HALT, Merkelzeit! September 29, 2008

16.Sept.08

A quick U-bahn, then S-bahn ride later and we were met by Jess´s cousin Mark three skips away from his apartment. After a seemingly endless flight of stairs we reached his place. Cigarettes must have not gone out of fashion here yet as the place smells like an ashtray, but it is cozy, and a free place to stay, plus we have Mark, the host with the most. After some sharing of travel stories we were eager to hit the market and pick up some of our favorite German goods. Still packed with a delicious variety of fresh and cheap cheeses, meats, breads, and chocolates as any German market, we stocked up on the essentials; mainly cheeses, meats, breads, and chocolates…but some veggies to go with them, oh and the pickles here! And the beer, mmm the beer, Augustiner, mein Lieblings…now I am starting to remember why I love this land so much!

We had a few beers, ate a delicious meal from our array of foodstuffs, then went out to see some of the city. Nothing really new since we were here in 2005, but it was fun to walk down the main street again with all its towering cathedrals and famous glockenspiel. Feeling our eyes droop painfully we went back and slept on Marks waterbed while he so generously took the kitchen couch.

17.Sept.08

Mark called up his brother Axel to ask his hitchhiking secrets. Axel is as thrifty as us and constantly makes the journey from home to university, Heilbron to Bayreuth, using only his thumb and honey soaked words. After some careful planning we found ourselves at a good spot at a gas station en route to the freeway towards Bamberg. After only 20 minutes our sign worked and we got picked up by two lawyers who drove a fancy new mercedes at mildy alarming speeds on the autobahn towards Bamberg.

Unfortunatly they could only drop us off at a gas station a bit of the way outside of Bayreuth. We would have stayed with Jessica´s cousin Axel who goes to school here, but he has finals, so we tried hitchhiking the small distance from there to Bamberg. After an hour in the freezing cold we gave up, changed our sign to Bayreuth, got in a truck with some dude from Kazakhistan playing cheesy pop-music and were soon at the train station getting tickets to Bamberg. Oh well, at least we made it this far for free!

We walked through the city, liking what we saw of Bamberg so far, to meet up with our Couchsurfing host in his student housing apartment. All his housemates were sitting around chatting and drinking wine, they made us feel right at home, a home we soon left in search of some dinner. We finally gave our tastebuds what they have been craving for since last in Germany; Doener Kebab! A delicious Turkish delight of grilled pita filled with spiced kebab meat, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, onions, and unparalleled garlic cream sauce. Oh rapture! We got back, chatted with our new temporary housemates some more then went to sleep in a room left by a travelling housemate, now all to ourselves.

18.Sept.08

The cobblestone streets were nearly void of people in the crisp early morning. We meandered through all the little nooks, crannies, and alleyways of Bamberg, climbing every little hill and entering every public building we could. We were quickly entranced at how gorgeous the city is, among our favorites were the two main cathedrals and city squares Domberg and Michaelsberg.

For lunch we met with three other couchsurfers we’d arranged to have coffee with. They were all really awesome to speak with, and once again, Jess and I impressed ourselves with how well we still speak German. One in particular, Mathias, was especially keen on showing us the city. He was an expert on the town he was born in and grew up and gave us a wealth of info on its history. After looking through a guide book he brought we saw a picture taken of the city from the view point of a tower he’d never been to. So that is where we wandered, and after finding it tucked away in a tiny castle and climbing a number of spiral stairs, we caught an awesome view of the city. He was excited that we´d shown him somewhere new.

We said goodbye and walked back home. After cooking a pasta dinner we hiked back out at dusk to get another sunset view of the city from the Spezial brewery hill. There we sat and enjoyed the cities special brew Rauchbier, literally smoked beer. It tasted like smoked ham which may sound disgusting, yet surprisingly hearty and delicious.

19.Sept.08

We met Mathias again in the morning and took a long hike up to the highest hill of the city to Altenberg. Past all the homes and through many fields we wandered and hit the perfectly quaint castle on top where we climbed even more spiral stairs until finally getting a panoramic view of Bamberg and all its surroundings, a magnificent sight! We explored the castle a bit and determined it would be the perfect place for someone to have a gorgeous wedding overlooking the city (though it would be have to be medieval themed).

