We arrived in Vietnam on Thursday, a little later than we planned, at about noon. Our flight was scheduled to depart to Hanoi at 3:30pm, so as soon as we were cleared to disembark, we left as a group to catch a taxi. There were 15 of us so we split into 4 taxis, and of course everything in the country of Vietnam is bargaining. Many of the meters are weighted here, meaning they are charging us much more than they should be. Originally the driver wanted 400,000 dong, equal to about $24 U.S. We realized this was far too much because we were told on the ship to expect to pay about $100,000 dong to the airport. Alan, the student who set up this trip, gave the driver 100,000 and kind of had to fight with him about it. Some people assume foreigners are stupid but we are beginning to learn slowly so it is always an experience. Our flight got delayed leaving a little bit, so by the time we arrived in Hanoi, it was about 7pm. We met our guide, Thang, pronounced “Tawn”, and from there took a bus about 45 minutes away to the water puppet theater. It was so much fun –I think one of the most fun things I have ever been too. There were all kinds of puppets on long wooden sticks, but the sticks are hidden under the water. The puppets dance on the water like they are real, and creatures and costumers are elaborate and beautiful. There was also a sort of band, doing background music, and telling the story in Vietnamese. It was pretty easy to follow because the stories were played out through images. I took quite a few videos of it, and I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone. There were even small fireworks at the beginning over the water when the dragons were fighting. After the show we went to a restaurant where we had the whole top floor. We had a special menu created for us, and although I can’t remember exactly what it was, I think it included chicken, beef, shrimp, rice, some kind of green leafy vegetable I can’t seem to remember, and a few other things. It was delicious, as were all our meals in Vietnam. After finishing dinner, we left for the hotel, which was nice enough, although the rooms were the smallest I have ever seen. The bed literally took up the entire room. I shared a room with a girl named Cress and got to know her rather quickly as we shared the bed too. On a side note, if you are interested in any Vietnamese, here are a few phrases phonetically written: Hello: Sin Chow –Thank you: Gam On –Goodbye: Tam Bee-et. The numbers 1-5 –1: mot, 2: hi, 3: ba, 4: bone (with a hard o emphasized and not so much the e), 5: nam. Those are from memory so at least I learned something :)
The next day we woke up and had a light breakfast at the hotel before proceeding on a three and a half hour drive to Ha Long Bay from Hanoi. When we arrived, we boarded an authentic Chinese junk which was maybe the coolest thing I have ever seen. It was actually really nice, three floors, not huge, but perfect for 15 of us. There was a wooden dragon at the front of it, how cool is that? We got to cruise the waters for awhile, and now I see why Ha Long Bay is a World Heritage site. It was so beautiful, I can’t even describe it and pictures can’t do it justice. The water was a greenish-blue color and there were hills covered with trees all around us. For lunch we had soft shell crabs, shrimp, squid (ew I didn’t! I tried a piece but it isn’t like fried calamari, it’s all tentacle-y ..don’t worry I took some pictures), rice, a WHOLE fish (which was promptly taken apart for us by one of the servers), and other things that I didn’t take pictures of so I can’t really remember. This trip consisted of a lot of seafood though so it’s a good thing we all like it. After lunch we continued cruising and saw floating houses which are pretty interesting, and then we made our way to what is known as the “Amazing Cave.”Let me just say it really is amazing. I have never seen anything like it. The rock formations inside were so cool and interesting, and something else interesting is that plant life only grows around the lights that were put in the cave. The plants are attracted to the artificial light so those are the only places you can find them in the cave. After that we went kayaking all around the bay and through a cave/tunnel. It was so relaxing and we had a lot of fun. Then we got to relax for awhile until dinner, which was again delicious. Apparently that is the only word I can think to describe the food, but it’s true. That night we all hung out together outside until it started raining and then went into a room until we went up to the eating area and sat around talking and drinking wine.
