We left cat ba at 1215 this afternoon on the bus. After check out we went for a quick smoothie at the little cafe we have had our last 2 meals in before the bus.
Nothing from report with the bus,quite smooth and passed quickly.
We arrived in Hanoi and let’s say we were glad we weren’t staying any longer than a couple of hours, much like most cities we have experienced so far hectic, dirty, but the roads here were particularly dangerous, literally not caring if they ran you over.
After spotting a vegan cafe on google maps with a decent rating we followed the map to it.menu looked great but food in general was about disappointing, I had to send my lasagna back because it was stone cold. All in all a very expensive prove for a very average meal. We started to regret ignoring the Domino’s pizza place we passed.
We went to the airport really early, it took us a little while to workout where to get the bus because we had to be on the other side of the highway but with no way of crossing safely. After popping into a hostel we were told the bus stopped directly outside and then joined the highway-perfect.
At the airport we sat and read because it was too early to check in. I started section one of the diving reading because I have booked on to the diving afterall, although it’s still sitting uneasy with me.
Checking in was a bit of a night mare, huge queues with other nationalities not used to queuing and attempting to walk straight up to the desk despite the half mile queue waiting…. We were getting very frustrated. Security and passport control was exactly the same!!
By the time we got through it was almost midnight and after our underwhelming meal we were getting peckish. With little choices food we just got a cold drink and a baguette…. £15 later…. For an unbelievably cheap country the airport was extortionate. In duty free I spotted Some haribo that David had been craving so I went to buy them, although David had the boarding passes so they wouldn’t let me. I went back to get the passes but David wouldn’t let me get them for him on principle because it was £3 for haribo.
The flight was delayed by almost an hour. David must have been shattered because he slept on the plane which he never does. I was far too cold with the harsh Aircon to sleep.
The delay had caused us a problem because we had a connecting flight to catch but with no luggage transfer we had to pass through security, get our bags and check in all over again. The queue for security was huge and we had less than an hour until our next flight, for once in our lives David started panicking and I was quite chilled about it all. We managed to get fast tracked through security and David sprinted to collect the bags, but mine took a lifetime, by the time it came through we had 30minutes before the next flight left.
We RAN through the airport with our 12kg of luggage on our backs,(I thought my chest was going to collapse) to the check in desk where it said check in had closed, luckily they allowed us to check our bags , ran through security, a little bit lighter this time, and to the gate, where it had only just started boarding…. Typical but we made it.
The next was only an hour’s flight and I managed to sleep on this.
When we arrived at Cebu everyone was trying to sell us taxis at double the price we knew it should cost so we jumped on the public bus and got as close as we could to pier 1 for the ferry to bohol.once we got off the bus it was 2.6km to the pier, we had the choic of a second bus or walk, of course we walked. That distance is a lot further than you think with luggage in tow. SWEAT FEST but hey we have finally found some sun!!!
The next ferry was 1.15pm so we got a drink in the closest place…. A Macdonald’s of all places…. It served mc rice, and MC spaghetti over here.
Wow the ferry terminal was just chaos, like the airport there were security xray for the luggage but people were transporting live animals like dogs and chickens and all of those went on the belt to be scanned too.
Boat was better than expected, designated seats plenty of room, but they did say a prayer for a safe arrival before we set off which was a bit worrying. I had a cosy window sill next to me and by that point in the day it was fair game as a pillow and I slept the full 2hours.
Our final mode of transport on Bohol was a ‘tricycle’ basically a side car on a motorbike and it was not made for 2 Westerners, David sat forward and I sat back and even then we just about managed. Christianity is huge here, they have Bible quotes painted onto all their tricycles.
28hours later finally arrived at the hotel, not too bad, separate bungalows which are simple but will do the trick, also a pool and jacuzzi in this one!! Only problem is the bathroom has open vents which is definitely going to allow wildlife in as we are in the greenery out here!!
South East Asia 2019 