Day 8- A wonderful day in Cat Ba

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!

Day 7- Escape seclusion and head to Cat Ba Island

I awoke on day 7 of my trip with the worst hangover I have had in ages. I felt like my head was going to explode and my stomach was in knots combined with hunger pains. The previous night we had drank more than any person should ever drink and so we were preparing to leave the little secluded island and head on a journey to semi sobriety and a different island with internet access called Cat Ba.

All of the other tourists from the night before packed up their bags and jumped onto the boat and headed for their journey back to Hanoi. Robyn and I were lucky enough to get to sleep in for an extra hour and a half and take our own boat to Catba. Henry, one of the friendly 21 year old workers who was at the island for our stay had already left the island, so it was just us and the other 21 year old british boy named Mark. It felt like it was time to leave our little deserted paradise because the rain was falling softly on the bunglows and everythings seemed gray and tired. The sombreros that had been worn the night before in our drunken party were strew about and it seemed weird thinking of the mayhem that was happening only a mere 10 hours prior.

Robyn and I packed up our things and made our way as the lone tourists onto the boat to Cat Ba. It would have been a magnificent trip, but I felt like the waves combined with my hangover were going to cause me to throw up, so it was actually quite a challenge just to handle the boat ride. Finally, we made it into the quiet island surrounding by houseboats and fisherman and got off the boat to to jump on the back of motorbikes that took us over the mountan to our hotel.

Prince Hotel on Cat Ba Island felt like an oasis to me! Only a mere $20 and we had hot showers, beds, tvs, 24/7 electricity! I didn't realize how happy I would become but I felt like I had won the lottery. Robyn and I raced next door to a restaurant where I ordered 2 different dishes (Vegetable Pho and Tofu and veggies) and gorged myself with the wonderful food. Unfortunately, my stomach was not ready for that andn I had to race to the bathroom and puke because my hangover was still kicking strong. After that, I felt fine though and we spent our afternoon in a local internet cafe checking our emails and I spent it updating my travel blog.

About 5 pm, I went for an amazing jog around the city and decided I want to live here. The streets are clean and the view is spectacular. Cat Ba is full of lush green mountains that meet the beautiful boat filled sea. Restaurants line the boardwalk of the city and are spilling into the streets with outdoor seating. The people seem to be more layed back and kind than the hustlers and bustlers of Hanoi. I am in loving Cat Ba... maybe it is because it has the word Cat in it... hahahahhah I don't know but this beautiful place is somewhere I don't want to leave!

Day 6- Deserted Island for Life

I can't believe I have been living here with no internet, phone, or TV for 3 days. I am becoming accustomed to waiting for the ring of the bell to signal time to me. I have found life here to be quite simple but I don't know if I enjoy the simplicity or not. I am ready to check my email as I am sure I probably makeing my mom, boyfriend and friends worry because I have not contacted anyone in over 5 days now.

I woke up early today and had a sad goodbye to the chipper, life of the party Helen who had to leave to get back to Hanoi. Robyn had met Helen along the way and she had been quite an upbeat and entertaining girl to travel with. Helen left the island because she was on a time crunch and wanted to get some time in to do trekking up in the hills of Vietnam in an area called Sapa.

The new boat of people arrived and new fun faces filled the island. I sat on the beach and chatted with a girl named Kar-men from Singapore and then went to our bungalow and napped with Robyn. We munched on the island snack of Pringles and Oreos and dozed in and out of sleep as all the new tourists were running around participating in the water sports and playing volleyball and ping-pong.

Although we were tired Robyn and I rallied our energy and spent the last night playing drinking games and joining in on the island traditions. The game of Kings turned out to be quite interesting when Robyn had to give a lap dance to a random stranger. She was extremely opposed to the idea but when 20 other people are following the rules of the game it was hard for her to get out of it. Limbo and the One Foot Stand Off were new additions to the games of the evening and I actually even won the One Foot Stand Off and recieved a free Red Bull and Vodka as my prize. We ended up drinking too much per usual and fell asleep to the crashing waves and the sounds of rainfall in our last night in our beach bungalow.

Day 5- Saturday Living on the Deserted Island

This was a beautiful, unbeatable day to wake up at Halong Bay. Everyone else in our tour group had decided to go back to Hanoi and end the tour but Helen, Robyn, and I didn't want to leave. We paid $20 and stayed on the island for an extra day.

It was the perfect day to tan and relax on the beach! I took a long nap, and Helen went tubing while Robyn relaxed for the afternoon. At about 5, Robyn woke me up and we went out wakeboarding with Mark, Henry and the new tour guide that had arrived that day named Stu. The boys that work on the island were all very funny because they had never even wakeboarded until they had started this job. They were actually pretty good but everything they could do was self taught.

