After departing Hanoi, with super-narrow buildings towering over rivers of motorbikes, we headed to the idyllic life of Cat Ba Island, situated in the middle of the beautiful and distinct Halong Bay of North Vietnam. We arrived in the rain and so it remained the following day, giving us time to read (on this trip already I've read a book about North Korea, The Electric Koolaid Acid Tests, The Beach, Jane Goodall's In the Shadow of Man, Dice Man, and a book about the Vietnam War), explore the local market (delicious buffet of veggies, rice & tofu for $1), where a couple of Vietnamese brothers jovially forced increasing increments of rice whisky upon me (which leads us to the next activity), *cough* pedicures *cough*, and book our tour to MONKEY ISLAND.
Yes. There were monkeys. Oh, you wouldn't believe how we fed them tiny mangos. And let me tell you, those cheeky monkeys KNEW the farang (tourists) meant lunchtime; as soon as Sarah reached in her bag, verily, she had monkeys charging at her! It was a beautiful beach, covered in shells, with the lush jungle threatening invasion just beyond the white sand. Too cold for swimming though.
We then hopped back up on the top deck of our sweet cruiser with our fine French compadres, Ivan and Cedric, who were so happy to have found someone they could speak French to in a land where the common language is always English. We tried to just sit back and relax on the calm green waters, but were frequently forced from our seats to take a more thorough gander at the incredible vistas that surrounded us. It's like a bizarre mountain region, with steep cliffs covered in lush leaves, suddenly experienced a biblical flood, yielding the deep green waters of Halong Bay on all sides. All the while we passed fishing boats casting big weighted nets and floating fishing villages, little shacks on the water complete with dogs.
When we finally reached terra firma again (I don't know how Kyle Fitz stays on the open water for months on end), we entered a massive cave---a cavern of EPIC PROPORTIONS. It really was the most spectacular cave formations I've seen in all my yonks (blew Shepherdstown WV's Crystal Grottoes out of the water, and this cave was even on the water, being on a little island). They had all these gnarly columns and trippy warping textures on the walls, all lit up in technicolor lights to truly dazzling effect.
Then we kayaked through the clear green waters, under an archway, into a secluded sunny lagoon. Lovely.
Hoi An, in Central Vietnam, sings a bit of a different tune from the quiet simple vistas of Cat Ba Island. The town itself is a beautiful unique gem of culture, with the French colonial architecture dominating the scene, despite the yearly floodings that sometimes reach the ceiling of the first floors, but haven't fully pushed out the magnificent old Vietnamese architecture, with notable influences from China and Japan. Ornate carvings adorn temple roofs and mother-of-pearl shines from intricate woodwork in the preserved homes of 17th Century rich traders.
But the most obvious feature of Hoi An is the shopping. Tailors have taken over nearly every storefront in the mustard-colored colonial French district, leaving only a few buildings for shoe-stores, souvenir shops, and overpriced restaurants (but we always ate in the locals market until we found an even better all vegetarian restaurant down some shady alley). So we figured, when in Hoi An, do as the shoppers do. Oh we got some mighty fine clothes custom made to our outlandish tastes and particular to our divine curves. I'm currently wearing giraffe-printed pants in a style I couldn't even describe to you, suffice it to say they're swishy. Sarah got a dress that would blow your mind. And Vietnamese silk made to conform to your every contour is incredibly comfortable and shines so radiantly that Vietnamese women shout after us in the street about how beautiful we are (probably not because they want us to buy their clothes too).
It wasn't all tourism and shopping though, we also shopped around for a tour to some ancient Cham ruins. A collection of ancient temples that were used from the 4th-13th century---a right long time, I do say. Some of the ruins were just that: ruined, piles of rubble on the ground (largely due to the U.S. heavily bombing the sacred site in 1968, which destroyed half of the structures). Many, though, remain immaculate, their intricate carvings belying their Hindu influence (Hindu ruins in Vietnam, who'd've thought it?). Actually Vietnam has been trading with lands as far away as the Mediterranean since the 2nd Century, accounting for the strange amalgamation of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and more traditional S.E. Asian animism.
We're still here in Central 'Nam, kicking it cultural-style, but clenching our toes for the thought of the beautiful beaches down south. If only it would stop raining. Thanks a lot global climate change, bringing unending rain to Vietnam in the dry season.
Love from a land where Americans once received a lot of hate (now hate finished),
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