Vietnam Part 1: HONK! I'm here.

Dave and Gero get ambushed by some local Vietnamese children!

Well we arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam on the 1st, much earlier then we expected after cutting our time short in Thailand. We flew into Hanoi and immediately picked up the bus into Haiphong, about a 2 hour bus ride away.  Of course, after our bus driver from the airport dropped us off a 5 minute taxi ride away from the bus station where we needed to pick up the bus into Haiphong. The amount of scooters and lack of lanes makes driving here...or being a passenger, absolutely terrifying.  Drivers here also make sure that they let anyone they're passing know by honking their horn. Needless to say this makes for incredibly noisy streets.





After staying the night in Haiphong at a very upscale hotel for a whopping $25, which here is very steep, we found our way to the ferry to Cat Ba. We had read was less touristy and still just as beautiful as Halong Bay. We met two German travelers on the boat who we later met up with in Cat Ba where we had a very local meal of Pho and drank 20 cent beers. We were the only tourists in the whole place and it was a really good time.

Pho at local restaraunt

ferry into Cat Ba

Coming into Cat Ba, we were expecting a very small, remote, beach town, however, we were met with towering hotels lining the bay, which itself was completely filled with rundown boats... Oh... and no beach. We soon found a whole new appreciation for the area when we rented scooters the next day (for $3 for the day... Did I mention how ridiculously cheap everything is here?) and we bombed around the island. Once we got away from the downtown itself, things were more as we had hoped and expected. We saw locals farming in the fields, fishermen off the deserted beaches, and gorgeous overlooks of the ocean as we motored up the winding roads. It was truly a blast.

Cat Ba - coming into town on the ferry

The next day we hopped onto our private yacht (it was only private because no one else signed up... But shhhhh... Details, details!) and headed out into the Ma Hong Bay. It was stunning. The limestone cliffs jut out of the water and you can tell where the water has pounded away at the base of the cliffs from the deep undercuts. Amongst some of the cliffs, in more protected inlets were mass communities of fish farms surrounding the fisherman's floating dwelling. The boat took us out for a daylong cruise and stopped in two different places for us to kayak. We explored a few caves which led to completely isolated, and breathtaking  lagoons. We spent the night on the boat and were shown by the crew their fishing techniques. They caught a number of small squid which they cooked two of them up for us to eat. I got majorly inked when biting into mine, which was at the quite the surprise!

looking intense - photo by Dave

Dave fishing for squid

meditating on the beanbag fortress on our private yacht

Around 3:30am, I was awoken by loud gnawing and chewing noises that went on for a good 10 minutes. It sounded as though a dog was directly next to the bed. It didn't take too long before I remembered that a. The door was locked and b. There was no dog on the boat. The strange thing also was as soon as I flashed my clock light across the room, the noises stopped immediately and did not continue for the remainder of the night. After surveying literally the entire room, nothing out of the ordinary was to be found. Now, I'm not a believer in ghosts, but there truly is no other explanation.

the room in question

sunrise the next morning - photo by Dave

The following day we left Cat Ba and after taking 5 different buses, including a overnight bus and a ferry, somehow, we have made it to Hoi An. We are spending the next few days here relaxing on the beach and having some clothes made for us by two of the thousands of tailors. 

Dave on a floating fishing farm