two crazy days

since we last updated the blog, we've seen met many wonderful people, done some awesome activities, and seen some truly awe inspiring scenery. like bob mentioned as he left off last time, we hoped a transport van from hanoi to halong bay yesterday morning. there's really only one word to explain that three hour car ride: INSANE. they have no center line system on the roads here, so passing around corners, up hills, or with oncoming traffic less than 1/4 mile in front of you is a-o-k. we would have been fine with this if it weren't for the three accidents we saw on the drive out. but we made it, and in record time. after a short wait at the dock, we hoped aboard a small dingy for a short ride out to the Amigo, our sea junk, for the night.

once on board, we meet and chatted with the other travelers staying on the boat (a free spirited kiwi who loved to have a good time, a very friendly australian family, a couple from canada, a documentary filmmaker from switzerland with his girlfriend, and an expat originally from san fran traveling with his japanese girlfriend. oh, and there was also a russian couple that, as spencer the kiwi stated, 'spoke fuckall english', that pretty much kept to themselves. after the meet and greet, we were served lunch. before i tell you what was served, though, let me just take a second and explain to you how meals here are served here. you don't get a menu, nor can you tell them what you want to eat. they just start bringing plates of food and you eat community style. and they bring lots of plates of food. the first lunch started with chips (french fries), followed by a cucumber salad. then came a shrimp salad, some whole fish dealeo, a chicken plate, fruit, and about four other dishes i can even recall. we really think that if you would have ordered all that food in the states, it would easily have run upwards of $150. easy. as we ate, we sailed out into the 3,000 plus islands that make up halong bay.

around midday, we docked at surprise cave, and having visited a few caves in the past, wasn't terribly excited about it. they are always dark, damp, and somewhat ho-hum for the $$. i'm glad to say that after about two minutes inside, though, i was amazed. this place was huge. it was lit wonderfully and the walkways throughout were just superb. did i mention it was huge? you could easily fit lambeau field inside the main cavern. the photo below is one i took towards the rear of the main cavern - it shows the colors, but does not come close to giving you a sense of how big the place was.

after the cave, we headed out for two hours of sea kayaking around the bay, and it was a great way to get up close and personal to the islands and the many floating villages around the bay. one thing that has amazed both of us this entire trip is how friendly the locals are - you always get a return smile or wave. the people living here on the water were no different and it was really nice to see. below are two images i captured while paddling around i really like.

following our kayaking, we got back on our junk boat where a bunch of us went for a dip in the bay. i'm proud to say i landed my first backflip from the side railing which was about 10 feet up from the water. unfortunately, allison (from australia) missed taping it. she did manage to set a few good clips though.

dinner followed our swim, which was again loads of food. we finished out the evening sitting around chatting with all the other travelers and were in bed by about ten.

in the morning, the passengers that had only booked the one night stay to halong remained on the boat while the canadian couple, the filmmaker couple, and bob and i transferred to a smaller boat that took us to cat ba island. i really feel bad for the others that didn't book the two night - cat ba has been amazing. after another meal that could have fed 12, we docked at a rural location on cat ba, where we rented moto bikes (scooters) and set out to explore a rural village. the scenery was breathtaking, like something you'd expect to see in a sci-fi movie like avatar, the hike up into the hills was great which included a short walk through a cave with 500 million year old sea shell fossils inside, and the two couples we were hang out with were a blast. it really is funny that after only one day with these total strangers, we feel like you have known each other for years. after the hike we jumped aboard our trusty motos only to find bob's key missing. i tried not to laugh as he looked at me with an "oh shit what the f do i do" look on his face saying his key was missing. it was only after he sat there sweatin' it for a few minutes that steve, the filmmaker, said, "hey bob, i'll sell you a key for 10 dolla!" I don't think I've laughted that hard in months.

a few i shot of bob around the cat ba rural village -

scooters returned and back aboard the boat, we headed to monkey island, where we exited the boat in typical vietnamese fashion - 'no way this is osha approved.'

we hiked up a crazy steep trail that led to some beautiful views of the area. just before leaving, some monkeys came out only to case the canadian down the beach at full sprint. bob managed to get some really good video of the monkeys and it really shows how much different they act in the wild compared to in a zoo. it really is amazing...

after monkey island, we heading to the main city on cat ba where we checked into the sunrise hotel and spa, our oasis for the night. after a shady meal, we returned to the room to do some laundry and write this post while listening to the wonderful sounds of vietnamese women singing karaoke to crap american pop songs.

btw - this place has a two pools, overlooks the bay, and has a spa. you too can stay here for the low, low price of $28 per night!

i keep saying to myself that this trip can't get better, yet every day here has been better than the last. tomorrow will be a travel day - we leave early in the morning by boat to halong bay city and will connect back to hanoi by van. a few hours later, we hop an overnight train to sapa.

due to the train, expect our next update to be the day after next. bob put up a few more photos at his mobileme site at gallery.me.com/bob.lamovec for you to check out, and like i said, we are hoping to have internet at the hotel in sapa day after tomorrow. if we do, we'll chat at you then!