Day 1
There are a few things Vietnam is known for and getting a lot of things at very low prices is one of them and I don’t really know the rest. Maybe being the only country to beat the US in a war or Ha Long bay or Agent Orange but I am not really sure. So against our better judgment (because Steph and I hate to shop) we decided to go to the market! We got off our ship got on a bus that took us out of the main road of traffic. You can easily get to the market on foot but if SAS wants to provide a bus for us I say why not!
On the walk to the market from the bus stop we got bombarded by many vendors haggling us to by their stuff. I was not going to buy the first rice hat I saw so we just kept on walking trying to get a feel on what are initial price of bargaining should be. When we got to the market the first thing we did was pick out material to get dresses made. We were getting dresses to our design made for only 20 dollars why not especially when the lowest price I heard any one else get them for was around 50. Steph and I are that good. We always choose the same stand for the stuff we want to buy because when you buy more stuff you can get a cheaper price!
So after picking out the fabric we liked the best we were fitted and told tem what we wanted. We then moved on to just looking around where we got various things from different stations stopping to have a spring roll every once in a while. I am learning that each country has their signature dish that I fall with it and only eat that for the next few days. VIETNAM = SPRING ROLLS! So after shopping for a little bit we were spent and could not do it any more. So we went back to the boat and ate dinner in order to conserve money and then got ready to go out. OH YEAH I forgot to mention our friends got married! ADAM AND CHEALSEA TIED THE KNOT! But it’s only legal in Vietnam! I personally could never do this but you know what ever they wanted. Even though we wanted to go to their wedding and they are some of our best friends on the ship they were charging 60 USD to go so we told them we did not have the money and they told us just to go to the reception and not to worry about the money they just wanted us there! So we put on some dresses and joined in the festivities!
Day 2
We woke up t 3am to catch a flight to Hanoi to stay on a junk boat! Our group consisted of 7 people 3 guys and 4 girls. When we got to Hanoi we met our guild who would be taking us around his name was Thang, which is actually pronounced Tong but I’m pretty sure my friend Bruno called him Trunk until the last day. Now let me just say Thang is CRAZY! Legitimately crazy! I never had a clue what he was talking about or why, and for some reason he decided to challenge my friend Bruno to a beer drinking competition when it is common knowledge that Asians cant drink. They lack some sort of enzyme in their liver that processes alcohol. I didn’t really get it but we just went along with it for whatever purpose!
So we made our way to Ha Long Bay stopping only once to use the bathroom. The whole way Thang talked. He talked about everything from his father in the war, about Agent Orange, and his personal life. Mind you its still pretty early and we are all having a little trouble understanding him not to mention we haven’t had the best night of sleep. He speaks abruptly and with a purpose but also pausing to make sure you understand so if you slipped and didn’t pay attention for a minute he caught you!
So we finally get to Ha Long Bay, which was super relaxing! We did not do much of anything while we were there! It was pretty cold so we did not lay out side much but just bundled up and played cards getting to know the people we were with a little better. The group kind of split up which we knew it might happen, Steph Bruno and me in one group and the other 4 in another group. Steph, Bruno, and I are best friends on the ship and we can’t help but to want to hang out together off the ship as well.
So that day we went to the caves first. Most thought the cave was going to be a dinky little cave but it was huge it could be fitted for a mega mansion if you wanted to. The minerals had dripped out of the rock for years hardening over time creating rocks jetting down from the ceiling. Thang showed us a bunch of cool formations that had been created in the cave over time; one being a turtle that people would leave donations to. The turtle is a sign of longevity and every one wants a long life!
Next we went to an island where there were teams playing soccer and a place where you could climb to the top and look out over a large span of Ha Long Bay. Unfortunately, it was kind of foggy and you couldn’t see much and at one point you couldn’t see anything!
By the way Ha Long bay is a beautiful bay where the plates shifted causing rock island to jet out of the water. There are over 3000 islands in the bay and 2 more bays like it in Vietnam. The scenery is amazing and if you want a relaxing holiday I highly suggest it!
So in between these visits to places we found out that we would be eating like kings!!! We were fed 9 course meals with every type of seafood imaginable. The greatest thing for me was a few of the people don’t really like sea food and I love it!!!! It’s my favorite! So I was able to get all the things they did not want to eat which was basically anything that had a face!
When we were playing cards I found out that one of the boys, Jo, was possibly the most intense cards player ever!!!!!! We were all just trying to have a good time playing Jin rummy and he would be get upset if he gave me a card or freak out when some one got out or if we were playing to slow! We said something one time and he took it so offensively I kind of got scared. This kid was deep took everything to heart I was a little nervous around him. So Steph and me decided it would be best if we just try and play by our selves but he would jump in any time some one took cards out!
