Some much needed R&R on the top deck of our boat...
Ok...bad pun with the title...my bad. Anyways, Halong Bay redux! It was an amazing three days. Got lucky with the weather and just avoided the monsoon rains. On the first day, we cruised leisurely in and out of the karst formations, and anchored in a bay for a moonlight seafood dinner and some swimming at sunset. Jumping off the 2nd floor deck of the boat was fun! LOL, lost my top...but thankfully, the water is "turquoise" and not crystal clear.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/vampalcyone/album?.dir=/4107&.src=ph&.tok=phWdosDBn0LWrsGp
For some reason, blogger won't let me upload anymore photos...so the link above shows a couple more pics.
The second day, we visited Monkey Island and scaled the prickly limestone to the top of the island...our group of 5 then headed to Cat Ba Island. We had a pretty ridiculous second night! First of all, one of the guys was an exact splitting copy of Devin (if you know him...), right down to the gift of gab, posture and clothing of choice! The difference: Gareth is an Aussie and he studied social science vs. physics. Crazy!! After dinner, we hit up a pool bar run by an Aussie expat. After a few rounds of really embarrasing pool, we went to the panorama bar at our hotel, hoping that there would be some Ka-ra-o-ke... sorry! Bar closes at 11:45pm. I really wanted to have karaoke under my belt before leaving Vietnam! It's SO popular with the locals. Well...we found a late-nite discotheque and enjoyed the Napoleon Dynamite-esque dancing by the professionals (sculpted bodies and everything) from Belgium. They closed abruptly at 1 am, with the last song being Bryan Adam's Everything I do...ooh...yes, my favorite!
So, Miss Canada suggests swimming...the beach was just a leisurely 15 minute stroll away. So we headed there and went for an early morning dunk.... and were interrupted shortly after by an angry Vietnamese guy. Probably for the best...looking out for our safety right? LOL, thankfully, only the two guys were skinny dipping (no comment).
Everyone was late for breakfast on the third day... but we still made it back to Hanoi by 4:30! Before flying out the following evening, I indulged in a sumptous Chocolate Buffet at the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi (US$10!). Seriously, you can OD on sugar... what a strange feeling! Sort of like you've got energy, but you can't really concentrate enough to use it... and you want to sleep at the same time... Weird.
5 comments:
Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" eh? Didn't a certain individual sing that to you, on his knee, with about 20 ppl looking on, laughing?
Yes! Bryan Adams makes a return! The sunset pic looks amazing...and the limestone bits look much more treacherous than the Drakensberg. Perhaps that's what the Otter Trail would've been like?
You stayed at a Sofitel? Awesome! I think we walked by one in Mauritius...or maybe I've been there...anyways...Chocolate Buffet sounds to die for!
Dear Ming, Michelle:
Ha ha, good ol Bryan Adams... I knew some would get a kick out of that. Ha ha. We stayed at a Sofitel in Paris remember? The beautiful hotel, with the DOORMAN!! Do you remember??!?!? hilarious.
Mary
Yeah, I was trying to remember if that was the place in Paris...haha, the doorman...awesome! Mmm...I remember the breakfast buffet...yum. Enjoy the rest of your trip, can you believe it's already October?!
NO IT'S NOT!!! IT'S NOT OCTOBER!!! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!!! *fingers in ears* la la la la la la la la la...
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