Mike In China

The next day I got up early and hopped on the minibus that would take me to Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay was actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to come to Vietnam (I had seen pictures of it online and they were amazing). The minibus trekked around Hanoi until we had picked up all the people that would be on our little two day boat tour, a total of 14 people. I slept most of the three hour ride there because I had been up late the night before. However, while fading in and out of sleep I realized that the two people sitting next to me were my age (everyone else on the trip was older), that they were also English teachers but in Korea, and that one of them went to Knox which is a small liberal arts school in Illinois and is where my friend from high school KatieHarring went. We actually talked about it later and sure enough he knew who she was. I thought that was pretty crazy meeting someone on a 14 person boat in Vietnam that went to college with one of my good friends. When we got to the bay we were dropped off at a marina that was jam packed with "junk" boats and tourists. A junk is the type of boat we traveled on. They are the boats you always see pictured in Asia with the sails that look like fish fins. We got on our boat and headed out. The beautiful thing about Ha Long Bay is that it is made up of hundreds of tiny islands that spring out of the sea as rocky cliffs. As we started reaching all the islands it was absolutely beautiful. At first I was a little upset because it was a foggy day and I didn't think all the islands would be as beautiful. But as the day went on I realized that I actually really liked the fact that it was a foggy day because it made the bay seem even more mysterious. We had a seafood lunch on the boat and headed toward a giant cave that is on one of the islands. We were told that this cave was once used by the Vietnamese people to hide weapons during the war with China. The cave was pretty cool and it was nice to see all the other junks with their sails up waiting outside. After the cave we did some sea kayaking for sunset. It was beautiful but very frustrating. In our group of 14 there were two older French couples who had to be at least in their late 60's. One of these pairs decided to go kayaking and they were MACHINES!? It drove me crazy?!?!! They were just easing along the water at a lightning pace and taking breaks all the time to look at the scenery while I paddled with all my energy (and all my limited knowledge of how to paddle) and was left in their wake. And the woman was clearly doing nothing, so it was all just the old man?! I don't get it... So in short, the scenery was beautiful but I could hardly enjoy it because I felt my dignity be stripped away by an old man in a kayak. That night we had another sea food dinner on the boat and it was very good again. Unfortunately this time it was crab and I clearly had no idea how to eat it. I guess it was very apparently clear that I was struggling so our guide had to show me how to do it/do it for me like I was a little kid. I've decided I don't care much for crab. Waaaaaay too much work for far too little food. After dinner we sat around waiting for what had been promised to be the highlight of our trip, our guide Din singing Vietnamese karaoke. He and the crew all came up and sang (I guess you could call it singing...) Vietnamese songs and tried to get us to sing too. After a whole lot of pestering they finally got me to get up and sing (mainly because most people had gone to bed by that time) and I knocked them out with some Copacabana (including some hot dance moves). Of course for some reason when I woke up the next morning everyone said that they could all hear me from their rooms (and only me) but they said I did a pretty good job so I guess that'sok . The second day on the boat was mainly just a ride back to the marina while weaving through the many islands. I spent most of it sitting on the deck and reading in the sun. The trip was a lot of fun and I'm very glad I did it. Unfortunately, I was trying to make plans with my new friends when they were abruptly kicked out of the van and were told to hurry by the driver (and the hoard of honking cars and mopeds as we blocked traffic at their hostel) so I never got to meet up with them again. Back at the hostel I asked the people in charge if they had any suggestions on areas to go to meet other backpackers and there happened to be another guy sitting there who was also travelling alone and looking for someone to hang out with. We got some pizza and had some beers and then headed back to the place with the really cheap beer and plastic seats. He was from Australia and was telling me all about the horrible drought they are having. If you haven't heard about it, look it up, but there are water usage restrictions on almost EVERYTHING. The next day was my last in Hanoi because I had already booked a bus ticket to head on down to HoChi Minh City. There is actually a really great system set up where you can buy a bus ticket (about $26 USD ) from one to the other and then there are five cities that the bus stops at along the way. You can get off at any of those cities and stay for as long as you want. When you are ready to go to the next city, you simply call a number and the bus will pick you up the next day. The buses also served as a great way to meet people, as I will describe in the future. So on my last day in Hanoi I wanted to go see the pickled remains of HoChi Minh and visit some museum that was supposed to be really good. Of course I got there and and you can only see the pickled communist leader very early in the morning and I was too late and for some reason the museum was closed all day. While trying to take some pictures in front of a pagoda I met two Vietnamese girls who wanted to show me around Hanoi for a little bit in exchange for being able to practice their English. They took me to a temple and it was nice having someone that could explain what the temple was for and what Vietnamese people do in temples. They actually even invited me to their home town for Tet (Vietnamese New Year) but it wasn't for a couple of weeks and I obviously wouldn't be around anymore. I also came to find out that they were only 16 and then I felt very sketchy and decided that it was time to go back to the hostel and wait for my bus to come. Once again, it is IMPOSSIBLE to judge the age of Asian women (or girls I guess...) and they all look the same between 16 and 40. I really liked Hanoi even though it was crazy busy and loud. It was a great introduction to Vietnam and I highly recommend going there someday. OH... on a side note... I recently was made aware of a website:hugeinasia .com and it is about a couple guys that just graduated that are trying to become celebrities in Asia. Its pretty funny and they start off in Vietnam and I think just got to Thailand and have lots of videos so if you want to check that out to get more of a feel for Vietnam I recommend it. And don't forget to check my picture page to see all the pictures that go along with my posts!