Monday, May 27th

Off to Halong Bay 

Monday morning came early to those of us whose jet lag was still lagging. Alarm went off at 6:00. Michelle and Brooks headed to school at 7:00. We met the housekeeper/cook, Hang around 7:30. Our pick-up van for the cruise arrived to the apartment around 7:45. 

We loaded the Indochina Junk (tour company) van and greeted our fellow passengers. The driver turned and asked in broken English if we had our passports, I reached into my bag,…no passport. My jet-lagged brain scrambled to retrieve the mystery location.....my travel papers….in the red folder on my BED back in the APARTMENT. Augh! With hand gestures and a southern drawl that could stop a train, I told the driver to "wait" as I scrambled out of the van. (I could feel the eye rolls and groans.) Then I remembered I couldn't get into the apartment. (The housekeeper had the key to the iron gate) I mumbled something, Jordan said I'll call and get her to meet you. 

So, off I went. A middle-age American woman running down a side street in Vietnam wearing flip flops.  The shop owners and taxi drivers sitting outside seemed amused. (I'm sure they weren't complementing me on my smooth gazelle-like form or any other form for that matter). Hang met me at the gate, smiling as always. I ran up 3 flights of stairs, grabbed the passport and flew down the stairs, out through the front door, said thank you to smiling Hang,..passing my admirers on the way back to the van. 

The cruise representative welcomed us and told us that it would be a 3 hour drive to Halong Bay. I wish I could report that the trip was smooth and uneventful. I was sitting directly behind the driver,..ohh what a ride! Evidently driving anywhere in Vietnam is an adventure. 

Can you see the car in front of us passing the truck,
..driving head on into another truck????

Now our driver is doing the same thing....

After alot of horn blowing,..cavernous bumps,..miraculous near misses, our driver pulled in to (what appeared to be) a rest stop. (From the outside it looked like a large Old Time Pottery). But as we stepped inside I realized this was a 
KA-CHING tourist stop…Inside were all types of wares, everything from handpainted plates and bowls to dresses to mini Buddhas to fine artistry. 

 I was fascinated by a group of individuals quietly hand crafting  pictures made from thread. What intrigued me was the fact that some of these individuals appeared to be "little people", having some type of dwarfism. A salesman saw that I was interested and immediately became my shadow. Using every technique known to man (Og Mandino would have been proud.) he tried diligently to get me to make a purchase. Often exploiting these individuals and their "handicaps" (he never used that term) to flip my emotional switch. 

 The artwork was beautiful and evidently very time consuming to complete. But once Mr. Chen realized that this girl wasn't going to buy….he decided to move on to the next customer. 

After another hour or so of bumps and jolts and near misses (one being a water buffalo) we arrived safely to our destination. We disembarked from our van, claimed our luggage, and soon met up with our guide/cruise director. 

Her name was Phuc. She was very engaging, articulate and spoke fairly good English. They loaded us on a transfer boat (Remember this boat, you'll hear about it later.) and carried us to the Dragon Pearl 3 -- our home for the next 3 days.

We got briefly acquainted with our 15 co-travelers -- individuals from Canada, Europe, Australia and a couple from the Boston area. Graham and I provided the bookends in age for this bunch of travelers.

Then we checked into our quaint little cabins,

relaxed on the deck,

then it was time for lunch. Michelle had told me that the food was great and she was right. (How a cook can prepare all that food in such a small, HOT kitchen is a mystery to me.)

After lunch Phuc informed us we would be kayaking later that afternoon. Graham and I had kayaked (our first and last time) 8 years ago in Maine. He was a lot younger then and so was I.

I'll save the "kayaking adventure" for a later time. But in the meantime, take a good look at this boat, you'll hear more about it later...