Hanoi and Ha Long Bay

After one more day of complete relaxation on the beach in Ko Samui we were picked up from our hotel by Mr. Seen. It was pouring down rain outside and Mr. Seen was driving at about 100 Km/hour up and down hills, around curves, and through small lakes... Needless to say we were very happy to arrive at the airport in one piece! We spent one night in Bangkok and on our way out of the hotel we ran into an American man who was asking about our travels and when he asked why we were not going to Phuket I told him I did not enjoy it the last time I was there and felt no need to return. He then proclaimed "well that's because you're a girl." I felt like saying "well you're old and ugly" but I refrained and just smiled.

After our short flight we arrived in Hanoi to be completely amazed by the driving here in Vietnam. There are no lanes, no stop lights, no signs, and cows walking down the highway. It's completely crazy! They just all drive the same speed and honk at each other to let the other cars/motorcycles know where they are. Somehow it works out quite well. The other thing I love about Vietnam so far is how everyone sits on these tiny little stools. They are plastic and smaller than a little kids chair but people of all sizes sit on them around miniature tables and eat pho on the street. I've always loved miniature things and don't worry I've taken pictures. The first day we went to the floating temple on what they call a lake but is really more of a pond and then went to a water puppet show. It was interesting to say the least... The show had traditional Vietnamese music and the troop that performed had won all sorts of awards. I guess I'm glad that I saw it but I don't think I would ever want to see it again.

Yesterday we went to Ha Long Bay for an overnight cruise. Just in case you were wondering, the most important man in the world was on our bus from Hanoi to the bay. He was with his girlfriend and spent the entirety of the ride on one of his two cell phones (one was a blackberry and the other an iphone...completely necessary). We got to hear all about his houses in Thailand, how Jean Claude Van Dam, JC, was filming a movie at his beach house in Phuket, how he was trying to build a Ritz Carlton, but instead decided on a Hyatt Regency because the people weren't as difficult. Basically if you can think of anything to brag about, we already heard it. Oh and when he stood up, he was about 5'2". Anyway, the Ha-long people are pushing for the bay to become one of the seven wonders of the world and now I know why. The bay has all of these free standing rock islands that continue as far as you can see. The boat we were on, Indochina Sails II, had great food and the people on it were extremely friendly. We got to see a "traditional" floating fishing village which is just a one room house held up by styrofoam and connected to its neighbor. It looks very poor but many of the houses had televisions and stereo systems that run off of generators. They didn't even have lights, but they had TV.

In the afternoon Catherine and I kayaked through a "cave" and then climbed one of the islands that had a pagoda at the top. There were something like 423 steps and the guides informed us it was a hard hike but the view was worth it. It was nothing compared to the waterfall hike so we were fine, but they were right about the view. As far as you could see in every direction the bay continued and the rock formations were endless. I've never seen anything like it. I took 8 bajillion pictures and Catherine and I took some pretty awesome cheesy pics too.

This morning we went to see Surprise Cave and it was very interesting. It was on a different one of the rock islands and had three chambers. It was discovered in the early 1900's and the fisherman that found it were "surprised" when they saw it, hence the name Surprise Cave. It was pretty cool. Now were back in Hanoi and I saw St. Joseph's cathedral, it was the first Catholic church in Hanoi and I arrived just in time for the 6 o'clock mass so I just snapped some pictures and listened for a second to the father reciting prayers in Vietnamese. Definitely a different experience, but the church was pretty full which was unexpected. Then on my way to find the Hoa Lo prison (which is still a working prison and I didn't know that...) I witnessed a street fight. I'm don't know how it started but all of a sudden I looked over and one guy was beating the crap out of some poor guy with his motorcycle helmet while his friend kicked him in the face. The entire street froze and it took a good minute before anyone stepped in to help the guy being beat up. I think everyone involved was okay but it was weird to see such little people fighting. I finally got to the prison too late to tour it, but I realized it was a working prison when I saw a guy sitting in his window behind bars. I was so surprised that it still housed prisoners in the middle of city right next to one of the nicest hotels in Hanoi that I had to take a picture of the poor guy behind bars. I felt kind of bad, like I was mocking him, but in the end took the picture anyway. Now were back at our awesome hotel and we leave tomorrow for Nha Trang!