Hanoi

Arriving I took the Vietnam airlines bus to the old quarter for
30,000. Jetstar has the same service but the Vietnam airlines drop off
point is more convenient and it doesn't matter which airline you flew
on. There are tons of taxis and minibuses also but they can't be
trusted. Stayed the first night at Hanoi Backpackers Hostel
($6usd/dorm bed, (04) 3828 5372, 48 P Ngo Huyen St.) which is highly
rated and pretty nice but there are many nice $5usd ones in the same
area also.

Halong Bay: I had heard that The Drift Backpackers offers a good 3 day
2 night (1night on a boat, 1 night in a hotel on Cat Ba island) halong
bay tour for $57usd so I went there in the morning to sign up for it.
About 5 min after paying, the tour company called the hostel back and
said they couldn't do the $57 one only the same tour for $88. That
seemed pretty sketchy so I told the guy at the hostel that I didn't
have any more money and asked him to call them and tell them that.
What do you know, they said they'd make it work! Got picked up 10min
later and off we went.

The tour company was AST Travel and it all seemed pretty good until
about halfway there we found out that because of the tourist boat
sinking the day before, all overnight cruises on the bay were shut
down for five days. We were basically told that we only had the option
of changing to the one day tour and getting refunded the difference
which is terrible because the hostel I booked through charges $35usd
for the one day tour which is WAY too much and at other places you can
get it for $21. I was later given the option to return straight to
Hanoi and PAY FOR THE BUS RIDE! unbelievable! Like I wanted the bus
ride. AND they couldn't tell me how much I'd have to pay for the bus.
So I decided to do the day tour to cut my losses. Definitely NEVER do
a 1 day tour. It is unbelievably touristy and you just follow an
armada of other boats around a small loop and stop on one island to
look at two caves which are lit up with colored fluorescent lights.
Lunch is ok (drinks cost extra though and are way overpriced - 30,000
vnd for a can of beer) and The caves are kinda cool but you spend
3.5hours on a bus to get there, then only 3 hours actually on the bay,
then 3.5 hours on the bus again back to Hanoi! It's crazy. Plus there
was a big accident on our way back so it took almost 6 hours to get
back.

I booked my ticket with The Drift Hostel so that's where they dropped
me off. They have dorms for $4 if you book online but it's more if you
walk in (include wifi and breakfast but breakfast is just toast and
tea or coffee). Luckily they gave me the $4 rate after the tour. I was
told that I'd have to deal with the refund the next day when they
could talk to the owner. The dorm room was pretty nice. The location
is a bit far from the main center of the old quarter but it's quiet
and only a 10 to 15 min walk to the train station which is nice. The
staff are pretty helpful and nice despite what some reviews online
say. Although there is a night watchman who was very insistent on only
performing watchman duties and nothing more. The next day they
refunded all but $20usd of my payment which I thought was generally
fair. They normally charged $35 for the one day tour but I knew some
people had paid $21 and told them that I thought it would be fair to
only charge me what they had to pay the tour company (AST Travel I
think) for the one day tour I did. So I think paying the 20 is fair.
They probably still made a couple bucks off me but if they were real
jerks they could have totally screwed me. Overall I recommend the
drift hostel if you're looking for something quiet. It's the cheapest
hostel I found and it's nice and clean with good staff (bad breakfast)
a movie lounge, pool table, hot showers, wifi in rooms, etc but it's a
little far from the action (prob a 15 min walk). I'd also recommend
trying to do the $57 tour I tried to do. I think it would've been
good.

Walked all around the old quarter of Hanoi and it's pretty sweet for a
day. What you'd expect from an asian city- small streets, dirty,
smelly, packed with mopeds, food on every corner, etc. But it's pretty
cool with old buildings and tiny passages and stuff. Good for a day of
exploration. There is a good sized night market that starts up around
730pm and they close off street so it's just pedestrians.

Leaving HaNoi: I bought a ticket for a soft sleeper on the LC5 night
train to Lao Cai (the nearest stop to Sapa) for 374,000 vnd. I had
been trying to book a ticket on the ET Pumpkin private carriage which
are suppose to be pretty nice for $30usd but they were sold out. I'm
glad they were cause my soft sleeper is immensely nicer than the hard
sleeper I had from Nha Trang to DaNang. Only 4 beds per cabin, a
western toilet with toilet paper AND fake wood paneling! Total luxury!
My cabin mates were a young couple from San Fransisco and a Vietnamese
girl. The train left at 22:35 (but I almost missed it cause I got on a
train heading south to Hue by accident) and arrives Lao Cai at about
8am