Oh yeah, that Vietnam thing. Fine, I guess we can talk about that too.

So when we last left off we were returning from the mountainous region of Sapa back to Hanoi. We had some other teacher friends traveling to Vietnam over the break who departed from Bangkok a few days later than us. It just so happened that when we were returning from our Sapa trip that they would be in Hanoi. As you might have guess we met up with them to drink some Bia Hoi (this delicious beverage is brewed daily and sold out of kegs on the street for about 18 cents U.S.). We thought it would be fun if we went to Halong Bay together before we parted ways. And so we all booked a boat trip on Halong Bay, which was actually one night on a Junk (boat) and a night on an small island resort (which was all inclusive, except for the booze). This ran us about $85 USD, although it sounds much pimper to say 1.5 million dong.

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site (on natural grounds I believe) and located about 3 1/2 hours east of Hanoi. We arrived in Halong City and took a small dingy to our boat. There were about 8 of us teachers in our group, two Brits, and a Scot. Oh yes, and who could forget the Canadian (Blaaaaaahh! Sorry, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. You never really know why you make fun of Canadians… until you actually meet one, then it ‘just feels right’ (and well deserved(I hope no Canadians read this blog, if there are, please don’t beat me up. I’m fragile.))).

When we got on the boat we set sail and headed out in to the bay. The bay has hundreds of tiny lush green and limestone islands that jut out of the water. Unfortunately, the first day you couldn’t see much more than their silhouettes because of low lying fog. It gave off the vibe of the very first seen of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie where they are slowly making the way through the fog. It was a sort of eerie feeling that set me humming ‘Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me.’ (I’ve actually been on the original PotC ride in Disneyland. Unfortunately, there were no fat ladies chasing men around in continuous circles or drunkards balancing on top a stack of beer kegs here. Pity.)

We got to kayak a little during which Timm (who was with Ed) flipped their kayak. Said flipping led to Timm releasing his paddle from his hand. And as it turns out paddles in Vietnam don’t float- probably because they’re made out of steel poles that aren’t water tight. That cost Timm a cool $20. Not really a good story I realized, but this my blog so I can do whatever I want (like say booger). We also checked out a nifty cave that I walked through barefoot because when I asked our guide ‘Do we need shoes?’ she said no (note to self: shoes doesn’t translate into ‘footwear in general’ ie. sandals, flippie floppies, crocs).

After enjoying a delicious seafood dinner, a few of us went down to our room to watch part of the fine classic film Judge Dread staring the Oscar Nomm….Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award nominated Sylvester Stallone! (Why would you watch a movie on vacation? Ermm, because its vacation and much like this blog, I am the law! (Sorry I stole that idea from you Ed. (Inside jokes/comments on blogs are stupid. (Just like that one time in Vegas, right guys?)))).

I’ve never been to Vegas.

One thing that sucked about being on vacation however was being unable to sleep in. We were roused early as usual and after a nice breakfast taken to Cat Ba, one of the biggest islands off the coast of ‘Nam. We went for a nice little bicycle ride and checked out a cool hospital built into a big hill during the Vietnam-American War when we were bombing the bejeezums out of them. Yeah it might get a little boring never getting to really see the light of day and being stuck in a cave, but its probably a lot better than getting hit by a giant bomb. Oh yeah, we lost that war. Jokes aside, this was just the beginning of us really realizing how smart the Vietcong were, which I will talk about more when I talk about the tunnels outside of Saigon in Act III.

After that we were shuttled to another boat docking area and were taken to “Monkey Island” by motorboat, where we would stay for the night. Timm and I shared a quaint little bungalow set back just 10 meters or so from the beach, and it provided an appropriate setting for our pirate based Dungeon and Draaa… nevermind.

“So were there monkeys?” By golly you bet there were some monkeys, although we had to first hike up a hillside and back down to the other side of the island. I however kept my distance. I was walking toward the “monkey area” and heard a blood curdling scream. Then I saw about 8 people fleeing from the trees back onto the beach. Our friend Amy had been bitten by one of these furry primates. No these were not cuddly little monkeys that you hold in you arms, they were vicious and protective monkeys that would rather eat your arms. (I posted a while back a post about some temple monkeys who were far nicer than these monkeys.) A young Thai that was there said he was ambushed by about 8 of them when he walked into his kitchen one time. He had the scars to prove it- and a big stick that he never walks around without now, in case there is a need for some monkey bashing.

