hanoi & ha long

Hanoi and northern Vietnam were both a good and bad experience. Upon arrival, we were excited to find (or rather, be taken to) a room with three beds, a nice shower, free breakfast, and air conditioning for only U$13, but the hotel that offered us such cheap lodging turned out to be a disaster in the tours category. After we had settled in, we entrusted our hosts to book us a tour to Ha Long Bay (about three hours bus ride away) and also bus tickets to Nanning, China, where we would continue our journey north. For an all day tour which was supposed to include bus, boat ride, guide, caves, kayaking, and a delicious meal we paid U$22. Not bad, right? Little did we know that our meal consisted primarily of octopus (very chewy), the kayaking (which we paid an extra $4 for) never panned out, our gauranteed group of no more than 16 persons turned out to be more like 50, and the guide hardly spoke any English. What a ripoff. Then, the next day, we found other tour agencies selling two day trips for only U$23. Next time I guess we'll shop around a little. Despite the extremely annoying scamming that grew more and more frustrating as the day went by, Ha Long bay is beautiful. It would be absolutely stunning if it weren't overrun by fake-looking Chinese Junk filled to the brim with tourists of every country imaginable. Hanoi had it's charms, mainly in the form of food, and despite our discontent with the hosts of "Asia Queen Hotel", we enjoyed plenty of phó, lichee (of which I have now consumed over 20 lbs), and pastries. Everything seemed to be on the up and up until the morning of our departure. Having been told that the bus would pick us up at the hotel at 7:30, we were calmly waiting at 7:20. Then 7:30 passed. Then 7:40. 7:50. Buses are often late picking up travelers at the hotel, so we weren't to concerned, but we decided to ask anyways. And I quote, "Bus leave 7:30! You go now! Now 8:00!" "But it will pick us up at the hotel, right?" "No, no, no. Go now!" At this point we already disliked our scam artist hosts. Now there was nothing but hate between us. Thankfully, rushing off to the bus station on foot proved to be a good stop for any violence that might have erupted. Although we missed the 7:30 bus, we were able to catch the 9:30 bus, and felt relieved. Little did we know it was to be only the beginning of the most stressful and frustrating day so far.