Back from Halong Bay

So yesterday morning's post got cut short b/c my van to take me to Halong Bay arrived...but let me continue where I left off...

First of all, I was pretty scared for my life on that motor scooter! We just merged right into a sea of other bikes...it was crazy. There's really no "right of way" here either...it seems to be if you have the bigger vehicle you get by first. I also noticed that there's no median on most roads...so in the morning we were going with the traffic in one direction and on the way back it was like, we were weaving through oncoming traffic! Meanwhile, there are women balancing baskets filled with various things on bicycles, and just random people walking. There are about 6 million people in Hanoi, and 12 million motorbikes! Also, 11,000 automobile related deaths and 30,000 serious injuries every year! I am not surprised! There are a lot of single travelers on the bikes, but I've also seen entire families. I also saw a guy with a net full of puppies hanging off the back of his motorbike...was told later that they were on their way to the slaughter house. Apparently there is a certain breed of dog that is a delicacy here...

The guy at the hotel told me Halong Bay would be cold and I should buy a jacket...he sent me again on the motorbike with the hotel staff and I could not get them to bargain down in price. I ended up just coming back to the hotel empty handed. So much for our great exchange rate!

I boarded a bus with about 15 other people bound for Halong Bay yesterday. We stopped at a few hotels and I ended up meeting a group of Vietnamese Americans from Boston who were traveling here. It was a 3.5-4 hour drive through the country side of Vietnam. There were lots of rice paddies along the roadway and plenty of motorbikes, of course. I talked to the Boston group most of the ride out and then discovered we were being separated once at the bay...I joined a smaller group, a couple from Singapore traveling with the husband's mother and a couple from Switzerland traveling with their 3 year old daughter...

We got on a small boat which took us out to "the Little Pinto" which was where I spent the next 24 hours. I was assigned to a private room #203 which was a really cute, basically a bed and small bathroom. After I dropped my stuff there I joined the Singapore family for lunch on the upper deck. The food wouldn't stop coming! We had 4-5 dishes of appetizers followed by pork, chicken and beef main courses with rice and fruit.

We sailed into Halong Bay which consists of about 2000 islands according to our tour guide, Ken. It was beautiful and the sun had just come out while we were driving there so the mist was burning off the water and our view was clear. It was kind of cold on the boat though, I was wishing I would have just shelled out the $20 for that coat I saw in Hanoi earlier! Oh well...We sailed inside a protected cove and there we were amongst a floating village...basically all these little houses lining the edge of the islands...crazy! There were children rowing their own little boats filled with oysters, some kids were selling things from their boat...we made our way up to the most famous cave of Halong Bay...

The cave was huge and had 3 main rooms. There was a stone carved staircase that led tourists through the cave easily. I couldn't help but wonder how much work must have gone into making the pathway...I also couldn't help but wonder how we would ever escape from the cave should it collapse while we were in there! It was pretty cool, but also very artificial. There were special lights set up to illuminate parts of the cave and it was definitely a tourist trap with hoards of people ahead and behind us...I was also not feeling too well, coughing like crazy...

We made our way back to our boat where I took a nap till dinner...dinner was an elaborate array of food once again with fruits and vegetables cut into flowers, etc. While the food was excellent, I could have done without the prawns. Those things really creep me out...the black eyes, tenacles. gross...

I was sitting with the family from Singapore once again and I asked the girl how old she was...I was going to ask what grade she was in, but decided not to...turns out she is 26! I couldn't believe it, this girl looks like she's 12. And until this morning, I thought she was the guy's daughter...turns out they're married...

Anyway, her name is Aetna, or at least, that's what it sounded like. She ran back to her room and brought me some cold medicine...I could not wait to get in bed...it had been such a long day and my chest was hurting from coughing so much. I went to bed at 7 pm! And it felt so good to climb under that huge duvet cover....we anchored the boat in a small harbor in the middle of one of the floating villages and I slept like a baby...

Woke up just in time for breakfast at 7am...which consisted of an omelette cut in 4 pieces, various fruits and basically a loaf of white bread that was obviously frozen and microwaved. We had fresh mango, dragonfruit and asian pears which are round and more porous than the pears I'm used to...the coffee was also really good...very strong and served with condensed milk. Soon after breakfast we went kayaking...it was so cold I really wasn't into it, but figured I couldn't be all the way out there on Halong Bay and not do it...Aetna and I shared a kayak and our life story...turns out not only is she married but also has 3 girls...she said she got pregnant and then basically had to get married. She said that she doesn't want any more kids but her husband really wants to have a boy...she also told me about how in Singapore if you buy a house within a certain radius of your parents they'll give you 40,000 (whatever the Singapore currency is) toward the property....interesting...her mom was watching the kids while she was away and she said that both of their parents take turns watching the kids while they go to work. She is a "regular office worker" and her husband manages properties in Singapore...

Kayaking was tough! We basically kayaked for an hour against the current to reach a cave...along the way, we got up really close to the floating village. I really can't understand how people live there...there is no land nearby whatsoever. There seemed to be planks connecting the houses to one another. Every house had a huge net out front to catch their food I guess...some people were emptying their nets. There were toddlers teetering along the edges of their houses, dogs and cats even! One woman squated by the edge of her house and was washing dishes...I can't imagine that they have power or running water, but who knows...

We eventually reached the cave and kayaked right into it. It was kinda cool but hardly worth all the effort, haha. Somehow I mustered up the strength to kayak the rest of the way back to the boat. By the time we got back not only was I freezing but also soaking wet. I hadn't planned on showering on the boat b/c the shower looked too precarious and I was afraid I was going to flood the entire room since the shower was basically just a shower head on a rope hanging btw the sink and toilet...but I was so cold there was no other option...turns out there was a hidden drain so I didn't flood the room after all...and to my surprise the water actually got pretty hot...got dressed and back up to the upper decks just in time for lunch...

We headed back to the town and then onto the bus for the 4 hour drive back...we stopped at a souvenier vendor and everyone got an ice cream cone...of course I couldn't resist but I couldn't taste it at all. I don't know how anyone can stand to be around me coughing and sneezing the way I am...I'm hoping to make it back to the pharmacy tonight for something better. It's bad enough being sick here, but the exhaust out on the streets is insane. In fact, most people wear face masks! There are all sorts of masks too...I've seen most of the women wearing eyelit (sp?) fabric masks...I'm about to get one for myself. That is if they'll give me a good deal...

Oh, one other thing...thought it was pretty funny that the choice of music on the boat and bus ride basically was elevator music with instrumental versions of the song from titanic, silent night, jingle bells. I even heard Ave Maria, although that one did have words...I swear it was sung with a Vietnamese accent!

Anyway, so far, I'm having a great time, just wish I could kick this cold!! Taking my last dose of zithromax tonight...Nicole what meds did you get??

The family from Singapore is picking me up (on foot) at my hotel and we were going to venture out to dinner together and maybe to the night market...I also tenatively promised the Boston group that I would join them for Karaoke tonight, lol. You know me, can't pass that up...although I don't have much of a voice! At 4:45 AM (yikes!) a taxi will be bringing me and the girls' bags to meet the girls at the airport...finally! Better enjoy my last night of solitude :) We're traveling onto Hue, HCMC (formerly Saigon) and then onward to Cambodia...more soon :)