bus drivers were pounding on the gas station window trying to wake someone up.
Again they yelled at us all to get back on the bus. They were not able to get gas there so we went to the next one. Again they pounded on the window and this time woke a woman up. Back on the bus... We get to the border and it's not open yet (it's 6am). It opened around 7am and it was absolutely crazy. It was a cattle call. No line and everyone pushing their way to the front or just pushing their way for no reason. I won't explain all of this but just imagine a crazy mess of people with no order handing their passports over in piles. So strange.
Once getting through then we walked to the Lao side. We already had our $30 visas put in our passports but they still make you fill out paper work and pay a $1 fee. That fee goes to the pockets of the border police and what a hassle they make it because we had to change our money on the border and they took a huge commission. Just craziness. Cambodia was about the same.
Same same, but different (the famous saying in Asia).

OK so we are back on the bus with about 10 hours still ahead of us. I was feeling much better now. And THANK GOD! they didn't stop for a very long time and when they did it was on the side of the road because they had to go to the bathroom. They shouted TOILET! And they got off to go along the side of the road. Of course none of us did.
We finally stopped because they wanted to buy some corn. There was a bathroom there with a small fee but at least it was a real bathroom! All the Canadians, the French couple and Jose and I started getting off the bus and they started yelling at us to get back on. We all refused. We were lucky there were so many of us because they would have left without us. Jose said while I was in the bathroom the driver was trying to drive away but he and some others were yelling at him that everyone wasn't back yet. It's really sad how they (we know not everyone) look at foreigners. They really don't care if they leave someone behind.

OK, that's it for now. We have not done much in Vientiane. It's extremely hot and that bus ride took a lot out of us. We are recovering and relaxing. It's a very nice quiet capital with good food.