Halong Bay Feb 20-21

2006-03-24T03:31:00.000-08:00

We share a train cabin with two young Vietnamese road tollbooth installers. We make our beds and sleep early. I wake early the next morning, watching the endless rice fields in various stages of growth and harvesting. This is a very peaceful, relaxing way to travel. Jett wakes at 8 and we play cards and board games til we pull into Hanoi at 11. We find a room for the night and buy tickets for a 2 day, 1 night Halong Bay baot cruise for the next morning. I buy the tickets from the hotel we are staying at even though it is a bit more expensive than from a travel agent for the convenience of booking the same room we are in for when we get back 2 nights later. That night we have dinner at a street stall like many others we have had dinner at. I make the mistake of not asking how much it will be before ordering and when the bill comes it is more than twice what it should be. When I was in Laos and Cambodia, and I was doing yoga and meditation every day, and I was really at peace with myself and the world, there was still this cautiousness required with people providing a service, though nowhere near the level required in Vietnam. Since coming into Vietnam and meeting up with Jett, all that peace of mind and body and spirit has gone. I seem to have reverted to an anxious, defensive, critical fatality resigned and expectant person that I recognise I have been most of my life and have worked to be rid of. Is it Vietnam and the entry of Jett into this space, or is it me? Well, it's me, and I dont like it.

The next morning we are picked up in a minivan, and on the way to the wharf at Halong City 3 hours out of Hanoi, the minivan is sideswiped by a truck which knocks out all the windows on one side, showering the people on that side (not us) with glass. We get out and wait on th side of the road. Someone says somethig about going the rest of the way on motorcycles and Jett, understandably, starts to panic. A few days ago he was in a mtotrcycle accident and has not been in a car acciden tnad they want to go the rest of the way on motorcycles. I tell him we wont go, we'll go back to Hanoi and he calms down. Eventuially the flag down some other minivans and negotiate for them to take us the rest of the way.

We are given a wonderful seafood lunch as the boat pulls away from th harbour and we cruise for the next 5 hours among incredible lifestone karsts. You can check the photos but even they cant convey the feeling of passing by these giant rock formations sticking out of the water, floating fishing viallages, inhabited islands and floating markets sprinkled throughout. We visit one karst that is hollow in the centre, the cave filled with stalagmites, stalagtites and unusual lighting. We arrive at Cat Ba Island in the evening, are driven to our hotel, fed dinner and watch TV of which there are only 2 stations, both in Vietnamese, but thankfully Inspector Gadget is on so it doesnt matter. The next morning we are fed and driven back to the wharf, get on the boat and cruise back to Halong City. Jett teaches 2 Japanese tourists how to play shithead, the globally known backpackers card game that I taught Jett on about the 1st day of his trip. Now he is teaching others. He's picked up a few card games on the trip, as well as shuffling and that thing where you shuffle the cards by flicking the corners. I can see him putting himself through uni playing poker (sound familiar John :-)

We have lunch and sleep most of the way to Hanoi in the minivan. Then things get very Vietnamese. When we arrive, we are dropped off at the travel agency rather than our hotels. It is raining. 4 of us refuse to get off, we were told that we would be taken back to our hotels. The tour guide swears at us and storms off. The van driver slams the door shut and drives off with us still in the van. We have no idea where he is going. He pulls over on a highway, makes a phone call and 10 minutes later the tour guide turns up. They both start yelling at us to get out of the van. We refuse saying we have no idea where we are or how to get to our hotels. The van driver starts to drag one of the women out of the van by the arm, I push him away and things are about to get aggressive. The tour guide says he will wlk us to our hotels if we get out of the van, we agree. He walks us in the rain for half an hour through back alleys we wuld never have found our way through to our hotel, and storms off.

We go inside, and the manager, who we bought the tour tickets from, and madfe a reservation for our room for the next 2 nights before we left, tells me they dont have a room. How can that be, we made a reservation before we left. People moved into the room and didnt check out. Didnt you tell them the room was only available for 1 night? Well, you cant force people to leave. Yes but did you tell them it was only for 1 night? If someone is sick you cant make them leave. Now I know this is bullshit. I go up to the room and knock on the door to find out if he told them the room was booked for the next night. He runs after me saying I cant do that. I say I bet they're not sick. He says he said IF they were sick, IF they were sick. What the hell does that mean, IF they were sick, but they arent sick so you should have kept the room. He motion me to follow him downstairs, shows me the room register which shows that they are paying $4 more per night for the room than we were, and says we wante the room too cheap. Now the truth comes out, money is all that matters. I tell him he has no honour, that his word is worth nothing and that he is prepared to sell his honour and his word for $4. I tell him he thinks he has made $4 but in fact he will lose $100 because I will stay there all night and stop anyone else from getting a room by letting them know exactly what kind of place this is. He says get out and throws $4 at me. I ask if he is married. He says yes. I say I hope no-one offers his wife $4. This does not go down well. He yells at us to leave, NOW,. I say my son is staying here while I look for another room. I find one a few blocks away, go back to get Jett and he is playing shithead with some backpackers in the cafe. He is so resilient. We watch the olympics and sleep.

Jett sleeps til 9.30, I wake him to skype Joy. Jett decides to stay in the room while I sightsee, bumping into other people from the cruise along the way, 2 of whom had the same thing happen to them with their rooms being given away. I buy tickets for the water puppets for that night, they only have the 9.15 late show left. Jett joins me walking the area, see wooden stamp carvers, soapstone carvers and other craftsmen. The water puppets are amazing, a true unique highlight of Vietnam. The next mroning we catch a minivan to the airport, play hackidart waiting for checkin to open and again at the gate. I am very excited about seeing Beck again after 6 weeks apart, although feeling anxious about having reverted to my old self. This is not who I would choose to be. Also very excited to be getting out of Vietnam and into Thailand. Beck flew into Bangkok from Mumbai earlier in the day and was supposed to find a room and let us know where to go. We get through customs, no word from Beck. She decided to wait at the airport to see us as soon as possible. At first sight, I thought I remebered how beautiful she was, but I had no idea. It is so wonderful to see her.

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