Hey,
Been a few days since my last update, quite eventful ones too.
After recovering from the most horrific bus journey in the world, we decided to take the 3 day trip to Ha Long bay which was recommended by a few people. The trip consisted of a bus journey to a pier to get on a big boat called a "junk"...but dont let the name fool you, these junks are top notch. There were only 12 guests on each boat, each with an ensuite room with air con and all the works...
Luckily there were only 12 guests on each Junk, with a range of ages and nationalities - this is perfect as it means the chances of it turning into a cheap booze cruise are slim-to-none.
The food on the boat was delicious, all Vietnamese with second helpings etc... So we reached Ha Long bay (no idea if thats the correct spellign by the way) and its beautiful...loads of tiny islands with floating villages and huge caves. We were given Kayaks and soem free time to explore and see the caves in our own time...then we were guided through the main cave, which is absolutely massive...there were loads of rocks that the guide pointed out saying thins like "Can you see what that rock looks like?" ... well, a rock. Apparently, they looked like anything from chickens to sitting ladies, fat Buddhas, and an erect penis. The latter was the only one that actually looked like its description (It was also deliberately well lit) The usual jokes came out, as you'd expect.
Back on the boat for free time during the sunset...A few of us jumped off the top of the boat into the freezing water - then hot shower and chill time on top of the boat. We had a few beers with the rest of the guests up on the top deck while the sun set....Another amazing meal followed...
Then it was "Killer" time...I introduced the card game we played on almost every evening in S.A where everyone has a certain card, one person is the killer and the rest have to work out who the killer is...I dont have the time or energy to write all the rules of the game on here...its hard enough to exlpain to a group of adults face to face....all you need to know is that its awesome.
We had a great laugh and all got a little drunk...a couple of Czech guys decided to dive into the water again (It was pitch black and quite cold....crazy Europeans.)....
Bed...on the boat.
Woke up to another decent breakfast, followed by a short journey to another island. We had a choice of either climbing to the top for a good view, or taking bicycles around for a bit. Seeing as we had already done some trekking we opted for the bikes. Didnt go very far, but stopped at a cave that had been converted into a hospital during the war. Was pretty impressive, if a little eerie.
Then, after lunch (guess what...it was really nice)... we were taken to monkey island - a tiny private beach with bamboo bungalows...we met up with people from another boat (as half of the people on ours were only doing the two-day trip) and it turned out we were the only people on the island.
Spent the afternoon playing beach football, pool, snoozing, eating, drinking and playing killer. The guys from the other boat were in their sixties and hilarious...An Aussie couple who swore at eachother constantly (in a playful way) and could drink people under the table. We introduced the noobies to killer and we played for over 3 hours. We've been invited by the Aussie couple (Jan and Dee) To visit them in Aus.
The next day it pissed it down and was freezing, luckily this was when we were travelling back to Hanoi so we were kind of glad.
Night out - After watching the Manchester derby (Soz Rooney), we went to a few bars with two of the girls from the trip - then onto a mingin night club (more grungy than Kam-bar)...I was a fan.
Met a lovely young lady called Hetty-Kate, who happens to be a jazz singer in a five-star hotel in Hanoi - She invited me to go see her set the following day....so I did. Never before have I stood out so much as I did in there. The place was huge, and oozed class...everybody dressed in suits, dresses, gowns etc...the waiters pouring aged wine...the smooth sound of jazz. I bowled in late with my only pair of jeans, white converse and a t-shirt...what a rock-star.
Swiftly ordered a drink (only 5 times more expensive than the previous night) and sat and watched Hetty sing. It was great, and I started feeling more relaxed after my third Jack Daniels. During the set-break she came over and got me a drink and we were then invited to sit with her friends....Minutes later, conversation began to flow... as did the red wine. I felt so classy.
At the end of the night, one of Hetty's friends, Mimi (think ive spelt that right) invited us to carry on drinking at her hotel (We being the three of us, plus a well travelled guy who Im sure is in the mafia...His name escapes me as it was difficult to pronounce, top guy though) ..So back to this other 5 star hotel over-looking a lake - the swankiest apartment ive ever been in. Room service at 2am, prawn spring rolls and other such appetisers with sweet chilli sauce - and of course, 2 more bottles of red.
Hetty and I left at some time past 3am, dropped her off back at the other hotel then I headed home...
I got in at around 4, got up onto my bed (top bunk in a dorm...theres your contrast) ... and Craig woke up - I asked "what time is the alarm set for?" (As we had a flight to Nha Trang that morning)...he replies "one minute"....I waited for him to look at his phone to check how long tilt he alarm sounded...but he literally meant one minute til it went off.
We got up and packed, checked out, taxi to airport, check in, fly for two hours, land, taxi, check in, bed. I felt absolutely disgusting....and according to Craig, smelt pretty bad too.
Nha Trang, by the way, is a beach town. The weather here is much better than the England-like Hanoi and the beach is lovely - And if you happen to take drugs, there are hundreds of men on mopeds offering them willy nilly.
After sleeping all of yesterday, we decided to go out for a few drinks and see what was going on. We left the last bar at around 3am and began to walk home...down the dark streets...and this is when something happened...
As we walked away from the well lit bar, we were approached by two ladies asking if we wanted them to "sucky sucky" us. I laughed and said no thanks. She was persistant and was all over me saying it only costs 100,000 VND (vietnamese dong...ha...dong.) which is about 30 quid. I still said no, despite the value...But now she was being more handsy and started squeezing the old fella. I was like "whooooa now, none of that please" but she wasnt takign no for an answer...at that point I realised that Craig was in a similar position just ahead of me, not only that, but several moped drug dealers were hovering very near-by. The whole thing was beginning to escalate and I said to Craig that we needed to get inside somewhere asap. The girl who was trying it with him gave up and decided to team up with my .... "sucky-sucky girl". This new one just grabbed me from in front and started grinding and what not while the other held my hands as to stop me pushing her away. I worked out what was happening...I was being mugged. Free'd my hands and went straight for my back pocket which was hanging half out ...The "grinder girl" quickly pulled her hand away seeing as shed been rumbled and they ran onto the back of a druggy-ped and sped off.
I opened my wallet...money had gone.
Luckily, Id stopped her taking my whole wallet, which had my cash-card in. Plus the money she took was only the equivalent of around 15/20 quid so no harm done. I was still pretty pissed off, but at the same time you've got to appreciate her skill of removing cash from a wallet inside a back pocket.
Ive had more romantic valentines days.
Just spend the day on the beach soaking up the rays and attempting to cross roads (remember that game 'Frogger'...yeh just like that)....Tomorrow its a 10 hour bus journey to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon).
Well, another epic blog, thanks for reading...Hope everyone is golden.
Jay
p.s Vietnam dont like people having fun, so they've banned facebook...there was a way of getting onto it, but it seems they found that out and banned that one as well. Will try get on there soon.
x
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