[NOTE - we have poor connections as we cruise off the coast of Vietnam - so pictures will follow]
Ok, this is how tired I was last night after finishing the blog. After brushing teeth, taking meds, and doing all of the other pre-bed items, I lay down in bed. I grabbed my earplugs, put in the left one, put in the right one, but it wasn't fitting very well. So I removed it and tried again. Hmmm. Still not fitting very well. Pulled it out and tried again. It still wasn't expanding into the ear cavity like it should in order to block sound. I must have tried about six times to get that thing to go in there. No go. Then it hit me. I forgot to take my hearing aids out. Sigh. Ear plugs work much better when there is nothing in the ear canal to begin with. And, I have no idea how I got the left one to work.
It was about 6:00 AM when I first woke up and checked my watch to see what time it was. I was a little early, but when the bladder calls, there is little you can do but answer. I crawled back into bed and just laid there allowing myself some time to just wake up. Laureen was already up and checking the blog that I published the night before, correcting my grammatical mistakes as well as making sure I had the information correct from the previous day. There are always things to fix. We need to get packed up today and meet our guide and driver down in the lobby at 8:30 AM to make the two-ish hour trek to Lan Ha Bay. (Travellers are more familiar with Ha Long Bay. Lan Ha Bay is to the west and is a quieter alternative.) From here we will be on a two day cruise amongst the limestone islands off the coast of Vietnam (I'm sitting on the veranda off of our room right now writing this - but more on that later).
Last night, I went out to buy a bottle of water (the hotel gives us some, but it's not quite enough for what we need) and was also on a quest to find some chop-sticks that I could bring back from Vietnam. I wandered around on the streets without Laureen and she didn't feel like going out in the mayhem that is a Hanoi evening. I found a Circle-K where I searched the cabinets for about a 500 ml water bottle, and spotted one just at eye level. I paid for that and then went back out on the street. I wandered into a few shops, but none of them had chop-sticks. I kept walking and just taking in the sights. The place is crawling with people all sitting around eating together. I also was approached at least three times by rickshaw drivers wanting to know if I wanted to be taken to "the girls". LOL. Pass. I finally found a place that had some of the utensils that I'm looking for, and after rummaging through a bunch of them, I settled on one set with a green bag, two wooden chopsticks and a holder for the table. I think they were just under $2.00 CAN. I had wandered a bit farther than before, so I used Google maps to get back to the hotel.
So, now back to this morning. Laureen informs me that the 'water' that I bought was actually like a power-aide. Not so great to take meds with. Sigh. We showered, packed and then went down to the restaurant for breakfast.
[FOOD PICS]
After that, we made our way back to the room, collected our things and then checked out in the main lobby. Kim was there to meet us and show us to where the car was waiting. We'll kinda of be back in a couple of day, but only to go to the airport in Hanoi and make our way to Thailand.
The drive was uneventful. Kim talked about a few things as we made our way our of Hanoi and into the countryside that surrounds it. It's stunning. It is green everywhere you look including the rice fields that surround the freeway. Incidentally, the speed limit on the freeway is 120 km's per hour here (I can see it on the drivers GPS). We stopped at a place called Legend Pearl which is a cultured pearl farm close to the terminal where our cruise will leave from. They first show you how cultured pearls are made, which I thought was very interesting. Apparently it is extreamly rare to find natural pearls in the world as the circumstances to get one, and have it be of high quality in the natural process, is highly unlikely. So, they culture pearls. We had a full demonstration of the process.
[PICTURES]
When the demonstration was done, you find yourself in their giant showroom of pearl jewelry. Very slick. I walked back outside to take a photo of the area while Laureen started walking through the acres of glass cases. When I came back in to find her, she had made it over to the one side of the building, but noted that there were some nicer men's leather/pearl bracelets and she walked me over to where they were. I had a look and they were nice. I like to wear stuff like that occasionally, so we picked one out. We also went over to another cabinet where they had broaches made from the shells (they use everything from the oyster). I picked up one of those as a gift.
We then made our way back to the car and then a short drive to the wharf. Kim dropped us off there and we filled out some forms for lunches & suppers on the cruise, and signed a waiver form releasing them from responsibility for any injury that we may sustain as part of the activities that we could participate in as part of the cruise. Standard stuff. So we picked our meals and signed our lives away. It was only a few minutes before we boarded the tender to make our way to our boat. It was about a 35 minute ride through the amazing scenery of huge limestone rocks jutting out of the water. I've never seen anything like this before.
We arrived at out boat, boarded and made our way to the dining room for a short presentation on safety and some information on the time we will be spending with them. After that, we checked into our room and had about 30 minutes before lunch. I took a few pictures of our room (as we always try to do). The place is stunning.
[Room Pictures]
We quickly unpacked some of the items around the bed like power transformers, extension cord, CPAP machines, etc. Then we went up to the third deck and had lunch served to us. The food was excellent.