Another delicious meal and another laid back evening with a few drinks we went to bed somewhat early. We had yet another early morning in store. The next day was quite really uneventful and mostly consisted of a long cruise back to Halong City through the bay. There weather was much clearer this time than the first day, which was nice, and provided some better photo opportunities. The day ended with a van ride back to Hanoi. (I know its not the most exciting ending to a story.) So we’ll pick up from there when I get to Act III.

One of my closest friends from home is visiting me for a couple of weeks (something you should think about doing!) and he is getting in tonight. So it’s hard to say how much blogging I’ll get to do, although I have some time between my classes somedays, so maybe I’ll write then. But as a gift to you right now (no its not virtual boogers) I will leave you with a cover I recorded of the beloved classic, Linger, by The Cranberries.

Ps. If I’ve offended anyone with my low level of maturity in this post, then I’m sorry. (But it’s an “I’m sorry you read this,” rather than a “I’m sorry I wrote this.”)

If you’ve read my previous post, you might understand all of the pain and suffering I had to endure the whole week long. While it wasn’t very much at all actually, most of us new Ajarns (teachers) decided we needed a good break. Actually, I think we just wanted to go somewhere- and beaches are good for curing that desire.

We headed out Friday evening after everyone was done teaching their last class. With a planned departure time of 7:00, I think we finally left at 7:45. This will be your first introduction to Thai time. In Thailand, everything is based on events, so if I have a meeting with someone, I’m not going to run off to my next appointment until I’m completely done with that meeting. This makes things get behind schedule a little. I don’t think that’s a good explanation as to why 13-14 Americans couldn’t leave on time when everyone’s last class was 2 hours ago, but it must be something in the water. Although all we drink is bottled water.

So we grabbed a few cabs to take down to the bus station where we would catch our coach to the coast. Well because we had been so lackidaisickle the last bus of the night was already booked, and the next wasn’t until 5am. So what do you do then? You strike a deal with a cab driver to drive you 2 hours to the coast. This cost us about 1700 baht (thai currency) total, coming to about 425 baht a head- roughly $14 USD or so. The bus is only 155 baht and much more comfortable, but it doesn’t fly down the highway at 140kmph.

Once we arrived in Bang Phe where we had to find a ferry to the island, two of the more seasoned teachers (those who are here for a second year) talked the ferry people to run a ferry for us even though they weren’t really running anymore- we paid an extra 30 baht each on top of 100 for that. And after a nice nightly cruise with a couple of beers to the island, we made land. We made our way to find some accomodations for the weekend, but not without first stopping in 7-11 (sevs, sept-onze, sevys) to grab some more beer.

A quick aside, if you will. Seven Eleven’s are virtually everywhere in Thailand, there is not a block in Bangkok that isn’t graced by one, and they are only slightly less visible outside of Bangkok. I’ve had a few people who live in the city try to describe to me where they live, it usually includes “oh I live right down from the 7-11.” “Oh the 7-11, right, I know that place! So which one of the 5 billion are you talking about?” The true magic of the 7-11 and Thailand is that you can totally buy your cheap beer there then walk to the bar without being stopped at the door. It saves massive amounts of money. Also, they sell Red Bull for 10 baht (28 cents approx). It was invented here, so it better be cheap, and its cocain free, unlike the kind made in Austria. Bunch of coke heads those Austrians.

Either way, we checked into our non-air conditioned rooms (there was a fan though) at about 11:30pm, put on our swimmies then headed to the beach/bar. It should be known that I’m probably the biggest hick of anyone in our group being from western upstate New York, which really isn’t that red-neck, but most of my fellow teachers here are from Long Island, NJ, Mass, etc. So when we came upon a bar that was quite literally sitting on the beach, I was pretty dumbfounded because I thought they only existed in movies. Or heaven.

The next day we did exactly what you’re suppose to do at a beach- nothing. The clear water was warm and I managed to avoid getting skin cancer for the most part. My farmer’s tan on the other hand is doing quite well although it probably won’t help me with the ladies. Prices must be paid for keeping your shirt on I suppose.

So that’s what I did more or less for two days last weekend. We took a bus back to Bangkok on Sunday evening. The coolest thing about taking the bus is that its super comfortable and they have a bus attendant who brings around free cookies and water as well as blankets for anyone who wants one. Greyhound should probably look into this. Check-out the photo’s below. If you click on them it will bring up slide show.