We walked down and back to Michaelsberg to see the inside as yesterday they had some prayer thingy so we couldn’t go in. After exploring its intricate marble, gold, and silver innards we found ourselves having more (even tastier) rauchbier and a local specialty of beef shoulder at the famous (and deservedly so) Schlenkerla. Mouthwatering is all I can say to describe it, this bar epitomizes why we love Germany.

We then walked around a different part of the city where the massive markets are, and political rallies were taking place so close to election time. We hiked again back to another viewpoint for some tee, coffee, and pastries where we sat and relaxed our tired feet and chatted for awhile. Then, as it neared time for the big moment we made our way to a city square where none other than ANGELE MERKEL, DIE BUNDESKANZLERIN (Chancellor of Germany) was making a speech! The guy making her intro was boring, BUT then she came on…and also boring, but it was exciting at least seeing Germany’s top official in person. The most exciting part however is when Jessica blew up a balloon for the opposing party (Die Linke; a more liberal party) and threw it in the air where many people bounced it back up until one smashed it; along with all our dreams… (Later note: the outcome of the elctions found the conservative CSU, Angele´s party, a crushing defeat, changing the political leaning of Bavaria for the first time in 50 years, yay!).

We walked back to the house, cooked leftovers, and hung out with our temporary housemates until we all went to a bar for a couple drinks, new people, more chatting and a gleeful end of the day.

Flickr photos of Bamberg:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157607428650090/

Hippies, Rednecks, Methheads, Roses, and Wedding. September 22, 2008

11.Sept.08

The plane ride home was hellish. The anticipation made it difficult to sleep, and unlike the flight to New Zealand so many months ago, you couldn’t choose from a huge array of movies to keep occupied. No problems, we’ll deal with the jetlag later.

Our short trip home was nice. Jess and I had some good times with friends in the Bay Area, then I went home to see family and friends, and Jess went with parents to Lake Tahoe. It was really nice to be back, but still didn’t quite feel like home as we’d soon be world travelers again.

11.Sept.08

I flew to SF where I hopped on a connector flight to Portland, meeting Jess along the way. A couple single serving snacks and orange juices later and we were in Portland.

On the phone, my brother Mike tried to convince us that $50 isn’t much money to take a taxi to our hotel. Jess and I had a good laugh at that and after about 5 minutes had figured out the train route and paid a much more reasonable $5 to ride Portland’s unbelievably clean, cheap, and efficient public transport system. With a nice tour of the city passing by, we walked to the hotel and after a couple minutes were reunited with more family.

It was great seeing everyone; Mom, Marc, Mike, my step brother and sister Kristen and Jay, with all of Jay’s friends here for his wedding. We picked up our tuxedos (as I am also part of a wedding for the first time in my “adult” years; flashbacks to age 4 when I lost the wedding ring off the pillow when I was ring bearer for Mom and Marc). After we ate at the number one most delicious Hawaiian plate lunch place any of us have ever eaten; Noho’s. Unforgettable teriyaki spare ribs and chicken, and to kill for macaroni salad (well if you die for it you can’t well enjoy it can you).

After a quick rehearsal we ate delicious Ruth’s Chris dinner where Marc and others made lovely speeches about Jay and Thereza. Then off to Rogue Brewery for tasty beers and Jess and I left before all the other groomsman got tanked and started wrestling and punching each other…sounded fun though…or not.

12.Sept.08

Everyone else was boring today; only Mom had an excuse because she just heard that her little prince Harley had some heart issues and had to be hospitalized, poor little pup. (He’s doing okay now). Jess and I loved what we have already seen of Portland and went out to discover more. The metro system in Portland is not only efficient, cheap, and clean, but downtown it is FREE!!! We rode around on the train all day exploring the tranquil Japanese Gardens, and the exquisitely colorful Rose Gardens. The city is incredibly fun, no traffic, very clean, terrific people, good food, lots of green space; a little utopia. The only downfall is the huge number of meth heads wandering the streets.

We had dinner with everyone including my uncle and some of Mom and Marc good friends, the Friesians who were terrific chatting with about travel. Good times!