[Lunch Pictures]
Back down to the room for a quick change as the weather was such that it was misting outside. I grabbed my long sleeved Columbia shirt to help keep the mosquitoes at bay (apparently there are some), and to keep warm as we cycled in the mist. Back to the main deck where the tender boat took us to the shore of Cat Ba island where we found ourselves a bike, made a few adjustments (seat height for one), strapped on a helmet and then started to ride as a group. I think Joy (the cruise director) told us that it was about a three mile ride. Given that I have long legs, it would have been nice to have a larger framed bike, and a bit of an extended seat post. It was too short for me, even at the highest setting - but I rode it anyway. Three miles each way won't kill me. Laureen decided not to ride a bike, but instead took an electric cart instead. The drive was amazing, and at one point we went through a 25 meter tunnel and it was nearly pitch black. As I rode along there were places that looked like we were riding through Jurassic Park.
Our first stop was a little place where they gave us a short presentation about the area using a large map. While that was going on, one of the other passengers had put her feet in a small pool of fish and they were eating off the dead skin. I decided I wanted to do this too (everybody else had the chance to do the same, but after the presentation). It was…interesting. It didn't hurt. But it wasn't like a massage either. The best way. I could describe it is like a very low voltage of electricity where each of the fish is doing its thing. I took video.
[Feet In Fish Pond Video]
Next they showed us a series of rice wines with different items in each one for flavor. The items were: Citrus, Guava, Ginseng, and Snake (you read that correctly, snake). There was another one there, but Sam (another one of the crew) didn't know what it was, so he passed on it. He offered each of us to choose which one we wanted. I picked the Guava one (and so did Laureen). We waited until everyone had a shot glass with their choice, we counted to three, and - bottoms up! Burned most of the way down. Clearly no bacteria could survive in there - I should be good.
[Rice Wine Photo]
It was at this point the rest of the passengers decided to try and put their feet in the fish pond. There were a few screams. Laureen decided she did not want to do it.
We then hopped back onto our bikes and drove for a few blocks to stop at a traditional person's house near the village. It was interesting to see the people that live there in a one-room home with an external kitchen that looked like a very small garage - separate from the house. They grow most of their own food in a garden that surround the house as well as tending to some chickens in a pen by the yard. The toilet facilities are located on the corner of the property to keep things sanitary.
We then hopped back on the bikes and made our way back the pier where we came onto the island. I stopped a few times on my way back to take a few photos. The place is unreal. Stopping like that put me behind the electric car, and I was a ways behind the bike group. I stopped at one scenic point, took the photo and then just listened to the sound of nothing. It was eery. Here I am, on a rock in the ocean off the coast of Vietnam and I'm all by myself. It felt surreal.
[Photos]
Apparently Joy was concerned about me (not sure how she knew that I was behind, but she was radioing the electric car to make sure I was OK). I eventually caught up and passed the electric car - but the photo opportunities were too good to pass up. I'll likely never find myself on this rock ever again.
[Photos]
We dropped the bikes off at the point of origin, and then made our way on the tender to get back to the ship. That was fun.
Laureen and I sat on our room's deck for a while just taking in the misty scenery. It looks like something out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie and Jack Sparrow will show up out of the mist. I took so many photos…
[Photos]
Dinner was at 7:30 PM, so we got dressed up a little bit (first time I wore pants since we left) and made our way up to the third deck where the dining hall is located. They had set one table outside on the deck for us. This was a nice little special thing from the travel agency. We stood at the bar and chatted with a retired couple (Dave and Susan) from Colorado, who apparently live roughly 20 minutes from where Brenda Coronado lives. Small world.
I ordered a drink and so did Laureen and after they came, and we chatted with Dave and Susan for a while, we were escorted to our table on the deck. This was nice. It was pitch back out over the water and all you could see were the lights from the 20 or so boats that had dropped anchors in the same area. It's hard to describe how beautiful this was. And it was pretty darn quiet out here compared to in the dining hall.
Dinner came and we enjoyed every taste. Dessert finally arrived and we had just over 10 minutes before we were scheduled to have a massage, both of us in the same room with two massage therapists. Joy came out on the deck and asked about our dinner and told us about the activities over the next day. We scurried off to our room, got undressed and then grabbed one of the robes in the closet, so we could make our way to the second floor spa. We arrived and they ushered us into a room with two tables. We lay down on the tables, and that's all I remember. I didn't fall asleep, but I'm pretty sure Laureen did. Wow. Was that an hour and a half well spent!
We went back to our room and got ready for bed. Breakfast tomorrow is at 7:30, and if one is interested in doing a short Ti Chi class, you can meet at 7:00 AM to give it a try. I may just do that if I wake up in time.
Curt and Laureen Anchored somewhere off the coast of Vietnam.
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