Lovely hats we got to wear to the port
1.11.10 - Today we had to wake up super early to get on a 3 hour bus ride to Halong Bay. This was quite painful after the eventful day/night we had previously but driving through the Vietnam country side was really interesting. Saw lots of mopeds with dead or alive, wasn't sure, donkeys strapped to the back of them, one had 8 cages of live pics on them, all just casually riding by with 1-3 other people on the bike as well. Got onto our huge Junk Boat and had a great Vietnamese lunch then started making our way away from the Harbor and into the Bay. The islands and bay were beautiful and our boat was really cool too. After checking in and enjoying the scenery, some of the braver people jumped off the side of the boat into the freezing cold but very refreshing water. Then a few of us jumped off the highest part of the boat - it was quite a high jump but really fun. Then we went kayaking around the islands and went into this cave where there water was enclosed by the cliffs around it - and we saw about 20-30 monkeys crawling by on the cliffs. Then we kayaked back, had a great dinner, then the whole group (mostly English and Australians) pretty much just had a nice of drinking games and listening to music and hanging out. It was a really good time and it was awesome hanging out on the deck with the awesome scenery around us.
views of Halong Bay
Swimming in Halong Bay after we made the plunge
About to Jump off the boat into the Bay
jumping off the really high part of the boat - yikes!
Wild monkeys we saw while Kayaking
Kayaking through a cave
Enjoying the Kayaking
1.12.10 - Pretty much just had breakfast then lunch, hung around on the boat as we made our way back to the harbor. Drive back to Hanoi and me and my Kiwi friend Lindsay got our stuff together to make our way out of Hanoi that night. We had a nice dinner with comfort food (pizza and pasta) then hung around the hostel for a bit and met some people just coming into the city, then we parted ways as I got onto my plane for Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon.
The only interesting thing about my flight that really annoyed me was people literally elbowing and PUSHING their way onto and off of the plane. In general I found Thai people to be more friendly and a little nicer than the Vietnamese people, but this really made them take the cake on being pushy. At first I thought the locals were just stepping in front of line and elbowing me out of the way because I was one of the 4 white people on the flight but I saw this guy totally elbow this lady who was carrying a baby 3 rows ahead of him so he could get off the plane before her. They didn't seem rushed necessarily, especially since we all had to wait for everyone to get on the shuttle to take us to baggage claim, but everyone had bags to claim too. I didn't see anyone dash for the restroom either, and about 1/3 of the people did this while getting on and off the plane, so I'm thinking its a cultural thing... really don't get it but who knows.
view in Halong Bay
drinking games in Halong Bay
Hanging out with the Ozzies
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