The night before was fun, until the next day I woke up, and my sickness I had began before coming on the trip was in full gear (Brit had the flu before we left) and my stomach was sick all day. That part really sucked because I couldn’t really do much but it was a fun day anyways. We were bicycling up a mountain/hill, and one of the guides offered me a ride on the motorcycle, and I wasn’t going to take it, but then I figured I don’t feel well, why not? (Don’t worry mom I was wearing a helmet lol) Well it turns out it was one of the most fun things. Other people were biking along, and I got to see the sights on the back of a motorcycle :) He went pretty slow so it wasn’t scary at all and I got to take in the sights. It wasn’t on a road, just kind of a path leading up the hill. After that we all went on a hike through what seemed like a jungle, kind of like the Amazon. It was kind of weird because we were all wearing shorts and flip-flops and stepping on who knows what and having all kinds of plants rubbing on our legs so good thing we didn’t get poison ivy! It was fun though, and after we headed back down, we took a boat ride to one of the beaches where we had a barbeque. Well I suppose it was a barbeque, but there wasn’t a grill, just a spread of seafood which was fabulous as usual. Unfortunately because I was feeling sick, I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I just had a few prawns and french fries. Next we were going to go to Monkey Island. The only problem with this is that the tide had gone down so we couldn’t bring the boat right up to the beach or we would get stuck. We had to SWIM to the island. I couldn’t miss Monkey Island so I put on my swimsuit and jumped in with everyone else. There was a bit of a current so I was paddling hard, but we got there just before it hit dusk, and saw 4 monkeys playing together. One of them actually lunged at Anna a few feet away from me when she tried to take its picture! Some people went up a trail winding through a lot of trees and rocks but I didn’t have shoes so I hung out on the beach with a few people. It was cool but we only saw those 4 monkeys when we were expecting hundreds. It was cool either way and one of the baby monkeys was so cute. Swimming back was even more difficult than going to shore because the current was kind of hard to fight. We eventually made it and after a bit of panting, we were happy we went. After that we took a boat ride back to Cat Ba Island, where we had dinner at the hotel we were staying at. Sleep time proved to be rather interesting, with a sudden intrusion in the middle of the night…ask about it if you are interested, it’s a funny story. I say this as a reminder for myself so when I read this again I will know what I am talking about.
Today we left the hotel at 9am, and a couple of us went to a nearby hotel with Thang to get money to pay for the trip. Then we had a cruise from Cat Ba Island to Ha Long Bay and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Now silly me, I was going to pay for my drink I bought, and I looked in my envelope that had been filled with American ones, to only find three left. I could not believe this was true and 100 percent thought money had been stolen. It seemed like just minutes before I had a stack and then I had three dollars? Well I told Thang and there was nothing we could do because we had already left so basically I just had to suck it up. So I decided to do some calculations, and from what I gathered, I think I added up where the money had gone…I think I got a little crazy with my gift buying on the boat and didn’t even realize it. I did not share with anyone else my mistake because then I would look foolish, but I think I did account for most if not all of the money. The moral of the story is, keep your things with you at all times so you don’t have to wonder, and always pay attention to how much money you have so you would know if it went missing. Everything is a learning experience, and I learned again when I realized the earrings I had bought for $15, my friend bought for $5 from someone else. Even though some of these things suck, they’re good in a way because I am learning what to do and what not to do. After getting off the boat, we had the 3.5 hour drive back to Hanoi, although we got a flat tire on the way and had to stop to get it changed. Expect the unexpected. We made it for our flight, and here I am back on the ship like none of it ever happened. That’s the thing about this trip…sometimes it’s hard to believe I actually do these things because they come and go so quick. I am only in each country for about 5 days, and I blink my eyes and it’s gone. The only thing I have to remember it is my many, many pictures and the souvenirs I buy. Overall I had a great trip, and our guide was a lot of fun and he was sad when we left. I am very happy I was able to get on this trip, and got to know the 14 other people on it. All of them are really cool, and some not what I expected, in a good way. It was the perfect sized group and I really enjoyed spending my time in Vietnam with them. Tomorrow Leila and I are headed to the market in hopes of getting a dress made. So that’s all for now, time for bed. Vietnam has been great and I am looking forward to exploring Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow!
