This posting is for you Alexis! ;) New Country..New Language...yes, that's part of travel and Taryn and I are now humbled by our inability to pronounce Vietnamese..we've been so proud and albeit a little smug from our abilities to communicate simple things in Thailand and Laos - but in Vietnam it's a whole new ballgame. Taryn and I decided to fly from Vientiane to Hanoi - we just couldn't deal with a 28 hour ( ?? maybe more and more hell to endure!) bus ride...so we did a 1 day express visa deal and booked a flight bound for Hanoi. We weren't alone though- there were a few familiar faces at the airport from the much beaten tourist trail that Taryn and I had reluctantly been on ( and sometimes off - only to get back on again)..when we landed at Hanoi - it was exciting! We were thrilled to be transferring our money into new currency ( Dong) and head onto a new adventure. We joined fellow travelers ( Katie and Chase) in the techno music laden cab with an extremely affable driver who took us to an O.k. hotel in the Old Quarter section of Hanoi- where the room itself was just o.k. but the staff was amazing! After hearing about a pending storm that would be entering Ha long Bay ( a destination we were planning on heading to 3 or 4 days later) - we decided to impulsively book a 1 night- 2 day - all inclusive tour...now, we wanted to avoid packages - but we were just too tired to figure it all out in such a short time...and figured once we got to Ha long bay - we could figure it out after the package ran out and stay longer ( which the staff and Star Hotel said we could) so it was done. I had my first bowl of Pho in Vietnam and I was stoked! The next morning we got up and jumped in a van bound for Ha long bay! It is stunning - it is UNESCO world heritage sites and rightfully so! Once we hopped onto the pier - and I slung my Adidas duffel bag - with my broken staps ( I am the only again without a backpack - which i am still on the hunt for one!) over my shoulder and headed for our boat named "Imperial Junk." Its a common and "must do" things for visitors to view and take in Halong bay and all it's glory from an overnight cruise throughout the bay - there were hundreds of these Junk boats at the pier! They all have about 10 rooms for guests so its perfect amount of people on the boat - not too crowded and its just a treat be able to enjoy the awesome beauty of the 1,000's of tiny islands that are scattered about Halong Bay. Our guide said that Halong means - where the dragons tail descends - to create the many islands...
On the boat - Taryn and I were with about 6 or 7 couples - and there was one family -and then us! So, we were like the only pals on the boat - but we had fun and chatted up with a really friendly couple, Dom and Simon from Wales who have been traveling around the world since June 2007! They'll be heading in a month - but it was lovely to exchange stories and laughs from our tales of travels.
Included in our package - we got to Kayak, had meals, hike, bike, visit a monkey island, and ofcourse sleep in the middle of the gorgeous bay...it was a treat!
Now, Taryn and I are on Cat Ba island in Halong bay - where we deviated from our group ( since we didn't pay for 2 nights and 3 days on the boat) and found ourselves a decent hotel room for $10 whereas our former group members paid a little more and got their dinner included. But Taryn and I are enjoying saving our money and our time away from the group - its nice to do what we want - when we want and not have a timetable..Cat Ba is the biggest island in Halong Bay and its filled with cute hotels, markets, restaurants, and beach. It's very reminiscent of Positano or some cliff side community in the Mediterranean! Taryn and I and loving it and are contemplating staying another night..we are sort of on a time schedule - she has to return to BKK on the 2nd - so that leaves me to travel solo for about 5-6 days...so we'd like to see as much of Vietnam as possible and head into Cambodia together...but it's looking like it will be difficult to accommodate that..After we finish up with Halong Bay - we'll head back to Hanoi and enjoy the city.
