Vietnam – The Rest of the Story

As I wrote in a previous entry, I stank when I arrived in Hanoi.  This turned out to be a good thing because I realized that I really don’t like that city.  It reminds me so much of Thailand; everyone is trying to rip off the whitey tourist.  On day two, I went to a place called Halong Bay.   This was one of the most wonderful experiences of my trip to Vietnam.

The book Lonely Planet describes Halong Bay as the natural wonder of Vietnam, and I totally agree.  The bay is filled with more than 3000 small islands made of limestone  and is so unbelievable beautiful that words can’t possibly describe.  I am excited to post photos of the place when I return to Iraq and can resize the photos. 

I went on a two day boat tour of the bay and islands.  The boat was a nice sized vessle.  I elected to pay a bit more and go on a boat which only had ten people; many of the other boats had upwards of 20 people; ten was just right.

On the boat, the dynamics of the group were diverse but very nice.  There were two Aussie blokes who were extremely pleasant as all aussies tend to be.  There was an Englishman, who was a cheery plump man who laughed a lot and was loads of fun to be around.  There was a Jewish couple who I guess were in their 70’s; most likeable people.  The Jewish man had the most sarcastic sense of humour, which I greatly appreciated.  There was a newly wed couple from Argentina who will be meeting up with me here on the island of Koh Samui tomorrow.  And lastely, there was a very nice older couple from Oz; they invited me to visit them in Queensland when I return to Oz; the Aussie lady had just finished teaching at a local university in Hanoi for two years.

On the first day, we visited the most spectacular cave I have ever seen in my life, and I have been in loads of caves.  The name of the cave was Hang Dau Go, which means ‘cave of wooden stakes’.  The French called it Grotte des Merveilles, which means ‘the cave of marvels’…it was truly marvelous.  When I post pics of the cave, they will be a bit blurry due to the poor lighting, but at least you will be able to slightly appreciate how truly wonderful the place is. 

On the evening of the first night, we all sat around and became very intoxicated.  I think the Jewish man was quite possibly one of the funniest people I have ever encountered.  After we became intoxicated, several of us elected to excercise poor judgement and climbed atop the ship and jumped off…into the bay…about a 20 foot drop.  It was quite fun.  We did this several times before we became too tired and cold. 

The second day was pretty much the same as the first day…riding around the various  islands.  I would really like to return and  hire a private boat and spend a week touring the many islands and caves.

When I returned to the hotel I’d been staying in in Hanoi, the reception told me that I had to return to the same room I’d been in before.  When I told her I refused because the internet didn’t work, she said, "You WILL stay in that room!"  haha  Trying to use the  old Jedi mind trick…hehe  didn’t work!  I threw an American temper tantrum and was relocated to another room with functioning internet. 

I think when I return to Vietnam in the future, I’ll be taking the less beaten path and travel around to the very remote places.  The country is extremely beautiful.   I am surprised that there were VERY few place to find western food; I couldn’t even find one in Hanoi.  Who knows…they’re probably still a bit bent about that disagreement  they had with the French and the Yanks a couple of years ago…