Halong Bay II: The appearance of NhoB

Today might best be described as the day Maya clung to a whole lotta rocks. Our morning began on Cat Ba Island, at Cat Ba National Park where we started our hike scaling slimy steps, graduating on to slippery dirt paths and finally up muddy rocks to arrive at a tremendous view at Kim Giao Peak. It was a sea of mountains. For an extra adrenaline rush, you could pray for dear life while climbing 5 flights of rusty metal stairs to stand upon loose wooden boards. It was well worth the view and solitude from the crowd but my knuckles turned white from the grip on the rail. I spent the entire climb up and down shaking like a twig in a hurricane, convincing myself that I wouldn't die, and dreaming of rigging a rappel down. My poor kayak/vodka partner did not fare so well. He was down for the rest of the day.

After lunch, we headed out to Monkey Island where we indeed, saw some monkeys. We were instructed on our options which were "Swim, kayak, or follow path to the beach on other side." That's how it was put. Simply. Plainly. "Path to beach on other side." And it wasn't a lie. But perhaps a more apt description would have been "A treacherous, challenging path that goes past a sign with skulls and cross bones leading to a locked gate blocking access to the other beach. "Path" being a bit of a disappointment, I turned my attention to swimming on the first beach. While swimming, I noticed a can floating in the water. I immediately became indignant and went to go take the tossed-out beer can out of the water when I realized that it wasn't empty at all. In fact, it had never been opened. I discovered a full, unopened can of Bia Ha Noi discarded and left to bob around unappreciated in the sea. Enter my new traveling companion. I decided to adopt the can and show it the sights. Just the two of us. Since this trip could only be made better if Brett could come along too, I've dubbed my new friend can NhoB, Nho being Vietnamese for small and the B for Brett. Given Brett's love for beer, i figure the name is appropriate. Expect many pictures of NhoB to come.

Halong Bay I

I woke up in the morning and got ushered on to a minivan that drove us to where a good majority of the tourists in North Vietnam were also waiting to get onto their junk boat. There were to be 10 of us on our boat. A pair of Canadian friends, 2 lone Englishmen, A Spanish/Japanese couple, 2 Danish sisters, a lone Swede, and myself. Prices were compared. A substantial difference was noted. For anyone going to Vietnam, do shop around before signing up for a tour. Our Swede paid more than double what we paid for the same tour.

Our first stop were to some glorious cave called "Suprise Cave". Guides were happy to point out images once could see in the rocks with a bit of imagination, including a very phallic stalagmite - the "suprise", perhaps? The caverns were huge and were it not for the hoards of people, gaudy colored lights, and the feeling of being herded like sheep, it would have had a very Lord of the Rings. From there we jumped on some kayaks where me and my kayak partner jammed ourselves into little nooks and crannies in the karst islands.

From there we retired to the boat were my fellow passengers jumped into the water from the boat. The wind was a bit too crisp for my tastes. Bowed out and took pictures instead. The prices on the boat were exorbitant and me and my kayak partner snuck on a bottle of vodka. He made better work of it than I did which he suffered greatly for the next day.