Today was my second day here on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay, Vietnam. I woke up bright and early ready to eat the Vietnam style buffet breakfast. I was really impressed because it was more food and a nicer set up than I expected. It was on the 8th floor of the Prince Hotel and as I entered into the dining room I was greeted by a man serving up the Pho Chicken soup to my left and the coffee and tea station to the left. Directly in front of me was a wall of windows displaying the fantastic view of Halong Bay and all the "Junks" floating peacefully in the morning mist.
I went and woke up Robyn, who was planning on sleeping through breakfast, and insisted it would be worth her time. We ate peacefully and then Robyn went back to nap while I grabbed my Korean study book and headed to a cafe to study for a while to keep up on my korean. I got through 4 grammar concepts in the cute open front cafe as I watched the people cruising by on their moterbikes and women in the Vietnamese traditional hats pushing fruit through the streets.
When I returned to the hotel we decided that we were ready to head out and do some sightseeing on the island. We walked down to this shop to drop of my laundry to get cleaned and asked the man if he knew where we could get scooters to transport us around the island. He was quite helpful, and he actually decided that him and his friend could give us a 3 hour motorbike tour around the island themselves. We had no idea what we were in for!
We hopped on the bikes and away we went! The countryside of Cat Ba was breathtaking with the mountains jutting into the sky covered with trees, vines, and palms in all shapes and sizes. The ground was equally as beautiful with picturesque scenes around every corner consisting of rice fields and woman and men working their farms just like I had seen in a National Geographic when I was young.
Suddenly, the bike turned the corner and into a driveway we pulled. "This is my brothers house,"said the driver of my motorbike. We laughed and politely greeted the surprized brother who looked like he had just crawled out of bed. "He is King of the Island,"said the driver as he showed us his brother's shiny new motorbike that had only been driven 59km.... not 60 he wanted us to notice! :) We sat down inside of his brothers house and were served some sort of special "health" tea in glasses that were not meeting in sort of health standards. As we drank it, I was surprized at how great it tasted but at that moment the driver said, "You can take picture while my brother smokes" and out came a strange sort of pipe that his brother"King of the Island" began smoking from. Robyn asked him what it was and he replied something in a quick Vietnamese accent that made us both feel very uncomfortable. We weren't quite sure what he was smoking, but at that moment it made us question what was in the special "health tea" we were drinking.
Fortunately, we got back on our journey and kept heading along the Vietnamese countryside. We stopped again to take pictures of farmers in fields, cliffs and valleys, and a few stops at some more of his friends houses to say hello. We got back into the city of Cat Ba around 5 and then went to dinner before we went back to the motorbike owners shop for pedicures, manicures, back massages, and head massages. The entire day of touring followed up by our night of beauty and relaxation only set us back 350,000 dong which equivalates to about $18 US dollars. You really can't beat that!
Now, I am just trying to figure out what to do for my last day in Cat Ba. Climbing, jogging, trekking, renting a motorbike, drinking at a waterfront cafe, kayaking.... I have so many options and I am loving every moment! All I know for sure is that I will get to eat another delicious meal of Pho and tofu and veggies and relax here and enjoy myself. I will have the day to myself to just enjoy this beautiful, wonderful place!
I went and woke up Robyn, who was planning on sleeping through breakfast, and insisted it would be worth her time. We ate peacefully and then Robyn went back to nap while I grabbed my Korean study book and headed to a cafe to study for a while to keep up on my korean. I got through 4 grammar concepts in the cute open front cafe as I watched the people cruising by on their moterbikes and women in the Vietnamese traditional hats pushing fruit through the streets.
When I returned to the hotel we decided that we were ready to head out and do some sightseeing on the island. We walked down to this shop to drop of my laundry to get cleaned and asked the man if he knew where we could get scooters to transport us around the island. He was quite helpful, and he actually decided that him and his friend could give us a 3 hour motorbike tour around the island themselves. We had no idea what we were in for!
We hopped on the bikes and away we went! The countryside of Cat Ba was breathtaking with the mountains jutting into the sky covered with trees, vines, and palms in all shapes and sizes. The ground was equally as beautiful with picturesque scenes around every corner consisting of rice fields and woman and men working their farms just like I had seen in a National Geographic when I was young.
Suddenly, the bike turned the corner and into a driveway we pulled. "This is my brothers house,"said the driver of my motorbike. We laughed and politely greeted the surprized brother who looked like he had just crawled out of bed. "He is King of the Island,"said the driver as he showed us his brother's shiny new motorbike that had only been driven 59km.... not 60 he wanted us to notice! :) We sat down inside of his brothers house and were served some sort of special "health" tea in glasses that were not meeting in sort of health standards. As we drank it, I was surprized at how great it tasted but at that moment the driver said, "You can take picture while my brother smokes" and out came a strange sort of pipe that his brother"King of the Island" began smoking from. Robyn asked him what it was and he replied something in a quick Vietnamese accent that made us both feel very uncomfortable. We weren't quite sure what he was smoking, but at that moment it made us question what was in the special "health tea" we were drinking.
Fortunately, we got back on our journey and kept heading along the Vietnamese countryside. We stopped again to take pictures of farmers in fields, cliffs and valleys, and a few stops at some more of his friends houses to say hello. We got back into the city of Cat Ba around 5 and then went to dinner before we went back to the motorbike owners shop for pedicures, manicures, back massages, and head massages. The entire day of touring followed up by our night of beauty and relaxation only set us back 350,000 dong which equivalates to about $18 US dollars. You really can't beat that!
Now, I am just trying to figure out what to do for my last day in Cat Ba. Climbing, jogging, trekking, renting a motorbike, drinking at a waterfront cafe, kayaking.... I have so many options and I am loving every moment! All I know for sure is that I will get to eat another delicious meal of Pho and tofu and veggies and relax here and enjoy myself. I will have the day to myself to just enjoy this beautiful, wonderful place!
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