Killed my last day in Hanoi running errands - twas pretty fun weaving in and out of traffic in Hanoi, charging past Ho Chi Minh's dead pickled body with a mile long line of tourists waiting to see the dude. Pretty much like a real world game of frogger.
I then took a trip through the back alleyways in the West with my host to see the markets and then stopped for steamed rice balls filled with sugar cubes. They were pretty good, but honestly, a few were enough for me and the entire plate of 15 was a bit rich. Anywho, we started chatting up the proprietor (translated via my host) who quickly asked if I was married. "Pssh. Nope."
Oh! Well she excitedly said that she had a beautiful single daughter. Naturally I said we should get together and see if there was any magic in the air. She then invited me over for lunch later that day to meet her daughter.
I showed up a few hours later and the family brought me into their house, nestled next to a pond with the remains of a downed B-52 protruding from it. Hovering over a meal of sauteed beef with greens and tomato soup felt surreal. We locked eyes, she blushed, and I kept drinking with her pops. Unfortunately, she only spoke a few words in English so I don't think we'll have a blossoming romance. And no, it wasn't "me ruv you rong time" you perverts.
The next morning I headed over to Halong Bay. We got on the boat out there and the single travelers instantly bonded. I met a Hungarian bro, Aussie dude and an awesome Canadian chick that's wwoof'ing around the world - she pretty much confirmed that I HAVE to do that.
The first day in Halong went by quickly but I was stunned by its beauty. At night we had a great seafood meal and since drinks were "so expensive" we smeagled some booze onboard and my Hungarian roommate had some homemade Hungarian swill. I drank until I was sauced enough to sing karaoke and dance with an old Chinese lady and even caught my first squid!
The next day was simply unreal. We took a boat to Cat Ba island where we stayed in bungalows on the beach. There were 20 people tops on the island and we spent the afternoon kayaking through the limestone karsts. I guess I'm a nerd but kayaking through Halong and seeing all the floating villages and pearl farms was honestly a dream come true.
We had a ridic buffet that night of grilled pork and chicken and clams right from the beach before I passed out next to the bonfire in a tank top. Yes, tank top weather has finally arrived. Thank God.
The next morning I tried to head back to Hanoi to catch the tourist bus to Ninh Binh but alas, things were lost in translation and I ended up sitting in the aisle of the local bus bumping arms with squaking grandmas and dodging loogies to NB.
I spent the day here where it's kinda a Bruges-ish Vietnam with Halong scenery. The city itself sucks but I took a ride through the country where it's pretty beautiful. Being out in the fields alone made me sing some John Denver as I absorbed the outdoors.
I'm headed to hammer town in prep for the night bus to Hue tonight. Gonna meet up with Alby, a cool Aussie bro I trekked with in Sapa and we'll take it from there.
New pics are up (on the right sidebar).
Let's dahnce.
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