hanoi to halong bay

We left Hanoi at 8am on Friday in a private car with driver heading for Halong Bay. The drive down was an experience in itself, we saw dozens of people selling fresh bread on the side of the highway, most of the people only a few metres apart, people were pulling over on motorbikes and cars to get their bread.

 

We also saw motorbikes go past with chickens and ducks tied together by their feet, hanging upside down from the back of the bikes still alive just moving their heads around watching the traffic, our driver told us they keep them alive so they are fresh when they get to the market, our driver also told us that they transport cows on the backs of motorbikes in the same way they do chickens and ducks.
We got dropped off in the middle of Halong Bay and set off to find somewhere to stay, the first few places we went to were full and we soon learnt that this weekend is the biggest festival in halong bay of the year so not only were most places full but they were very expensive. We ended up getting help from some fellow travelers who recommended the hostel they had just checked out of, they said it was basic but safe. We ended up staying here for US$50 a night (our Hanoi hostel was only $9 a night and about 100 times nicer) we had a large room but the bathroom was disgusting!!!

 

We went to a night market and then out for tea then retired back to our room to watch Big Bang Theory.