The day starts early today. It's 6 am when the alarm goes off and even though I slept very little due to jet lag, I don't feel tired. I go downstairs around 7 am, only to discover that the vegan place hasn't opened yet. What do I do now? I don't have much time. Luckily, the shop next door is open, so I order a sandwich there and eat it while I walk the few yards home.
The last few days were a bit worrying in terms of the marathon in Ha Long. As I mentioned in my first post, I've registered for the half marathon and booked a tour package. The worrying bit were the very few emails from the organisers and the not matching info in each of them. I started to believe that the entire thing might be a scam and we might have lost a considerable amount of money. One of the things that made me think that was the organised pick up this morning. In the last email one of the organisers wrote that pick up time would be between 7:30 and 8:30am. As my Airbnb place doesn't have a lobby for me to wait, I asked in an email if they could estimate the time of my pick up. No answer for a long time. I got suspicious. I then discovered a telephone number in one of the emails and texted that person. No answer for a few hours. As I was about to call this number, I received an answer via text message with a name and a number to contact, which I did. The person took his time and answered the same thing as in the email: Pick up time blah, blah, blah. He also said that it shouldn't take too long, because we all live in the same area. Well, so I was forced to stand on the street from 7:30am onwards.
Time passes, buses pass by, but no 45 seater (as it was mentioned in an email) bus for me. I then text the person from last night, but he doesn't answer. I call the Wyndham Hotel in Ha Long to ask if there is a reservation, but they don't pick up the phone. I then look through the emails and find the one in which many people were cc'd, and email the group, excluding the organiser, the following line: Has anyone been picked up yet? And then I wait.
A few minutes later, many people answer that they still haven't been picked up. I start to worry even more. But then, somebody writes, that a large group has just been picked up in one of the hotels and that their luggage is being loaded. I am relieved. Many more emails arrive and I see that many more people are as worried as I am.
It is 8:45am, and I have been standing on the street for 1:15 hour, when suddenly a minibus stops in front of me, a middle aged Vietnamese man jumps out and asks my name. I am so relieved! The bus is here! But where is the 45 seater? We are supposed to be 40 people in total. The minibus is full of people and from the incoming emails and something the tour guide says, I understand, that there is a big bus as well as this mini bus. But instead of starting our journey towards Ha Long, we stop somewhere to let four people out, who get on the big bus behind us and we drive for another hour in circles to collect more people. Finally around 10am, we are good to go.
It takes a while to get out of Hanoi and onto the motorway and I take the following photos and answer a few more emails.
The journey could have been faster if we took the motorway, but after a few miles on the motorway, we exit and take some dodgy B-Roads. Though the paddy fields in the Red River Delta as it says on the website... yeah! No fields to be seen. It's village after village and industrial area after industrial area.
According to some info, a stop half way through is scheduled for breakfast. I expected a motorway restaurant or something similar. The truth is, there is a stop, but it's outside a huge building that looks like a factory and the driveway is full of Asian statues. There is sign above the entrance that says Disabled People Workshop. We soon discover that inside the building there are many shops, as you can see in the photos below. There is a small cafe and eating place somewhere in the building, where the drivers go have something to eat. The rest of us go to the loo and get to know each other in the meantime.
I got to know a German guy on the minibus earlier on and here we get to talk to an American girl and a Malay girl. I look around and am surprised to discover that most of the runners are from Asian countries. I expected to see mainly westerners, but we are a minority. It's four Germans, not even a handful Americans, two Australians and me, the Greco-Bavarian. The rest is from Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, etc. Sorry I f haven't mentioned your nationality.
The drivers come and we are informed that there will be lunch near the hotel. So off we go again.
An hour an a half later, we stop in front of a dodgy looking place and go inside. It looks much better from inside and the tables have already been set and everything is ready for us. Good thing that we are late. Otherwise we would have had to wait. The food is typically Southeast Asian and quite good.
While having lunch, we get to know other people. The fun doesn't last long, and not even half an hour later the tour guides want us to leave. The original plan was to go to the hotel to check in and then to the expo to have a briefing. The good thing is, the organisers provided us already with the bibs, bags and t-shirts, so we don't have to go through this process. But we don't stick to the original plan, because we're late, so instead of driving to the hotel, we drive to the centre where the briefing is taking place.
The briefing takes place in a huge building which houses the library and possibly something else. The presentation is held in English and in Vietnamese. Towards the end of it, one of the speakers asks: Is there anyone feeling confident of winning the marathon tomorrow?
I raise both my arms and shout YEAH! Then everyone bursts out laughing. Some people wish me luck and say that I look like a fast runner. Yeah, I wish!
After the briefing, we walk through the extremely small expo that consists of three tables only and try to locate our names on the wall. Here is mine.
Then we drive to the hotel to check in, but we get to the wrong side of it. The Wyndham Legend blah blah, has two buildings, one facing the sea and one facing the mountains. As we discover, ours is facing the mountains. So we have to drive around the block and up the hill to a different entrance. This we do. We park in front of the building, get off the minibus, go into the lobby and wait to check in. Then suddenly the tour guide from the big bus appears and shouts at our tour guide. Then we are told, that there is no time for it now, because we are running out late. The plan was to check in and then drive us back to the expo to go on a cable car ride, which would take us to a stop near the hotel and from there we would walk back. But for some reason, we are not doing this either. Instead we drive to the nearby cable car station, where the guides get us return tickets and we get on the cable car and ride up the mountain.
