Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Our train got into Hanoi around 5am on March 10th we decided to save a few dollars and walk to the hotel we booked the tour through. It was about 2kms so we figured we would be there in no time at all... haaa were we mistaken! About an hour and a half later and too many wrong turns we arrived back at the hotel. About an hour later a bus picked us up to start our three day Ha Long Bay tour. It's a four hour long bus ride to the pier, but low and behold it took us five hours because something happened with the tire so we had to stop and wait while they fixed it. When we arrived it at the pier we got on our boat which was awesome. It had about ten cabins in it, a dining area, and a big deck on the top with beach chairs. We didn't get to put the beach chairs to use as it was a bit cold well compared to the heat and humudity we have had the entire trip.
First stop was to the Surprise Cave. It was a huge cave with tons of stalacites and stalagmites. After that we had a little bit of time to kayak around the bay. After kayaking we got back on to the boat and enjoyed some free time before dinner. There was about twenty people on our boat, quite thr variety as well. A young british couple, older french couple, three Israeli backpackers, an older Asian woman, a Thai couple... anyway it led to some very interesting coversations over dinner about everyones jobs, cultures, childhoods, etc. After dinner we stayed and chatted the night away with the Israeli boys and the British couple. The British couple, Richard and Debbie, did a 9 month around the world trip seven years ago and told us of their adventures. At the end of the conversation we were convinced we needed to do that as well! Don't worry Paul we will still get real jobs... eventually! The Israeli boys had just gotten out of the army. Every man and woman have to serve in the army for a few years right out of high school. Then most of them take a year to travel before starting college. It was incredibly interesting talking to them and learning about a country we literally knew nothing about.
The next morning we enjoyed breakfast and got switched to another boat where they brought us to Cat Ba Island, a super tiny island west of Ha Long Bay. Mark and I met up with a new tour group and went straight to a national park for a "hike." I must say it was no hike at all, it was more like a steep climb which is great but it had rained a ton the night before leaving the mountain a muddy disaster. By the time we reached the top we were sweating our hineys off and covered in mud. I should say we each only brought one warm outfit with us here and now it was covered in mud and we had to wear it the next few days... we were a sight to be seen. But these two guys in our group had no idea what was in store, at least we had hiking shoes and pants on, they were wearing jeans, leather jackets, brand new kicks. They told us they signed up for the tour at the airport and had no idea it included a hike. They were only in Vietnam for two weeks and they were definiely here to party not hike! There new white shoes were now brown. We later read in our guide book never to do this hike after rain as the combination on slippery rocks and mud can be very dangerous. Good to know now! We got back to the hotel cleaned up and had a great lunch.
In the afternoon we jetted off to monkey island. When we arrived on the island and the monkeys saw food they slowly came out of the jungle and on to the beach. They were kind of aggressive and if they saw food in your hand they would snatch it quick and run. They told us to keep our camera strap around our wrist or they would run off with your camera. A guy was teasing them with his bag of snacks giving the monkey one at a time then grabbed the whole bag and ran off. They were drinking out of soda cans, it was nuts! We went on a small hike, chilled on a pier for awhile and headed back to the hotel. Took it easy that night and had dinner with a group of french students from our tour and then explored the small island.
The next morning we hopped on a boat and went back to the pier to take a bus back to Hanoi. We got back to Hanoi in the afternoon and the spent the rest of the day walking around the city. That night we went to a water puppet show. It was wild. The puppeteers actually stand in the water behind stage to contol the puppets in the water on stage... if that makes any sense. It was cool though. Apparently a big important person (we think a European politician) was at the show before ours as there were tons of security, police, photographers, limos, etc. People were waving and hollering when he came out, it was quite the scene. Overall, we had an awesome time in Hanoi and Vietnam is wonderful, but we are very excited for our flight tomorrow to Malaysia. Thaks for reading! Peace!