We ate dinner after we got back to our island with the new group of tourists and at this point we were starting to feel like we worked there. I was extremely tired and decided that I needed another nap.... I awoke to the sounds of laughter and music coming from the dinner area. It was another night of drinking games. The job the boys do is to entertain the guests so everynight is a repeat of the day before. Same games, new faces playing. I had started to learn the way they play there on the island- Ring of Fire aka Kings, Pyramid, Long Bus... and maybe some variation of those.

The off to bed I went about 11:30, so I wouldn't be completely worthless again!

Day 4- Friday- Arrive on the Island

We woke up early, at about 8:30, and crawled from our rooms in the ship to transfer to the other boat. It took us to the little deserted island in Halong Bay. We arrived about 11 am and found our beds which were in these cute beach bungalows with no walls. They were just a roof over our heads, mattresses, blankets and mosquito nets. Despite sounding quite minimal, they were extremely cute and wondefully comfortable!

We threw on our bikinis and suntanned and had drinks while relaxing for the day. Robyn and I chatted with our new German friend Annika and then had help from Rob who was our photographer for our island photo shoot with Robyns new Cannon SLR camera.

In the evening, we went wakeboarding in Halong Bay with 2 of the workers Henry and Mark. Then we showered and by then it was time for dinner. The bell sounded and everyone on the island rushed to the common area for the daily feast of rice, cabbage, fried pot stickers, hot dogs, chicken, beef, and french fries. I was exhausted and fell asleep after dinner but I awoke about 1030 to Robyn and Mark coaxing me out of bed with a vodka and diet coke. I went back over and watched the tail end of a giant 20+ person game of kinds and then talked Rob into another dance off. Helen, Annika, Rob, and Semi (a new friend who lives in Sydney) and I all danced the night away to songs like "Just Like a Prayer" and "Sweet Home Alabama".....

Day 3- Riding the "Junk" to Halong Bay

Thursday morning Helen, Robyn and I had to check out of our hotel and head to Hanoi Backpackers to get there by 8 am to leave for our tour. We were super tired and a bit rushed b/c we had woken up late and had to rush. We almost left our passports at the front desk!

Luckily, we got our passports and jumped in a taxi to head across Hanoi to the hostel where our tour group was meeting to go to Halong Bay. Right when we were close Robyn opened her taxi door and a motorbike hit right into her door! The guy fell off of the bike and looked around puzzeled and then fortunately got back on his bike and drove away. Helen went to Hanoi Backpackers to tell them to wait for us. The driver wouldn't let Robyn go, so she wanted me to go get a translator. I got a translator and Helen and as they were going to meet Robyn they saw her running toward the hostel looked completely shooken up. The driver had not let her go and has almost got violent with her. Luckily, Vietnamese people in the street had stepped in and helped her.

So after she calmed down and recovered fro that she was ok and we didn't have much time before we had to load on the buses to take us to Halong Bay to board the ship. The bus ride was interesting b/c a fellow named Rob from England decided we should have a cheesy music contest along the way which he named "The Cheese Off"---> Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys and songs I had never heard became the soundtrack to the trip to Halong Bay. We did make a pit stop at a pottery village and they had a mini mart there where we managed to purchase 3 bottles of vodka to supply us for the trip!

Once on board the boat which they called "Junks" we sat on top of the deck and started the party with mango and vodka cocktails. The ride took us through the bay which was absolutely breathtaking! There were small beautiful islands that had limestone cliffs jutting out all around us. The sight took me breath away as we we enjoyed the view aboard the three level huge wooden "Junk".

We finally anchored out in the bay for the night and more than half the people in our tour group jumped from the top of the deck. I jumped off twice and Robyn jumped off once, and we tried to make a video but were unsuccessful with my waterproof camera. Everyone hopped into kayaks and we kayaked around the beautiful Halong Bay before we showered and got ready for dinner.

The night continued to be just as good as the day filled with dancing and drinking aboard our junk in Halong Bay!

Day 3, 4, 5, 6~~~~ Time flew away at Halong Bay

Wow- So Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Halong Bay have flown by! I am sitting on the beach of a deserted island trying to piece together what has happened along my trip. It hasn't even been a week but the past few days here make me feel as though I have entered a different world. I don't have a watch and rarely know what time it is. I know that they ring the bell for lunch at 12:00 and dinner is 7:00.
Anyway, let me go back in time and try to piece together what has happened over the last few days...