13.Sept.08

It was wedding day. We drove out to Salem, checked into a hotel, put on our tuxes and dresses and hopped over to the Zenith winery for the ceremony. Everyone had a good time, beer and wine flowed merrily, a good mix of people, good food, great speeches. Kristen made a terrific speech and put on a phenomenal photo album of Jay and Thereza. Thereza’s dad made an incredible speech complete with thick Czech accent which made it all the better, I love that guy! The actual ceremony was great save for the minister who many felt did a really shit job. He was the only one who could come out so far of the city so there was no other choice, but he slowly stumbled through a boring cookie cutter ceremony from a big ugly folder he held like a security blanky. This guy got paid $500? What a joke, I’ll do that as a part time job, memorize my damn lines, and make something far more personal for the couple (plus I’ll dress however you want and do voices and accents; anyone wanna hire me?) He should be fired.

Anyway that was one moment of a thousand terrific ones. An overall beautiful wedding!!! Congrats Jay and Thereza. On the ride back to the hotel we had some post-wedding Burger King, and went to the hotel for some more drinks in the hotel suite. Jess and I left early, but the party raged for many hours.

14.Sept.08

After some more Noho’s plate lunch and dropping off all the tuxes, Mom, Marc, Jess, and I drove to our Couchsurfing hosts house. Logan and Mariah were awesome hosts. Took us all around the city via the great transport system and showed us some more terrific sites. It wasn’t their fault the entire city of Portland shuts down for Sunday, stupid Sabbath, I am surprised people still obey that crap, why else would the shops close on a weekend?! We still found some decent pizza after much disappointment from all the better establishments in town being shut. Then we laid in our big comfy bed and went to sleep to a film being played on the massive projector screen Logan had thrown together a few weeks before. Sweet system!

15.Sept.08

Jess and I wandered around a bit more. Checked out the local weird donut shop, Chinatown, more meth heads, etc. Then we headed to the airport and began our long boring flight to Germany where Finding Nemo made me cry for the fourth time…you know where Nemo finds his dad in the end…UGH, gets me every time. You think I kid…

Portland Photos Here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157607363386791/

We’ll be back! September 4, 2008

31.Aug.08

Our night train was easy and after we settled in to a hotel we decided to go see an embalmed dead guy.  Not just any dead guy however, THE dead guy; Ho Chi Minh.  The once leader of the communist north Vietnam was enclosed in a massive black structure protected by hundreds of guards.  At first we were denied entry to the mausoleum grounds because we had breached a major security measure, we tried to smuggle in bottled water!!  That’s right, you can’t bring water in the complex, as if I am going to poison their already dead leader, or have liquid explosives to bomb his corpse filled tomb.  We checked our water into the bag stand and were allowed to enter.  In typical communist style we had to stand in line with everyone and zig zag our way through the quite gorgeous park area, past crisp guards to his massive tomb.

Apparently Ho Chi is camera shy, so we had to leave our cameras at a booth past this point.  As we got closer to the structure I swear I could smell formaldehyde, reminded me of dissecting cats in high school physiology.  The tomb was freezing inside, and everyone walked quietly passed the guards who could be doing something far more productive with their time than guarding a dead dude.  Soon we saw said dead dude looking really creepy behind his glass.  A truly eerie sight, he wore an all black suit and was surrounded on a lower platform by 6 guards standing like stone.

After that, we got our camera and continued to tour the grounds which included a presidential palace (couldn’t enter), a very humble home where Ho Chi lived and presided from, some home on stilts, and a garage where Ho Chi kept his super nice vintage cars.  There was a museum, but we heard it wasn’t trerrific and skipped it.  We walked back to the main city and explored a bit more of Hanoi.  There was a big boring cathedral, more restaurants, shops, parks, etc, It is a nice enough city, but not much exciting to do.

We found a ton of locals eating at a little shop on the street so we settled in for one of our last Vietnamese meals.  Jess got a bowl of soup, and I branched out again and got braised pigeon with mushrooms and veggies.  They really like giving you all the parts of an animal in Asia.

Delicious!  Afterwards we went to the booking office where we got tickets to and from Sapa to clear up the ticket problem and get our refund.  She said a refund was no problem, but we should come back tomorrow when the girl who booked for us would be working.

Then we spent a good number of hours in our nice AC room and just chilled.  We finally stopped being lazy and got some dinner at an awesome place serving only beef hot pots.  It was packed with locals and smelled and looked delicious, so though the options were limited that’s what we got.  After the delicious dinner we sat down in a couple plastic chairs at our favorite beer spot.  Ten good beers and a long conversation with three other Americans later we paid the $2 bill and stumbled home to bed.  Damn I love Beer Hoi.

