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05.30.2005 -- HALONG BAY ISLES - VIETNAM --
The Rain in Spain (Ain't Nothin' Like This)...
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We are currently on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay in Vietnam. Right now, we are waiting out continuous torrential downpours. We picked a bad couple days to be here as it has been raining off and on since we arrived. However, the food has been great and beers are about 80 cents so we are finding ways to occupy our time - and we're getting fat while we are at it.
We landed in Hanoi Vietnam a couple days ago. Hanoi like Bangkok was a bit too much for us. We were ready to find some space. So we found an organized tour that takes you to Halong Bay and includes some trekking, kayaking and a night on a junk boat in the bay. However, we decided to figure it out ourselves and ended up on a partial tour anyway. On our way to Cat Ba, we took a minibus and "junk" boat which included lunch, a night on the junk, swimming and kayaking for $20 each. A night on a "junk" boat might not sound all that glamorous, but it was very nice. Rooms had double and single beds with a bathroom. We parked in Halong Bay which is fantastic and the food was good.
Since it is raining, it looks like we are going back to Hanoi and then heading north to Sa Pa which is near the mountains. There is supposed to be some great hiking and hill tribe treks up there.
Side bar: If you do not know, bathrooms here in SE Asia as well as China are more often the squat version. I still need to figure out how to read while on the "crapper". At least our legs don't go to sleep. At the same time it pays to have good balance.
Another sidebar: While I have mentioned the "good" prices a couple times, you have to bargain for everything and you still pay more than the locals. It is just a fact of life that foreigners pay more and even a bottle of water can be negotiated. Yesterday, while it was raining, we decided to have a beer and play some cribbage. The price of the local beer was 15000 dong or just under a buck and we said that it was too much and the gal came down to 12000 or just under 80 cents. The beer is made by Carlsberg too and it ain't bad. So we had 4 beers and some spring rolls as well as 30 minutes on one of their computers (internet cafe attached) for right around $5.
Another couple tidbits regarding prices - In Vietnam - everyone seems to be on the take and there are no copyright laws. You really have to look hard to find someone you can actually trust because everyone is looking to take a commission. This is mostly applicable to hotel rooms and tours. Taxis will take you to a hotel that you did not ask for because they get a cut. What is worse is the hotel might have the same name. They steal each other's names so you have to take particular care in making sure you are at the right place. For example, we went to a tour company to find out about treks and getting to Halong Bay and Sa Pa. The travel company mentioned in our book for booking tours is Sinh Cafe. On our way, we passed no less than 15 other sinh cafes - will the real sinh cafe please step forward... welcome to copy right laws.
Halong Bay is a magical place. It has been named a world heritage site twice. It is one of those places you see pictures of in National Geo or Outside magazine at least once a year. It is hard to describe and pictures do it no justice really.
After you get through the capitalist exterior of the Vietnamese people, they are very nice and friendly. While the bargaining and foreigner pricing is a pain and we seem to be a source of income only, there have been moments when people have been truly helpful and friendly.
-- Todd & Maggie
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