So later in the night Steph Bruno and I just sat in our room and planned how one-day Steph and I would go to Brazil to visit Bruno for the college games in San Palo Brazil. We decided we just had to pay off our debt first haha!!!! Don’t worry mom I fully intend to pay it all off before I do anything else!
Day -3
This was another chill day. We woke up, ate, and played cards until we went to a fishing village where we used hand signs to communicated with the teachers from the school. When we got there they offered us sugar cane (the actual cane you bite and suck out the sugar!), mango and Gummy slurp snacks.
So I forgot to mention we though by shaving our heads we would get less attention but not we get more attention and people think we have cancer!
While at the fishing villages we had to have another guide, Ha, translate why our heads were shaved and while I told him the story he goes, “Wait you don’t have cancer?” That’s when it gets a little awkward! We have resorted to telling people that we shaved our heads so that we could donate it and a foundation will make wigs for kids with cancer. As that is one of the main reasons we did shave our heads but also for the fact that it’s a lot easier to say that than explain Neptune’s day!
Once we left the fishing village we went back on board and went to a beach where we took some pictures and went swimming and then jumped off the boat. Once again a pretty relaxing day except for when Ashton saw a rat and freaked out! Me and Steph being the boys that we are wanted to go follow it and see if there were others deemed that unsafe and ruled it out as a form of entertainment!
Day 4
We woke up ate breakfast and then went to a little oasis! We had to go through a little tunnel made by Mother Nature herself that went into a pool of water that was completely surrounded by rock formations. There were moneys swinging from branch to branch We got to feed them and watch them swing to come get the food that we were giving some of the monkeys would miss the next branch or the branch would break and they would fall into the water. It was all quite funny and left me wanting a pet monkey.
After that we went back to the main land and made our way back to Hanoi. This time looking at the architecture of the houses and buildings around and how they were all tall and skinny which I learned that was because oh the high price on a square meter of land which was up to 50,000 USD Which is a lot!!!!!
So we got to Hanoi and we were left to fend for ourselves for this meal. So we just went into town and while some of us went to a dinner a little bit nicer Steph, Bruno, Ashton, and I ate Pho on the side of the road ! Pho is the traditional Vietnamese food which is a noodle in a soup with beef!!!! So good!!! and then we got the best bread in the world a bun from Papa Roti’s! The bread melted in your mouth. You could get chocolate or cheese flavor and both were amazing!!! It makes me hungry just talking about it! We got that bread a few more times on the trip, as it was only 50 cents!
Later we met up with the others and Bruno and I walked away from the group for a second because we wanted to see the pagoda in the middle of the Lake. Instead we found something else we both got a dance lesson from 2 Vietnamese ladies! It was sand in my wine glass…… an experience!
Later that night Steph, Bruno, and I tried to find a place to have the snake ritual meal. Where they drain the blood of the snake into wine for you to drink and then you eat the cooked snake. Much to my dismay we weren’t to able to go to the snake village where they had this because they only had king cobras left and that would be 200$ we were not okay with that! So we settled with eating some snake that had been soaking in rice liquor that we also drank. It was the most disgusting shot of my life!!!!!!! Never again do I want to taste rice liquor.
Day 5
This is the day that we went around the city of Hanoi to see the sights! First we went to see everything of Ho chi Mins!! I mean everything I saw 2 of his houses where he slept, where he ate, and where he did business!!! EVERYTHING. So then we went into his mausoleum! We expected to see a lavishly painted tomb and pretty decorations; however, what we got was a building where you had to be 100% silent in stand up straight walk in line 2 by 2. The building was all in gray marble inside and a red mat that led your way and you were not to step off of this red mat. So we are walking in with good posture in 2 by 2 not even smiling and what do we see? Nothing other than Ho Chi Mins dead body lying in a glass casket. We were all shocked, Steph and I couldn’t help but to let out a little chuckle. When we got out 2 of the girls jokingly yelled at Thang for not preparing us for that!
After that we went to the Temple of Literature, which Thang went on and on about and I caught all of 2 words that he was saying. I know it is a place of learning but to what extent I have not clue because he gave the most in depth lecture I could not follow for to long. We walked around a little and then got more bread then made our way to the airport!
We flew back to Ho chi Min or Saigon, which it was previously known as. When we got there Steph and I had one mission; we needed to pick up our dresses that we had made. So we went and did that and got a few more spring roles before getting back onto the ship.
It had been a successful trip except when we got back on the boat and tried our dresses on, they look horrible! The lady did exactly what we said but we defiantly said it wrong because these dresses need some ones help to look good on us!!!