01.Sept.08

We knew it couldn’t be that easy getting our money back for the train tickets, and we were completely right.  At the booking office, the same woman as the day before gave us a long sob story about how in the end it was her fault after all, and to refund us she had to pay with her own money.  It sounded a bit dodgy because she said the manager of the business was out of town and she hadn’t even told her.  Later she tried to claim she was afraid of getting fired, but the whole situation seemed a bit sketchy and we weren’t leaving without our completely deserved refund, which we eventually got.  A typical transaction for us by now.  I forgot to describe as well this little dog living here that we see each time.  Hanoi has an obsession with Chihuahuas and this is the oldest Chihuahua we have ever seen.  It constantly shakes like it is having a seizure, it’s nails are crazy long, and it has the meekest bark.  It is so pathetic it’s almost cute, but whenever I try to touch it it slinks away dragging its ass behind.  We love this little dog, though someone should eat it already, if there is any meat left!

We spent the rest of the day buying some small souvenirs, getting our hair cut, wandering the city more, and just hanging out.

The beer at our favorite stand was just as good as yesterday.  Some locals invited us to sit and chat, though their english was nearly non-existent so we talked about what little we could anyway.  Another local sitting nearby didn’t speak better English, but amazingly spoke great German.  He had lived and worked through a communist labor exchange in soviet controlled East Germany and was very interesting to speak with.

We ate dinner at one of our favorite places Restaurant 69 where we met the three Americans from last night again.  Soon we were in a taxi heading to the airport and on the 5 hours red-eye flight to Seoul, South Korea.

02.Sept.08

One of the most boring days ever.  We had a layover in Seoul from 5am to 2pm and originally wanted to go into the city for the day, but we did not have enough money for the tram and food so we just sat all day in the terminal and felt a bit like Tom Hanks character from that movie…what’s the name?  Oh yeah, The Terminal.  We watched shows on my computer, read, wandered around taking pictures of really random stuff, and used the airports free internet.  Finally we were on the miserable 10 hour flight back to California.  Jessica slept well, but I was too excited to sleep and watched the mediocre movies on the little TV in front of me repeated over and over again. the 2nd of September has been a LONG day considering we passed the international dateline and have to live the same day twice.  We finally arrived, got all our bags, had no problems with customs and were brought home by Jessica’s parents.

It feels great to be back in California.  We had our first quality Mexican food in 9 months, saw some good friends, Jess is with her family, and on Sept 4th I go home to Newport!  The blog is going to go on hold until we fly to Germany on September 15 for Oktoberfest, then we’ll report on our travels for a few months in E. Europe.  Until then!

Hanoi Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157607053917997/

Mud and Marijuana September 3, 2008

26.Aug.08

Had a nice sleep on the train and arrived in Lao Cai very early, then took an hour bus to Sapa. It really pays sometimes to book ahead on the phone because the hour ride up to Sapa was free through our hotel and took us right to the front doors. In some cases a little planning does go a long way. Right away we noticed the masses of women on the streets all clad in beautiful blue outfits with colorful, intricate embroidery, and all with different style hats. They patiently awaited us as we got off the bus to make quick conversation so we’d remember them later and buy their handicrafts. We’ve gotten too good at this by now. They are smart at least and don’t bug you about buying right off the bus, they wait instead until you come out of he hotel again later.

There were cheaper places to stay in Sapa, but our book said that Mountain View was just that, a great mountain view. We hoped our room was going to be worth the extra cash, and one look at the big clean, comfortable looking room followed by a look right out the window…I’ll let you decide if this room was worth ten bucks a night.

We had a soup breakfast and inquired about taking a three day hiking trip through the mountains. We got all the info from our hotel and decided to wander the city to check other booking agencies prices. Right out the door we got hit by a barrage of “you buy from me?” from the beautifully clad H’Mong women outside. The H’Mong are the local ethnic minority of Sapa and surrounding villages. Their outfits are exquisite and all wear unique hats to differentiate tribes. It is difficult saying no to buying their handicrafts because it is all so beautiful and they are very nice. Then again, we are terrific at saying no to anyone by now. We wandered a bit, checked prices with other places, but found our hotel had the best deal of $55 per person for a three day all inclusive guided trek down the valley, we went back and booked it starting tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day exploring the cities nooks and crannies which there are plenty of. We wandered the markets and were awestruck by all the stunning handicrafts one can find, but we determined to wait until return to buy. Ate some pizza with the delicious local wine for dinner and headed home for some shut eye.

