The drunk (I mean junk) boat adventure

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

(I should mention that I’ve titled this the drunk boat because other people were drinking, not me.)

I woke up really early today in order to get some things done before setting sail (well, leaving the hostel).  I chatted with Simon (Australia), Brett (Australia) and James (Texas) as we waited to depart.  Our bus left the hostel at 8:30am, 30 minutes behind schedule, for the 3.5 hour ride to Halong City (four hours including the random stop at a stone workshop) through bright green rice paddies and small villages (with a mix of French architecture and narrow houses that must be less than 12 feet wide).  Jona, our guide from Backpackers, informed us of the schedule for the day – basically saying that we could start drinking as soon as we got on the boat and that there would be drinking games and a major party that night.  I rolled my eyes and wondered what I’d signed up for.

While we waited at the boat terminal, I met Hannah (Wisconsin) and Lynn (Dublin) who are on a week holiday from teaching English in Japan.  Hannah and I were the last ones walking to board the boat, when someone tapped my arm.  I turned to look and saw Patrick (one of my colleagues from the Lehman administration) standing there.  It was so random.  We both looked at each other in confusion about what the other was doing at Halong Bay. He had just finished his cruise and was in Vietnam after an assignment in Asia.  Sadly, I rushed to board the boat so we didn’t get to chat, but I couldn’t believe he saw me since I could have easily walked by.  It’s a small world after all.

A small boat took us to the ship where we had lunch as we sailed into the bay.  It was quite a spread of food considering we were on a boat.  We then got our rooms (which were supposed to be air conditioned however that didn't turn on until 10pm and the room was roasting), and Carlie (Australian travelling with four friends) volunteered to be my roommate.  Thank goodness for that because she ended up killing three cockroaches in our bathroom (when I mentioned this to Jona he was shocked and appalled that there were cockroaches).  After an hour of relaxing it was time to swim.  Almost everyone jumped off the top deck of the boat, but I really didn’t want to get my eyes wet and eventually climbed down the ladder into the warm water for a short swim.  Maybe I would have jumped if I had a pair of goggles but I also wasn’t sure how clean the water was since there are lots of boats around and people were talking about contracting pink eye.  I ran through the shower to make sure I washed the water off before we went kayaking.

I paired up with Chuck (Canada) and was glad I did as he kayaks in the ocean in Vancouver.  The scenery was spectacular (though I couldn’t take any pictures since my camera was in the dry bag) and we paddled through the karsts and under erosion cut holes.  It reminded me of the Li River expect much more spread out.  Sadly, none of us had a clue that our kayak journey to the cave would take so long.  It actually got to the point where it wasn’t enjoyable and everyone was anxious to rest. 

Most tours advertise a trip to a cave, apparently a big tourist spot where the inside is illuminated.  But the Backpackers go the hard-core route, straight to a real cave with no lights or walkways.  Not only that, but there were only four flashlights for the 20 of us because they don’t provide any.  The ground was slippery and I thanked myself for wearing my water shoes instead of flip flops as I surely would have taken a fall onto the hard rocks.  After reaching the spot with an aqua-colored pool I thought we were headed back to the kayaks, but when I found out that the tiny hole I was trying to crawl under was simply to the “fairy room” of the cave, I’d had enough.  Hannah was laughing at me as I reversed directions and said that I didn’t want to get hurt just to see some cave.  Of course Jona had to mention that it was the reason we came, so I crawled in.  He told us a bullshit story about how the rock crystals taste like sugar and a few people tried them before we made our way out.  Celine almost slipped down the rocks and Chuck nicely caught her butt to keep her from falling.  Luckily everyone made it out safely barring a few who got cut and Hannah whose flip flop broke.

John (Australia) volunteered to kayak back to the boat with me, even though I warned him he’d probably have to do most of the work.  I stuck my camera in between my shirt and life vest so that I could use it on the way back.  It was sunset, and the colors of the sky were a palate of yellow, orange, pink, blue and purple while the almost full moon rose in the darkening blue sky.  It got so dark on the paddle back that our local guide was yelling to keep us together.  We all made it back safely with sore muscles and were glad to get out of those kayaks. 

Carlie and I showered before dinner.  It felt so good to wash the water, dirt and sweat off my body after the long day of being in the sun. Dinner consisted of a variety of fish, meat, rice and vegetables.  It was a fun meal sitting with Hannah, John (my fabulous kayak partner), Darren (Australia) and Nassar.  We all retreated to the top deck to enjoy the scenery and at 9pm the bringing games began back in the dining room.  I chatted with Nassar (who said he needed a break from six days of non-stop drinking) on the deck and avoided the drinking scene.  Its not that I didn’t want a drink, but as everyone who knows me knows, I’m not a big drinker and don’t play drinking games.  So I had a fabulous, chill evening talking with Nassar, and then Darren and John before the drunk mob climbed to the top deck (no one was that rowdy but they’d all had quite a bit of alcohol).  At 12:30am I called it an evening since we were waking up at 7:30am.