Vietnam

People keep asking me to talk about my trip, and for the last couple of weeks, I could only really give snippets. My mind just couldn't wrap itself around all I experienced. I went through culture shock and aw. It wasn't like boarding a plane to London.

I think I have finally digested it enough to write snippets. I wish I had had the internet and enough time to write while I was there, but I decided I wanted to spend more time actually discovering the place instead of hovering over the computer. Sorry.

So today, we will discuss Halong Bay. I will say again, I think everyone needs to go there at least once in their life. Unfortunately, I fear it is already becoming very over-run as we speak.

Luckily, I did research before we left, and found a boat that takes a different path through the bay. Its also smaller, which for me was a plus and a minus. Plus, you have a smaller number of people you have to share the boat with. Minus, if the people you have on the boat with you are awful, your kind of stuck.

Anyway, after a four hour drive from Hanoi through rice paddies and small towns, with a 15 minute stop at a "craft" market, we finally get to the bay. They drop us off and have us sit in this dining hall at tables that demarcate what boat we are on. Our boat is Red Dragon.

We soon discover that there are two Red Dragons. They had just finished building the second one the previous month. Me, Elizabeth, and Kristine are whisked away with three other people to a small little motor boat which put-puts us up to our Junk. I call it a Junk because its a replica of a chinese pirate ship from the 1800s. I know, sounds kind of dorky, but MAN was it beautiful.

Seriously, our room on the boat was prettier then our hotel room in Hanoi. The bathroom was spotless and we had windows on either side that just gave us luscious views.

Views of what? You ask.

The rocks.

I can't explain them, but they are amazing. I seriously spent a day on this boat sailing in between these rocks through a thin fog and loved every minute of it.

Granted, we ate constantly and had a side trip to a fishing village. But overall, it was the rocks. On the second day, I got up at 6 am and just went out on the boat and just looked at them while the sun rose. The only other person up top was the captain. There were no other boats about. It was just me.

Loved it.

Ok, I do have to say, we did run into an odd moment where during dinner the night before the crew put on a bit of a talent show and had us participate in a partriotic song about Ho Chi Min. FYI, if there is a video of this and I'm brought before a senate sub-committee, I only joined in because the boys were so cute.

Anyway, I was good and went sea kayaking with Elizabeth the second day and took a dip in the water. How many times in your life are you going to get a chance like this? It was freezing, but worth it.

On the boat, the other guests told us we have to go to Ankor Watt. They said Halong Bay was right up there for top places, but we had to go to Ankor.

I made me decision then that Cambodia would be visited within the next couple of years. I have to go back!