27.Aug.08

Early we began our muddy, wet trek led by our Black H’mong guide Cho.  There are three groups of H’mong, Red, Black, and Flower, they are just differences in how they dress and sometimes their different religions, which an unfortunate many have been converted to western religions because with no education they tend to believe anything westerners tell them, then again Buddhist, Christian, Animist; it’s all pretty much the same shit anyway.  Our guide is very competent, speaks perfect english, and comes from a buddhist village nearby.  Unfortunatly it is raining today, not so hard that we get too wet under our ponchos, but hard enough that the mud becomes very slippery and once or twice found our asses quite muddy.  We are followed by two older women, also Black H’mong, trekking with us back to their villages from Sapa.  They are both very helpful at helping us not to slip as they are as skilled as goats when they walk the steep rocks and mud.  The entire time they are with us they keep picking different grasses, stalks, and reeds and make little souvenirs out of them for us; vey sweet.

Again, it is pointless describing the extraordinary scenery as pictures will do much better, but in brief; little villages dot the rolling green hills covered in rice fields.  The fields stack on top of one another cascading down the mountains; as water flows through the rice fields it makes hundreds of little waterfalls from field to field.  Absolutely stunning butterflies are constantly spotted the whole trip, our favorites being black with bright shining blue spots.  The first part of the day Jess and I are the only tourists on the whole track, and it is all the more beautiful greeting locals draped in their awesome traditional clothing.

We stop for fresh sandwiches for lunch at a shack filled with locals eating, drinking, and later smoking tobacco out of a massive bamboo bong with a can on the end as the holder.  At least we think and are told it is tobacco, but growing quite commonly here are marijuana plants.  You can smell them a good deal away; that fresh skunky/earthy smell.  We didn’t smoke any, but if it’s anything like avocados and strawberries, it is much better in California!

After more and more beautiful scenery we reached a very large village where our two followers departed to go their own way, but not before asking if we would buy some of their handicrafts.  They were gorgeous hand-made wares and we bought some beautiful pillow covers from them and said goodbye after tying some pretty bracelets on our wrists as a gift.  Our purchase attracted a bunch of little girls attention and they ran up to us trying to sell more little bracelets and other trinkets.  Again, you have to get good at saying no even to little kids if you travel in Asia, but even then they followed us the rest of the way and practiced their already terrific English with us.  We walked and walked more through the rice fields and between the mountains and we finally reached our destination.  We stayed the night at a homestay which is basically a families house with a bunch of mattresses up in the attic.  It may sound dingy, but it was very clean and nice and the food was good.  A french couple were staying the night as well and we all chatted and went to bed exhausted.

28.Aug.08

Our second day of trekking was similar to the first.  Similar landscape, more little villages, although some sun peaked out, no rain, and it started getting a bit warmer.  As always I fell in love with all the littel creatures of the villages.  I chased the piglets around, barked at dogs, and picked up a little peep duckling for Jessica.

It was another wonderful day of trekking, and much easier without all the mud.  We went through a bamboo forest, more pot plants, butterflies and rice fields, chatted with our guide Cho and the french couple who were with us most of the way.  We stopped at a big waterfall, crossed rivers, and simply took in all the beauty the earth has to offer.

The last hour of the trek down to our homestay was pretty grueling.  The heat picked up since we’ve come a lot lower and the last couple kilometers were very steep downhill.  We all made it down sweaty and muddy to relax in the deck chairs of a new home where we were served another scrumptious dinner.  Each night they have served us some awesome garlic fries; really garlicky!  We always have rice and different stir fry greens, a dish of meat, lots of mushrooms, and the usual Vietnamese spices, peppers, mint leaves, basil leaves, limes, cilantro, etc.  Lunches have been typical Vietnamese soups and sandwiches, and breakfast always banana pancakes, done very well compared to the usual super greasy overcooked pancakes in Asia.

