Last weekend we finally made it to Ha Long Bay and WOW. I'm a bit disappointed with how my photos turned out but the trip was still amazing. I would like to go there again another day and spend more time, perhaps explore the island Cat Bai where the national park is. Friday all the teachers dressed up in soccer uniforms we bought for $5 dollars a pop and spent our break drinking cold beer and peanuts. One pitcher cost about 14,000 VND (less than $1).
Friday night we boarded a night bus at around 10 pm. It was so cool! it had beds to lay down on. I remember my Aunt mentioning buses like this before but still it was definitely a first and completely unexpected in Vietnam.
Father was generous enough to pay for our trip to Hanoi which cost around 120,000 VND per person ( a little over $5 per person for a 6 hour drive with beds!). Upon arriving in Hanoi we took taxis to a hotel where Jennifer's sister and mom were waiting to have pho for breakfast with us. Afterward we boarded a tiny bus for the three hour trek to the Bay. It was so weird seeing so many foreigners at the dock and it continued on the boat. I really expected to be on some really crappy boat sleeping on a mat on the floor and probably not having a bathroom...Jennifer really must have pulled some strings because the boat was amazing. They dropped flowers on us when we boarded and served us an amazing 7 course meal. There were about 45 people on board and 2 people to each bedroom. The rooms and bathrooms were way nicer than the two cruises I've been on before.
The first day we got to explore this amazing cave that reminded me of something out of Indiana Jones. It was huge and open to the outside, reminded me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland (which seems to be a pretty realistic interpretation of my experience here in Vietnam this year coincidentally lol).
Afterward we took the smaller boat to the beach where we swam in the cool water for an hour before heading back to the main ship.
Dinner was equally amazing. It was funny because they had some fake "authentic vietnamese music" to entertain us until our TAs interrupted and taught all the forigners how Viets really party with lots of cheap beer and bad karaoke and never-ending cheers of "Zo Hai Ba..." At dinner all of the volunteers were discussing how it was really cool that we could bring some of the TA's with us because sadly that probably was one of the coolest things they'll be able to do in their lives. It's so sad that my students haven't been able to see much of their country. I had one who grew up in a province neighboring Ha Long Bay yet she has never visited it.
Day two started bright and early at 6 am. Kim and I enjoyed breakfast on the balcony with our SLRs snapping a few pics before putting them away to go kayaking. We were unable to go to a smaller bay that Jennifer recommended but that hour or two we spent kayaking was so much fun.
I really enjoyed it, maybe I'll take it up back in the states. On the rides back I got a bit sick and our bus narrowly missed hitting a car in front of us. I still am not accustomed to how ridiculously chaotic traffic is on the roads here. It's a serious problem and a major road block to the development of the country. Only 1.5 weeks left :( then Hue, a day in Saigon and a day in Hong Kong!
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