Halong bay, Hoian and the buses that took me there.

Well, as you can probably tell by the length of times between posts Vietnam is crazy. After pulling a group together of 15 other travelers I booked us a private junk in Halong bay. We argued for about an hour and a half with the company to stay two nights on the boat as opposed to one night on the boat and one night at a hotel on Catba island. It turned out to be one of the best choices I could have made since the group got along so well and loved to hang out together. We arrived at halong bay city and were escorted to a fantastic junk with a sun roof, fancy dining room and air conditioned rooms on the bottom deck. The food was excellent after I convinced our guide that fish and seafood were the same thing to me and that tofu was really not cutting it for meals. That's the story with this whole country though. You've got to argue, cajole, get frustrated, leave, come back, try again and maybe you'll get what you want half an hour later.


The first day out to sea we went kayaking in the bay. The tour guide put us in two person canoes with a guy in the back and a girl at the front. A girl I'd met in Hanoi named Maria was in my boat and we both decided to cut out from the rest and go exploring. There are 1900 islands in halong bay and I found out very quickly how confusing that is. We found some cool caves and little floating houses that farm clams. Pretty soon we realized that everyone had followed the guide and that we were lost. We paddled for about 45 minutes before our boat found us and offered us a ride. We tried to save some of our dignity and instead paddled after the boat to shore. On the way we realized that no one would believe we had just got lost looking at caves and talking about politics. Sure enough as we neared the shore the entire group came down to the water and all of the guys started clapping and cheering. I don't know if my sunburn or by blush was a brighter red. The tour guide walked up to me later and said "next time I send two girls together and two guys, yes?"


The group traveled to an island called monkey island later on after lunch. We took bicycles 6km over the mountainous terrain to a beautiful village in the valley. We hiked around the forest and looked in caves. The tour guide and the guys kept cracking jokes throughout the cave. We spent the next day swimming and hiking. The evenings were spent laughing, playing games and generally enjoying ourselves in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.


Within a few days many of us decided to travel to Hoian together. Hoian is a very beautiful small town near the coast. It was used as a place for R&R by American troops during the war. It sits along 30 km of perfect white sand beach that the GI's called "china beach." We spent the days at the beach and playing in the countryside on motorbikes. I've got to say that driving in Vietnam is insane. No one uses turn signals, stops at red lights or checks before merging and passing. At one point I was driving on a bridge when a truck passed another truck. Then as this was happening a third truck attempted to pass the second truck. I now had a wall of steel flying at me on a bridge at about 80 km per hour. I realized the only thing to do was go native. I began ducking and weaving through traffic, staying right on the tail of the motorbike in front of me. As the trucks passed, horns blaring, I breathed a silent prayer. I looked over at the bike I had followed through this ordeal only to see a young women with her child looking completely unphased by the whole ordeal! Just another day in Vietnamese traffic. Still, I will be renting another bike out here in Dalat to go look at water falls, lakes and countryside.


I guess I should mention that's where I am right now. Dalat is a high altitude town high in the interior mountains. The weather is about twenty degrees cooler and the land is suitable for growing coffee, grapes and other fruits. This is the town where many French people built chalets during their colonial time in Vietnam. The food up here is done in the French way at many places, especially the coffee. They pour the water into a metal cup that slow drips into the cup below. It's very strong and absolutley delicious. I can get a meal of garlic bread (with real garlic), french or italian pasta, coffee, juice and an after dinner glass of port for about $6-$7. This region is also known for it's candied fruits, so I'll be buying those before I go down to Saigon in a few days.

One last thing to mention is how we travel in Vietnam. From Hanoi to Hue we took a reclining bus, as in a bus that has seats that ever so slightly recline. This bus drove from 8 pm until 10:30 am through bumpy and winding road honking all the way. The Vietnamese use the horn to indicate their presence and to let you know they will be attempting to pass you. So the whole ride is spent bouncing in the back with a cacophony of horns and whistles with the occassional horn battle followed by a screeching halt and break neck acceleration. A second bus took us the four hours down to Hoian, which I assume is for the drivers sake so he can get some therapy before he does the return trip. From Hoian to Dalat we spent 12 hours in a "sleeper bus." This bus has tiny bunk beds throughout it. 29 in all, so you can imagine how crammed in you have to be to fit everyone. Then we took a 6 hour bus ride in the most cramped bus up the winding slope of Dalat's mountains without airconditioning. This makes for fast friends as you comisserate with the people around you. But we are finally here so I really can't complain. Well, wish me luck on my adventures tomorrow. I hope everyone is well and I will write again soon.


Namaste,

Adam

P.s. there was no spell check so please exscuse typos. Thanks.