There is an amusement park called Sun World on the mountain, with a small roller coaster, many ponds, many gardens, a few bridges, many fake trees, fake flowers, fake grass, etc.
After spending about an hour on the mountain, we ride back down to the car park, where have have an argument about tomorrow's schedule. The original plan mentions three bus rides from the hotel to the start, but the tour guides want to offer only two. The original plan mentions one ride back to the hotel and 11:30, but we argue that this is too late, as most of us will have finished before 9 am. Start for the full marathon is at 5:30, half marathon at 6:00, 10k and 5k half an hour later. We reach an agreement. There will be three bus rides in the morning and two to three after the race, so we can have a shower and pack our things in peace.
After checking in and going to our rooms, we gather at the big restaurant to have dinner and then finally rest. I sit with one of the German blokes and a Japanese couple at the table and have a really sweet time.
On the way back to the rooms, the German and I pass the bar in our building and see that three of the full marathoners are sitting there with a glass of wine or beer. What a great motivation that is!
Me and the German go to the reception lady to ask about breakfast. We were told by the tour guides, that the restaurant opens at 6am, that's why we would get boxes with breakfast to go. So we wanted to know what will be inside the box. The receptionist confirms that there will be a take away breakfast, but she doesn't understand the question. Instead she asks us what we would like to have. We tell her that a sandwich, a banana and a bottle of water would be great and she notes it down. Then she asks for our room numbers and confuses us. Isn't everyone going to get the same breakfast? If not, what are the others going to get?
We shall see.
Good night everyone!
If you would like to read more by me, find those two on Amazon.
The last few days were a bit worrying in terms of the marathon in Ha Long. As I mentioned in my first post, I've registered for the half marathon and booked a tour package. The worrying bit were the very few emails from the organisers and the not matching info in each of them. I started to believe that the entire thing might be a scam and we might have lost a considerable amount of money. One of the things that made me think that was the organised pick up this morning. In the last email one of the organisers wrote that pick up time would be between 7:30 and 8:30am. As my Airbnb place doesn't have a lobby for me to wait, I asked in an email if they could estimate the time of my pick up. No answer for a long time. I got suspicious. I then discovered a telephone number in one of the emails and texted that person. No answer for a few hours. As I was about to call this number, I received an answer via text message with a name and a number to contact, which I did. The person took his time and answered the same thing as in the email: Pick up time blah, blah, blah. He also said that it shouldn't take too long, because we all live in the same area. Well, so I was forced to stand on the street from 7:30am onwards.
Time passes, buses pass by, but no 45 seater (as it was mentioned in an email) bus for me. I then text the person from last night, but he doesn't answer. I call the Wyndham Hotel in Ha Long to ask if there is a reservation, but they don't pick up the phone. I then look through the emails and find the one in which many people were cc'd, and email the group, excluding the organiser, the following line: Has anyone been picked up yet? And then I wait.
A few minutes later, many people answer that they still haven't been picked up. I start to worry even more. But then, somebody writes, that a large group has just been picked up in one of the hotels and that their luggage is being loaded. I am relieved. Many more emails arrive and I see that many more people are as worried as I am.
I take this photo while waiting for the bus to come.
It takes a while to get out of Hanoi and onto the motorway and I take the following photos and answer a few more emails.
The tour guide says, that there are 10 million people living in Hanoi and that there are 6 million scooters and motorcycles.
On the bridge over the Red River
The tour guide in the minibus
The child is adjusting its shades
Sleeping beauty
Having fun with the driver and the passengers on a random bus while being stuck in traffic.
The driver is lighting up a cigarette.
According to some info, a stop half way through is scheduled for breakfast. I expected a motorway restaurant or something similar. The truth is, there is a stop, but it's outside a huge building that looks like a factory and the driveway is full of Asian statues. There is sign above the entrance that says Disabled People Workshop. We soon discover that inside the building there are many shops, as you can see in the photos below. There is a small cafe and eating place somewhere in the building, where the drivers go have something to eat. The rest of us go to the loo and get to know each other in the meantime.
I got to know a German guy on the minibus earlier on and here we get to talk to an American girl and a Malay girl. I look around and am surprised to discover that most of the runners are from Asian countries. I expected to see mainly westerners, but we are a minority. It's four Germans, not even a handful Americans, two Australians and me, the Greco-Bavarian. The rest is from Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, etc. Sorry I f haven't mentioned your nationality.
The drivers come and we are informed that there will be lunch near the hotel. So off we go again.
Some of the shops
This is said lunch.
Ha Long Bay
I raise both my arms and shout YEAH! Then everyone bursts out laughing. Some people wish me luck and say that I look like a fast runner. Yeah, I wish!
Outside the building
From the cable car.
At the station on the mountain
Ha Long Bay
This is my room. Notice the window in the bathroom?
you can swim in the bath tub
On the way back to the rooms, the German and I pass the bar in our building and see that three of the full marathoners are sitting there with a glass of wine or beer. What a great motivation that is!
Me and the German go to the reception lady to ask about breakfast. We were told by the tour guides, that the restaurant opens at 6am, that's why we would get boxes with breakfast to go. So we wanted to know what will be inside the box. The receptionist confirms that there will be a take away breakfast, but she doesn't understand the question. Instead she asks us what we would like to have. We tell her that a sandwich, a banana and a bottle of water would be great and she notes it down. Then she asks for our room numbers and confuses us. Isn't everyone going to get the same breakfast? If not, what are the others going to get?
We shall see.
Good night everyone!
If you would like to read more by me, find those two on Amazon.
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