Bai Tu Long Bay Islands

Bai Tu Long  Il

Our journey took us 3 hours drive from Hanio to the port of Ha Long to join our overnight cruise to the area of Bai Tu Long Bay, which is a coastal area made up of hundreds of islands and islets. It is part of the Ha Long Bay islands which is an UNESCO world heritage site and has a total of 1969 islands. An amazing and beautiful place, which is a perfect setting for a James Bond closing scene. It’s difficult to describe in words, so leaving to pictures rather than words: 

Our lead for the journey was the very energetic Sunday (his Nickname), whose objective was to keep us busy and entertained. Our fist adventure was Kayaking, paddling out among the islands to find a secluded beach. Once there we could swim freely in remarkably warm water.

After a good nights sleep, we had another early morning. Our guide, Sunday, offered a 6am Tai Chi for beginners lesson on the top deck as the sun rose. This was followed by breakfast and a tour of an island with a hidden cave called Thiem Cohn Son Cave.

                                                  Our Guide Sunday - who wanted to make it a funday.. 

 

The cruise finished around midday, just in time for us to say goodbye to our new friends and meet our new guide called Leo for the journey to Ninh Binh, which is an inland area of beauty, with Paddy Fields surrounded by amazing scenery. 

Water buffalo enjoying their bath

So ends an an amazing, but whirlwind 24rs. A little sleep is needed as we have a 6am cycle ride in the morning 😏

 

Hanoi Vietnam

 

Our time in India is over. We took an over night flight via a very busy Vietjet flight from New Delhi to Hanoi, arriving at 5am. Before leaving Hanoi airport, we bought two pre paid SIM cards, only £11 each for 30days, offering local calls and 4 Gb data per day, which means we can stay in contact if we loose each other, 

We had a driver organised to meet us at the airport, which was about a 30 minute journey. Hanoi is a large developing city with a population of about 8.3 million. We have flown 3.5 hours east to a much more tropical country, but there are a number of similarities to Delhi. The first is the polution, a thin haze of smog sitting above the city and second is the dependence on motor bikes. Vietnam was controlled by the French from the mid 19th century until the 1950's, which ended after a long war with the French, then came the American Vietnam war. They now have their independence. It’s a communist country, but feels very relaxed. As we drove across Hanoi city at 6 am on a Sunday morning, it was busy with people exercising - Runninng, Cycling, Tai Chi and Badminton. We drove past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which was busy with parades and people looking to pay tribute to their great historical leader. It feels like a country which has embrassed communism and not a repressed communist state, which is how the west tends to view communism. Our first guided trip was organised for 9am, which was not the best organisation after a night without sleep. After a quick a snooze and breakfast we met our enthusiastic guide who marched us off around the city. You have to be confident and brave as a pedestrian. There is a constant flow of cars and motorbikes. Pelican type crossings are at all the major junctions, but these seem to be advisory only, so our guide demonstrated the tecnique of gently holding out your arm and then walking into the oncoming traffc. Walk with confidence, don't stop and the traffic will find its way around you. A bit like Moses crossing the Red Sea. A little dsconcerting, but oh well, when in Hanoi.

Our guide could see we were tired and stopped for coffee. At this point she attempted to give us our first lesson in Vietnamese. She soon realised that she would need patience with her new students, but she seemed to be up for the challenge, even though we were showing no enthusiasm and struggling with English through our tiredness. 

For those interested, a few words: Hello : xin chào, Good bye : Tạm biệt and if you need a motorbike : xe máy.

Once our Vietnamese lesson was over we identified a restaurant for the evening for traditional Vietnamese Noddles. Beef Noodles - 130,000 Vietnamese Dong (approx £5 for us both).

As we are in Hanoi - the drink of the day, Cheers

Completing the Triangle

Jaipur to New Delhi

 

Today we completed the last leg of the Golden Triangle. A 250 km drive from Jaipur to New Delhi. Our driver Lallu was early as usual and greeted us with his normal smile. He was always keen to please, The last 2 years have been tough for him, the tourist trade dried up during Covid times and we were his first customer since their lock down ended. I’m sure there was no Furlough from his company, so you can only wonder how his family survived. 

The journey took around 5 hours and relatively uneventful. The oncoming lorries, people strolling across the road and the occasional water buffalo wandering up the highway just seemed like a normal day in India. The surprise of the journey was a car getting pulled over by the Police for jumping a red light. An instant fine via a portable credit card reader and then he was on his way again. We did chuckle, you can happily drive your lorry the wrong way down a road, but if you dare to jump a red light, the police are there to fine you, 

Our driver Lallu and a Lorry travelling the wrong way down the road. 

Reflecting on our 500km car journey we did not see a single road accident. Rarely do we drive on the M25 without seeing an accident, so there something to be said for organised Chaos. 

As we approach New Delhi the blue sky is replaced by the smog haze over this sprawling city, It seems that the story of the smog coming from the field burning seems less probable, It’s an industrial city with millions of carbon burning vehicle’s. With millions of people in poverty, the country needs the industrial base, but it shows the global challenge we face if we are going to reduce carbon emissions. 

