Vietnam- Halong Bay

MAS MUSICA POR FAVOR!!!



"Put these on!" instructs the 25 year old drunken Aussie manager of our Hostel as he hands me a ridiculous yellow/purple sombrero, its OK though it takes me back to those whistle-blowing, tequila-chugging days in high school when we would escape to the land of 18 year old drinking laws! I throw it on with some gusto and parade down the ally with 30 some odd young backpackers I'm about to spend the next few days with. Mind you we are in Vietnam, and we are all wearing these stupidly amazing sombreros...needless to say we caught more than just a few stares.


7am on our way to Halong Bay

The group loads into transport vans and we meet some of the characters we will soon have a blast with. Toby and Tom, two INSANE Aussies who came straight from the set of Dumb and Dumber to make an appearance on this little trip of ours, but they have Aussie accents which just adds to the comedy. James, another Aussie with a twisted sense of humor and an infectious laugh and smile. Phoebe and Emily, two Aussie sisters who look not one ounce like eachother, but are sweet as can be and whom I could tell would be a lot of fun to party with! And Hila, the token Israeli of the group who caught the bitter end of some jewish jokes and references to the middle east, but we soon came to find out she just got out of the military so the jokes ceased as soon as we realized she could probably take all of us on!

The 3 hour ride starts out with a great vibe as the whole group is eager to see the world-famous Halong Bay. On the way we see 2 giant pigs wiggling like hell, tied to the back of a scooter just cruising down the highway like its no big deal...haha! The rest of the ride is filled with various travel stories and of course random conversation topics ranging from what 2 races would make the ugliest and prettiest offspring to Where Are They Now??? (an ongoing game that Garrett and I have come up with where you pose the question of where are famous actors and/or cartoon characters now). The winner for ugliest offspring was awarded to the awful mixture of a backwoods, grimey Siberian with an Mauri (native New Zealand people). Prettiest offspring was a no-brainer really, it was decided that a Swedish and Brailian would make the most attractive offspring.

Before we knew it we had arrived at the dock and we all piled out of the van with our hats securely fastened as the dock full of returning Halong Bay tourists watched and wondered what kind of drugs we were on! We were shown to our boat, which was a classic wooden, 3-story boat that just looked like it was born to be cruising around Halong Bay, it was perfect! Once we were all settled the group was called to the deck for our briefing on what the next few days would consist of. It was chilly but we would have to make due. After the briefing, everyone began to mingle and meet. There were kids from everywhere, Ireland, Australia, Israel, Sweden, Iceland, America, Canada and England. Seeing as we were all backpackers all converging on this boat from all around the globe, there was definitely no shortage of conversation topics and travel stories at any time!

Soon enough we entered the chain of nearly 2000 limestone islands that make Halong Bay the wonder that it is! Some big some small, some with tunnels and caves, but all a sight to see; each formation was beautiful in its own way. We passed these formations like you pass plastic surgery on Sunset Boulevard and it was amazing! After about an hour of staring in amazement at the passing islands, we arrived at our first destination. As we paired off into Kayaking partners I noticed that 3 row boats armed to the teeth with chips, cookies, soda and my favorite beverage, Vodka, had come up next to the boat and were attempting to sell everyone their snacks...now thats impressive! Watching these Vietnamese women barter prices from their tiny rowboats was just really funny to me for some reason, but I guess everyones got to make a living right?


World-class beauty at a world-class location




Floating Vietnamese 7-11




In our Kayaks we raced to get a closer view of the interesting rock formations that teased us for the past hour. We paddled through a cave and came out on the other side completely surrounded by massive limestone formations at least 200 ft. in all directions. The serenity in this bay was incredible, it was completey silent! And when there was a noise it would echo for a least 5 seconds or so, and yes we were those guys to ruin the serenity by yelling childish phrases...oops! After painting our faces with mud war-paint from the ocean floor we raced Team Canada to the viewpoint of the rock formation that looks like Snoopy sleeping (we won of course, are you surprised?).

Safety first!

The sun began to set so we all had to head back to the boat. After a much needed hot shower, we chowed down on an amazing 5-course meal! All those who didnt bring party favors onto the boat, purchased the local Honoi vodka from the rowboat ladies during dinner and it was then that I knew it would be a fun night! Once dinner was finished we didnt waste anytime getting into the drinking games. Ring of Fire (aka Kings Cup for those at home reading this) was the game of choice. It quickly got very sloppy in the room as our guide policed everyone and made sure they drank when a rule was broken. Once everyone was well hydrated, the tables were pushed aside, the ipod plugged in and our boat turned into a full-blown floating club, complete with lazers and a bar! Upstairs on the deck we had electro and house pumping and downstairs was the dancefloor with Top 40 blasting over the stereo. We sang and danced until about 4am, what a night!

The crew woke everyone up bright and early at 7am to many peoples dismay, including mine! I drag myself into the dining room for breakfast feeling like I got in a fight with a pirate/vodka bottle last night....wow I was hurting! But as I scan the room I feel a bit better as it is obvious pretty much everyone else is in the same boat as me, literally and metaphorically! Luckily Tom and Toby are in Dumb and Dumber form, providing the mornings' entertainment, drinking a few beers at 8am and letting the whole boat know who hooked up with who the previous night. The boat arrived at the biggest island, Cat Ba, and drops off the people who bought the 2 night package, which includes myself, Garrett, 4 Aussies, 2 Irish and the token Israli. We say our goodbyes to the rest of the group as they took off back to Hanoi.

We rode a transport-van to the national forest, got out and began trecking up a mountain. At the end of the hike was this sketchy rusty watchtower around 30 meters high I would guess. My better judgement told me not to climb the thing, but I saw a 10 year old kid do it, so being a man I had to. I cautiously climbed the narrow, shakey stairs as I fought off the vertigo and urge to climb right back down. The view was well worth it though, I'm super stoked I did it and even more stoked I lived to tell about it and of course show you all the pictures!


View from the watchtower


The sketchy tower of doom

After the beautiful hike, Garrett and I, plus 3 Aussies split off from the group to go rock climbing. We were each wisped away by our motorbike taxis through a beautiful lush green valley into the middle of nowhere. After lunch with a village family, we headed to the amazing limestone formations that we would be scaling very shortly. After about 2 minutes of instructions, we were thrown into the fire and told to “just climb to the top”! It was physically one of the most challenging things I have ever done, but at the same time one of the most rewarding! There were a few times during my first climb that I wanted to give up and times that I thought there was no way in hell I would make it to the top. But with some helpful hints from the instructor, the cheers of my fellow climbers and a bit of will power I finally made it to the top. As I looked out over the green field below, towering mountains in the backdrop, I let out a massive yell of triumph...one of my favorite moments of the trip by far!


A little video I shot as we tore through the valley on the way to go rock climbing...my driver was completely mental and got me there about 5 minutes before everyone else..haha!



This is how the pros do it...I have a whole new respect for these guys!

That night after dinner and drinks, the group sang karoke and Christian, 1 of the Australian kids cool and chilled out, revealed that he sings for musicals—like big time shows in Sydney! Haha random and needless-to-say he put on the most ridiculous rendition of the Pokemon theme song and other off-the-wall tunes. Legendary.

Wake next day, leave hotel, transport-van to the dock and embark for Hanoi. On the way, we stop at a floating village to buy some fish. Still can't believe people live out there!