Pirate's Cove

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  Halong Bay, Vietnam
Thursday, July 17, 2008

UPDATED with Spell Check 7/19


Housekeeping First:
- So I'm writing this from Hue in central Vietnam. Connection was intermittent at our Hanoi hotel and well...on the boat in Halong Bay we were sort of off the grid.

- Photos.....I owe everyone a ton of photos but have been struggling to find the bandwith. As soon as I do, expect a flood. So far we have taken over a thousand.

- Shout out to Josh. He's the best traveling partner/navigator one could have. He knows every town to visit, every hotel listed, every street we have to get to.

- Where are the fucking Americans? We have run into loads of travelers the last 6 days, Kiwis, Aussies, Canadians, Brits, Euros, But not ONE SINGLE other American!!! Where the hell are we? I'm sure we are out there somewhere. We should get our backpacks on and see the world. Seriously!(UPDATE:) Met one today.

- Oh...and about the notion that all backpackers are feckless hippies: We have been traveling with lawyers, dentists, computer folks, chefs, designers...I'm about the least grounded of them all.

In the few moments on the web I catch here and there, I could never do Vietnam  justice. There are some beautiful things and people, and there are some things, such as poverty, and child labor, that are simply heartbreaking. Perhaps when we have traversed the length of this country, I'll feel I can write seriously about my impression of this country from a historical aspect, where they have been, where they seem to be heading, how they are getting there, the obstacles they face and such.
When I wrote my first blog on Vietnam I asked "What Communism?" It is here of course, mostly in propaganda posters, flags, and emblems. But the people are all about free enterprise and find business opportunities in everything. Example: A guy came up while I was sitting at a beer stall watching Hanoi go buy. He pointed at my trusty hiking sandals and asked "where"? I told him and he seemed to admire them, then pointed to a place where they had started to separate. I said  "Oh, I'll get it fixed later" He responded by pulling out an entire shoe repair shop that was crammed into a basket and hiding behind his back. He sewed up and glued my shoes on the street for one dollar. These sort of things happen every minute.  Most of the Vietnamese people can't speak English, but I swear they can read minds...if one were to think "you know...I would really like a toothpick made of ivory...but not African ivory, I'd prefer the Indian variety." I swear....in @ 10 seconds, there would be a Vietnamese lady there with a basket full of toothpicks..she'd have the African, Indian, and walrus ivory for good measure....and of course she'd have the required mark up for tourist. Ok..there is so much more to say in this post and I have not yet gotten to write about Halong Bay or Hue. Unfortunately there are restless backpackers behind me at my hotel who have been waiting for the Internet. So I'll have to visit this later. Until then!

I've been wanting to do this for a few days...so here is my list of things I have seen on a scooter in Vietnam:
- 3 teenage girls
- A dad a mom and two kids
- Some sort of ab slider
- 4 Kegs of beer
- a woman who looked about 13 months pregnant
- A mom with a baby in a chest sling (or whatever you call those fabric baby holders)
- a computer (CPU)
- A load of @ 30 coal bricks
- 2 guys pulling a trailer with a cow in it. I know you don't believe me. Fellow travelers have scoffed until I show them the photographic evidence.
- 2 suitcases
- A TV
- A woman in a summer dress
This list may grow.



So now to Halong Bay:

We booked a tour to Halong bay. Halong bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a bay that is dotted with all these nearly vertical islands. Eons ago this was land and then the climate changed and the sea rushed in etc etc.
We took a two hour ride from Hanoi to the coast. There was continuous population along the way. At Halong bay we boarded our junk. We had about 10 fellow passengers. What can I say about Halong bay? It's beautiful. The dramatic contrast between islands and water, makes for amazing photographs. The water of the Bay is sadly, not as clean as one would hope for. In some areas it is littered with the detritus of daily life. I saw some local visitor throwing garbage out of the boat directly into the bay. The Vietnamese gov recognizes the importance of the bay and there are obvious efforts to educate the public about its care and conservation. The bay has places that look like the pirate's cove at Pirate's of the Caribbean: Land's End. Ships that look as if they sailed right in from 1920.  Our boat had a nice crew that steered our boat with their feet (photo forthcoming), strummed a guitar, and sang Vietnamese folk songs during the lulls, ( I reciprocated with some American rock songs) made some pretty decent food, and generally made it a pleasant cruise. The only drawback was that there were little cockroaches on the boat. They were quite evident in our cabin. We spent a good portion of the evening on the upper deck, and when it started to rain, we retreated to the cabin and left the lights on. It was survivable if not comfortable. We went for a kayaking trip through some caves. It was nice. I would have preferred to have had a little more independence for the kayaking part. If I go again I will get a cruise that focuses on kayaking. We also visited a very large and quite amazing cave that was discovered by the French in the late 1800's. The cave is up in the side of a cliff and we were able to get some great photos of the harbor.
This trip was great for Zen moments. I got up at @ 5am just as the sun was rising. There was a light rain. It was cool for once. I worked out and did yoga on the front deck in the rain and in complete silence with the view of other ships at anchor, the islands around us, and the sun rising on the South China sea. Definitely a memory for a lifetime.
This place has something for everyone. Go along with me on this....close your eyes and imagine that you are standing on the 3rd deck of a wooden junk with towering island cliffs on 3 sides. You are taking in the view and suddenly, junk (hee hee) food fiend that you are, you start to crave some Oreos and maybe a Twinkie or two. You also happen to be a connoisseur of French wine and like to enjoy it with your Oreos. (I don't know..just go with it.) Where on earth are you going to roust up so eclectic a menu?....not to worry mon frer....for not much after the craving hits you brain and you begin to salivate, a Vietnamese woman in a conical hat rows up (in the middle of the Halong FREAKIN Bay) and shouts up to you, "Excuse me Mr... you buy?" You shout back, "I say there, you wouldn't perchance happen to have any Oreos would you? "Yes', she responds...'Oreos...yes have Ok?" "Um..well then, Oreos please, have any Twinkies hanging around your boat?" "Twinkies..yes have" You brace yourself...there's no way she will also happen to have a bottle of wine in that floating wicker basket of her's..."Excuse me...do you have any French wine?" "Yes have..you want Burgundy or Bordeaux?" That my friends is Vietnam....how can you not be charmed by this place.*
*Author's note: Having said that, I honestly prefer my travel's to be as untainted by American/Euro/Chinese marketing as possibe. But I can't hate those who make it work for them...especially people who live on floating villages in the middle of Halong Bay.

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