Our journey ends at the Le Meridian New Delhi. An American hotel for the night with running hot water, a pool and a gym, just what these two soft westerners needed. We have loved every minute of our journey so far, but it has highlighted how we take our life style for granted and how lucky were are. 

After mentioning being lucky; the drink of the day, Gin and Tonic with a dash of lime. Cheers

  

Jaipur - Ragasthan

It was the day to explore Jaipur. On the plus side we had no long car journey and a later alarm call than the previous days. On the minus side, our alarm still went off at 7am. Lallu, our driver from the prevous day, was again our driver, working with our tourist guide Odu. What Odu does not know about Jaipur, we suspect is not worth knowing. His mind of information was probably wasted on us, but he was a great host. First stop Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds) a pink sandstone facade emulating a Palace, built with numerous windows and stone screens to allow cool air (Hawa) to circulate for the Women of the Royal Palace to remain concealed, but still see the city life beyond the palace. 

Hawa Mahal - Palace of Winds

Then onto the wholesale fruit and flower market of Jaipur. An amazing market that provides for the city and has every ingredient to cure your ailments or alternatively make a curry hot enough to forget about them. We arrived late morning when a lot of the trade was completed, but there was still a wonderful buzz around the whole market. 

Next stop on our whirl wind tour was the Amber Fort, which is close to the amazing Panna Meena Ka Kund Deep Well, which is 200 metres deep, built over 1000 years ago to supply the Town of Amer water.

Up the hill from the Deep Well is Amber Fort, which is both architecturally amazing and contains a number of construction innovations, including a water based cooling system  (an ancient air conditioning system) and Turkish steam baths. 

Then onto the Jaipur  observatory (Jantar Mantar) -  this has some incredible astronomical devices, including the largest Sundail in the world, created in the early 18th century.  It can measure time to the accuracy of two seconds.

After all the sight seeing, we decided to try something a little different. We headed to the Polo bar at Rambagh Palace (thanks Divya). This hotel has Royal connections, providing a very different view of India. It felt like we had just walked into the East India Company during the Colonial occupation. As we left we noticed a vintage S class 1961 Mercedes, which we found out to be owned by the Royal Family. This car was immaculate and clearly had not been driven on the streets of Jaipur. The proud keeper soon offered to take us for a drive around the grounds in this amazing car, which proved to be a great way to end our visit. 

The drink of the day - The Jaipore Martini Rambagh Palace, made with rose syrup to give it the pink colour which Jaipur is famous for - The Pink City. Cheers to Jaipur for your hospitality. 

RecipeGin blended with home made rose syrup, Add Martini Rossi to create a martini that signifies the beauty of the pink city.

Agra to Jaipur

Another early morning to amplify the impact of jet lag. The alarm was set for 5am alarm to give us time for our sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal. A 05:00 am wake-up is 11:30 pm at home, so our body clocks are between morning and evening. The Taj Mahal was built around 1631, but even though it is nearly 400 years old its marble still glistens in the light, so sunrise is a perfect time to visit. Only a short walk from the Home Stay we arrived before the 6am opening in time to join the already forming queue, which meant we were one of the first in the race to get photos without the crowds.  

As usual a local man started a conversation in an attempt to make our visit an even better experience. He was previously an “official photographer” so he knew all the right places for our photos. He clung to us like superglue, so he soon became our official photographer moving us quickly around the wonderful building taking photos on our iPhone. To be fair, he knew all the best photo points and could drive the camera on an iPhone much better than we could, so the result was some fantastic photos. We tipped him 600 rupees, which he quickly pocketed and then chased after another unsuspecting tourist who would benefit from his skills. Some of his photos below.

Our visit finished by 7:30, returning for breakfast at the Home Stay, which included Bananas, Yogurt Toast and Peanut Butter, a Curry Rice dish and Indian Bread.. It doesn’t sound like an obvious combination, but it was superb and set us up for an adventurous five hour drive to Jaipur. 

Our driver, Lallu, was our guide for the day. His task was to navigate the roads to various sites between Agra and Jaipur. Fortunately the road was a dual carriage way, unfortunately the highway code in India is very different to the UK. But Lallu was confident and passed on his tip for a safe journey:

• Good Horn
• Good Brakes
• Good Luck

Fortunately, he used all three throughout the day, hooting, weaving, breaking and riding his luck around lorries, cars (some oncoming cars ignoring the concept of a dual carriageway), water buffalo, motorbikes and the occasional person who strolled out into the oncoming traffic to cross the road.  Our first stop was the deserted Fatehpur Sikri deserted Mughal City which was abandoned due to lack of water after construction. Created in 1571 as the capital of their empire in India, it was abandoned after 12 years , but remains in incredible condition . 
Second stop was the Chand Baoli step well. Construction started around 800 and finished 900 BC, before the Moghals modified in the 18th century. Probably the most impressive historical site we have seen since arriving in India. Its a World Heritage site and has featured in the third Batman film and more impressively the Michael Portillo BBC Great Train Journeys..     

Our journey for the day ended in Jaipur, another busy city, with a population of 3 million. The Dara Rawatsar hotel. Vegetable curry on the menu… 

Dara Ravadsar’s finest Vegetable curry