There Will Be Blood...

Trip Start Oct 15, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Vietnam  ,
Sunday, December 7, 2008

I'm about to leave on a night train to the Northern town of Sapa, so this is written in a rush. Halong Bay was beautiful and amazing with thousands of limestone karsts and isles ascending from an aquamarine sea. Tourists explore the area aboard wooden junk boats, which serve to accentuate the bay's natural beauty - as if such beauty could not exist without human engagement in it.

The tour agencies in Hanoi advertise Halong Bay as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I looked this up on Wikipedia and found that 1) There are no less than 49 Seven Wonders of the World and 2) Halong Bay is not included amongst the 49. Apparently you can vote for Halong Bay to be counted as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World here: http://www.new7wonders.com. I personally am boycotting this arbitrary and obviously inflated system of categorization.

I inadvertently signed up for a "luxury" tour of Halong Bay - you never would have guessed from the price - so everything was super posh. The first night was spent aboard the Imperial Junk and the second night was spent at the Holiday View Hotel on Cat Ba island. Activities included sunset kayaking, fishing, caving (of course), swimming, and biking. It was during the last activity that my trip took a turn for the worse, literally. While biking through a dark cave with my sunglasses on I became disoriented and crashed into the wall of the cave, falling on a bunch of jagged rocks in a fetid pool of water. I emerged from the cave covered in blood and water and I sort of panicked when I realized that I was surrounded by a group of strangers in a foreign country. I desperately wanted my mom or dad, or some other person who would indulge my drama queen tendencies. Instead I was forced to be brave and smile and keep a positive attitude (ugh). The whole experience was a revelation in what I am able to handle on my own.

I returned to Hanoi on Friday night and spent Saturday nursing my injured knee and watching movies. I watched Enchanted twice. Today I did a whirlwind tour of Hanoi's greatest hits: Hoa Lo Prison (aka The Hanoi Hilton where McCain was imprisoned), the Temple of Literature, and Ho Chi Minh's tomb. And now I'm off to Sapa for 3 nights.
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Comments

pranata0714
pranata0714 on Dec 7, 2008 at 02:39PM

Oy ga volt!
Those boo-boo's are supposed to be tended to by a mommy or a daddy and accompanied by hot cocoa with marshmallows. Glad to know you are on the mend.
Love, Mom

luisan
luisan on Dec 7, 2008 at 04:51PM

boo-boos
I too wished I could have cleaned the scrapes, added the bandaids, and tended to you. But I am with you in spirit, and happy to hear that you are recovering, and slowed down a little meanwhile.

Later, I would like to hear more about the Hanoi Hilton.

Love, Dad

volberding
volberding on Dec 8, 2008 at 02:50PM

Hanoi Hilton
That's what I call Gracie's dog cage.

Hope you are recovering quickly.

Miss you.

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