We've been having soo much fun in the last week! After we last talked, we hopped on a bus to Halong city, gateway to Halong Bay (one of the new 7 wonders of the world, and rightly so in our opinion) and Cat Ba island. When we arrived they dumped us at the "Tourist Dock", the first sign we were in trouble..
After securing a few tickets on a junk to Cat Ba island we were hustled by some Vietnamese guy onto one junk amd then another. I swear he waited for us to get topside and in our bathing shorts before he swooped in to drag us off. The dock was crazy. It was like a scene from Indiana Jones where all the boats are pilled up and people are running around with boxes and bags. The air was swrirling with different languages and the smell of fish and diesel fumes.
Anyway, we finally pushed out to sea and were cruising along when all hell broke loose. The ship hands and a surly old madam of the ship started surrounding us and asking where our guide was! "You no pay! You pay now!" They were screaming with their hands out! It took a few minutes but we squared everything away and showed them our tickets. I guess they weren't used to seeing people doing this on their own..
The ride was incredably beautiful tho and when we got to the island, Jess and I rode all the way across it on the backs of two guys' scooters with all of our backpacks and gear too! It was really fun and Jess was smiling from ear to ear and "flying" with her arms way out to the side..
Cat Ba was amazing. It's an island out of Jurrassic Park, mostly monkey-populated jungle surrounded by the limestone karsts of Halong Bay. We spent a handfull of days there riding a scooter we rented from an old lady downtown, kayaking in the bay and rock climbing some of the nearby islands. I would easily recommend a 2 or 3 week trip there just to hang out and rock climb. It's totally undeveloped (for now, Chinese developers are planning 2 "mega" resorts that will no doubt kill the vibe and a good deal of local enviornment) and there are not many people showing up to climb and kayak like they do in Thailand. Also when we were riding in the hillsides all the village kids would come running out smilling and posing for pics. They really loved to see us and you definately dont see that anywhere that tourists have made their selves at home. In those areas (Saigon, Hanoi, anywhere mentioned in Lonely Planet) you get lots of people hustling you and everybody else giving you shit... which leads to the next story in our journey..
On Cat Ba we met a really great expat named Tim who has been in Vietnam for 6 years. He's done every job under the sun here but he currently lives on a tiny /karst used for climbing. It's just a small beach with Tim and two local Vietnamese chaps really. He's like Robinson Curusoe living out there with no power, monkeys, millipedes and bugs and about 2000 feet of beachfront on a little island maybe 30 or 40 thousand square feet total.. crazy. Through him we got a crazy idea and some great connections and phone numbers for this next part of our journey..
Tomorrow we are going to see a guy here in Hanoi to check out some old Russian motorcycles called a Minsk. These things are bulletproof, sturdy two stroke workhorses that go for about $400.. After we figure out how to get ourselves and 20 kilos of gear safely strapped on to it, we are going to ride north and west alongthe Chinese border (and maybe briefly across it) towards Laos. This is going to take about 3 weeks and I'm guessing we are going to have lots of enexpected suprises too.
When you get onto a bike and out of the main cities the locals are so happy to see you. You buy them one beer and you often are being fed for free the rest of the night! Kids will pose for pictures too, and they giggle like crazy when you show them the results! I really think this is the best way to see this country and meet it's people, plus we have some contacts from Tim to meet up with and hopefully secure housing amongst the local hill tribes. I really want to spend some time in these villages living in their elevated bamboo huts...
So that's it really. Hopefully the bike will hold and we will have an amazing time. If that's the case we will ride it as far as it takes us. It will pay for itself if if makes it to Luang Prabrang and if I sell it for maybe $200 it will have been a great investment. If we are having a good time we may try to ride it all the way to Bangkok! Or it could break down on the side of the road and we just decide to ditch it but we will have a great story never the less..
Well we are off to find a leather store and the helmetshop. We are getting full coverage travel insurance in case of disaster and we have to figure out how we can cut some weight from our luggage too, so the next few days will be busy.. I will get in touch if, or when, we find our trusty stead. Wish us luck and think of us this Thanksgiving! Is it this Thursday or next? Can't remember... But hopefully we will be riding through rice paddies with the wind in our faces and the sun at our backs!
We love you all so much! Wish we could share these holidays, but know you are in our thoughts if not our arms and we will return soon. Jess is trying to upload photos butso far to no avail. It's impossible on these computers cause they usually just crash, but you will hear as soon as we have any success... Until then, we remain;
In adventurous spirits,
Chris and Jess
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