My Vietnam Adventure-Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa

I left Vientiane on April 13th. I had spent the day watching the beginnings of Pi Mai, the Lao New Year, where the youth threw water and everybody, and at a ceremony for all the children and elderly people at Donkoi Center. I said a fond farewell to Xuyen, who did so much for me these last three months and then I hopped a plane to Hanoi, Vietnam. I landed at night and was picked up at the airport! The drive into Hanoi was fairly long but at least the traffic wasn't too bad! The hotel I stayed at was very nice, but I couldn't explore much because it was too dark out. The next morning I got to see the huge city of Hanoi. I was used to the relatively quiet and small city of Vientiane, Hanoi is anything but quiet and calm. I managed to figure out to get a cab to the water puppet theater that night and then walked around the city. The next day I went to Halong Bay! The bay is beautiful, peaceful and serene, a nice change of pace from the Hanoi! It's a long drive out, in a little minibus, but worth it to see! I spent the night on the boat and it was like staying on a five star hotel. I met some really nice people on the cruise, a group of six people from North America using REI bike tour of Vietnam, and an Australian man, who spent two weeks in Vietnam. I got back to Hanoi and that night took off for Sapa on an overnight trip! The overnight train was not too difficult and Sapa is a beautiful, but a little too touristy! I spent my last two days in Hanoi making plans to get to Ho Chi Minh City and to see a free more sights!