After dinner we spent the rest of the night drinking local rice wine and playing cards.

29.Aug.08

Started off the day with banana pancakes!  We did a short hike in the horrible heat to a dumping waterfall into a nice cool river.  We spent some time swimming in the river cooling off from the heat and started our trek back up a bit.  The hike was one of the worst, most grueling hikes we have ever done!  The heat was unbearable and there was very little shade.  We went steep uphill in mud the whole way and since it was the same trail as yesterday there was nothing new to see making it even worse.

Finally we made it to the main road and hopped into our waiting car to ride back up to Sapa.  We just hung out the rest of the day and repacked our bags.  Washed our clothes and shoes of mud and topped the day off with a great beef hot pot dinner with some excellent Sapa apple wine.

30.Aug.08

Today was almost wholly uneventful.  We did a bit of shopping in the market, had some decent meals, used internet a bunch, walked around, chatted with some locals and other tourists.  Nothing special to report, we just killed time until our bus in the evening taking us to Lao Cai to board our train to Hanoi.  At the train station we had some trouble because we had booked tickets, but only recieved a reciept to get tickets at the station.  The woman who booked our tickets in Hanoi however had written the date as the 28th instead of the 30th like we said.  It seemed a bit of a sketchy system as we then had to buy new tickets to Hanoi form a guy standing outside the station.  They assured us we could get a refund in Hanoi, and we had the earlier reciept proving our 30th request, so we paid for a new ticket and boarded the night train back.

Hey Kids, It Looks Like a Finger! September 1, 2008

22.Aug.08

After a two hour bus ride we were left in a very remote part of Hanoi. Then due to a miscommunication (or scam) our taxi driver took us to another point far out of the city, then finally back in the city, dropping us off at the Handspan Tours office. He tried charging us a ridiculous amount for taking us the mad roundabout way, but after some good arguing, and getting help from a Handspan employee to speak with him in Vietnamese, we got away paying a slightly less ridiculous amount.

We’d come to Handspan to inquire about traveling to Sapa, or to Halong Bay, and after her help we were especially keen to do business with them. She suggested we first do a boat trip through Halong Bay due to weather, so we got a good deal on a three day package, then stored all of our crap in a storage office in the restaurant next door, taking only what we needed for a few days. The restaurant next door by the way is part of Handspan, called Tamarind Café, and served us one of the best meals we’ve had in months! All vegetarian; deep fried Chinese mushrooms, eggplant hotpot, and babaganoush burger were unbelievable!

After getting what we needed and paying for the trip we wandered around and found the cheapest hotel we could, still more than we are used to paying for a small musty room. After settling in we did a walking tour of the city with a map we got from Handspan and checked out the rows and rows of specialty shops. It is a very strange system in Asia, but especially Hanoi. All of the metal shops are along one street, all of the cloth shops along another, marble has it’s own block, toys another, etc, etc. The city is bustling, but still not as crazy as anything in India, though we expected so from other tourists’ descriptions of Hanoi. We found a nice lake with a cute little temple we visited. On the way back to the hotel we got seduced by delicious 3,000 Dong Ha Noi beer out of a keg along the street. Best part, there was a wireless signal we picked up nearby, so we enjoyed beer, used the internet, and bought a good quality knock-off Zippo from a guy who we ended up talking to about Vietnam history for awhile.

23.Aug.08

Our bus pulled up to a massive dock filled with what they call Junks, which are just dark brown boats, usually with a dragon head at front, all used to ferry tourists around the extensive bay. Our junk was not junky in the least; it was a luxury junk which we boarded with an Australian couple and an American/Swiss family with two little boys and a little girl. Our room is air conditioned, beautiful, and clean aside from some little baby cockroaches wandering around. The lunch we were soon served contained plate after plate of fresh, scrumptious seafood followed by juicy fresh fruit; an awesome meal.

After a couple of hours boating through an archipelago of massive limestone cliffs similar to Ninh Binh, but even more dramatic, we arrived at some sort of cave. The cave entrance was packed with tourists and at first not too impressive. The next room however opened up into the largest most extraordinary cavern we have seen, all lit up in a multitude of colors. Many natural statues filled the cave which resembled turtles, trees, and one which our guide told the children resembled a “finger” pointing up…what do you think the rock up right of this picture resembles?

