Ha Long Bay

Hello all, sorry for the long lay off. I'm in Beijing after a whirlwind few days in Hong Kong. I have friends here and in HK so things have been really busy. I'd like to tell you more about HK and China, but my blog is on Vietnam, and we haven't finished the story about our trip there yet!

So, lucky for all the readers, Tony has been kind enough to send me some entries from back in Seattle. I know, not exactly per the "rules" of blogging, what with our time-delayed entries....but the story gets told. Here's Tony:


Since I last wrote, Becky and I went to Halong Bay on an overnight cruise on a traditional Vietnamese 'junk' boat. For the past 10+ years when Ive been thinking about coming back to Vietnam, seeing Halong Bay was my top priority. Needless to say, this was the highlight of the vacation part of our trip. Although I've never been there, I am guessing its probably a feeling like seeing the Grand Canyon the first time. No words can describe what this place is like. The bay was calm, the sun was warm and the wind was just right. We coast amongts nearly 2000 limestone monolithic karsts and isles, each one topped with thick jungle vegetation which rise spectacularly from the ocean. When you think you've seen them all, you look ahead or to the side or back and see more and more and more of them. Our trip was enlightened by stopping at a fishing village where over 500 people live in small coves spread about in this community. I even found a Husky fan in the village-our canoe's navigator, a cute little 18 yr old girl who likely will develop osteoarthritis of her shoulder and elbow by the time she's 30. We were served wonderful meals, got to explore the caves and even kayaked for an hour. It was truly breathtaking. It is so wonderful, that it is currently ranked #2 in the New 7 Wonders of the World ranking (http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/liveranking/). Any trip to Southeast Asia, would not be complete if you did not see this wonder. After a crazy 3.5 hour ride, in a van driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr's 115 lb Vietnamese brother, we were just thankful we were still alive and back in Hanoi. This guy passed over 100 cars in the oncoming lane, many times around a corner as either a semi truck/tour bus/motorbike/herd of cows (no joke) came within inches of slamming us. Our hotel bed and a lukewarm shower with poor water pressure was an amenity we were happy to have. We got to say bye to Paul and Renee as they prepared for their trip to Hong Kong. Our adventure with them in Vietnam coming to an end. Many thanks to Paul, Ca Tran, VNAH non profit and especially Drs. Thanh and Khoa for their organizing and hospitality during our time together in Vietnam. Becky and I did our best at shopping where everyone tells you, you don't pay full price. We got some gifts for ourselves and family/friends back home. Haggling is always interesting-when you deal in Dong currency you have to do these calculations in your head in thousands. When I haggled a lady down another ten thousand dong, I had to laugh since that calculated to about 66 cents. Oh well, the haggling was necessary since we literally ran out of money. Becky's ATM did not work our final night there and we only had the money we brought in to the country. We have to save a few bucks for final tipping at hotel and our trip home.