After exploring the cave we were back on the boat and soon jumping off the deck into the water. Our host Eng warned us of jellyfish, but thankfully no Irukanji, Box Jellies, or Man-O-Wars so we swam without fear of death. Fear of pain, however was a different matter, and Jessica soon found out what a bad jellyfish burn feels like as its tentacles wrapped full around her leg. Ironically we were discussing how bad a jellyfish burn would hurt when it happened, and Jess said it felt like her leg had sat on a red hot pan for too long. The burn made red bubbles on her skin, and pain was reduced with some benzocaine and lime juice. Since Jess wasn’t writhing on the ground suffering we all decided to chance another rare sting and continued swimming in the wonderfully warm water. I had a lot of fun with the kids and protected them from Jellyfish attacks when someone on board spotted one just a few feet from us. Their mom ended up getting stung later as well, though not as bad as Jess.

After our fun jellyfish adventures and chatting with the kids about whatever crazy, random shit popped into their ADD minds, we had another perfect seafood dinner. A huge storm hit during dinner spinning the boat around with ferocious winds, dumping water, and streaking the sky with lightening. It died down and we slept well in our nice luxurious bed.

24.Aug.08

We said goodbye to the others and Jess, Eng, and I boarded our own private boat. It was a definite downgrade from our fancy boat, but we were on a different tour from the others; while they started the journey back to mainland, we spent the entire day kayaking! Our guide Eng had his own kayak to guide us around in our tandem kayak. Throughout the day we paddled through the tranquil bay to places where bigger boats could not journey. He told us that the little houses floating on the water were people’s homes where they farmed fish and clams in big sand buckets. Most of the homes came equipped with a cute guard dog as a companion, and maybe if the going was rough, a tasty meal. At one point we squeezed through an overhang to a serenely peaceful bay. It made a perfect amphitheater so we had a lot of fun bouncing our voices and sounds of the massive circular wall to hear a terrific echo.

After a break for lunch and a well deserved nap we headed out again to another part of the National Park (All of Halong Bay is a World Heritage Site, but only this section we kayaked is a National Park). Eng asked we bring a flashlight, but the only one we had was nearly out of batteries and emitted little light. We got to a cave he said not many people get through because it is too scary, dark, and filled with bats. We laughed heartily, popped on the dim light, and entered without fear…only a minute later to be completely consumed by that same fear we didn’t fear. The current was against us and tossed our little yellow craft all about the pitch black walls. Eng had no light so we kept our little spot on him because he said he could do it in the dark. We followed as close as we could, but the current decided mostly where we drifted and if we’d hit our heads on the low ceiling, or bang on the side only to push off hopefully in the correct direction. Ten minutes of rigorous paddling in the scary cave felt like an hour when we finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. The light opened into a lagoon even more serene and dramatic than the last. It was our own private little ocean for the time we explored the area until we were ready to make the much quicker and incredibly easier trip out of the cave, this time with the current.

Back on the big boat we headed to Cat Ba island where we would stay for the night. Along the way we passed an incredible sight; an entire city floating along the water. Kids and dogs chased each other through these little floating homes all bunched together, families gathered outside cooking, eating, doing laundry, an entire community floating on the water. What happens during a storm we wondered?! Although the homes seemed mostly protected by the cove made by the island and surrounding cliffs.

Our hotel at the island was beyond luxurious; a place we would only ever stay at with parents, were it not part of this Halong Bay tour package. It had a private beach, private pool and an awesome view of the bay right from our room window. Exhausted from kayaking, we lounged in the pool the rest of the day and caught our nice free dinner at the hotel restaurant.

25.Aug.08

I felt sick today, Jessica was burnt out, and it was again hellishly hot. After a free buffet breakfast we took a walk along the edge of the cliff by the hotel, and came back to lounge by the pool and in the nice cool room. Soon we were on a jet boat going quickly back to the mainland, then on a bus back to Hanoi. We arrived at the Handspan office, swapped our clothes out for some clean ones, grabbed another great dinner across the way and hopped in a taxi to the train station where we boarded the incredibly luxurious train to Sapa. Definitely the nicest night train we have been in and for a very reasonable price. It was a long day of travel, and once the AC came on making the cabin less oven-like, it was a nice sleep on the train.

Halong Bay Flickr Photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157607012014165/