Booze Cruise to Biking

Today was spent travelling in various forms of transport but mainly buses and boats, boats and buses. As usual I slept for a lot of the time although I will admit that I did have a shot or two of whisky at one of the stop offs from a bottle I had in my bag, which probably helped me survive a day of travel. Our destination was Ha Long Bay a beautiful area, a bay full of small islands, sun and sea. In fact, if it wasn’t for all the party cruises that seem to be all over this place, it would be one of the most peaceful places I have been! However, the group learn to it’s surprise we will also be joining a booze cruise – glad I had an early night last night! We finally reach the last speed boat that takes us to our cruise ship; it is massive with roughly six different jacuzzis. The first business, once we are on the boat, is lunch which I am thankful for as I am starving, it is about the quality you would expect on a booze cruise but I hammer it down. Next we all get changed into beach wear and head to a little beach to swim and relax, they even set up a fire once the sun sets. It is a nice experience with a few beers to help the time pass, the only issue being, while swimming I don’t realise how shallow the water is, and completely cut my foot up on some coral. After the beach we do some boat jumping off the roof of one of the small boats and then head back to the cruise to start the party. It is a chaotic night, as one can imagine, and a rather weird one with some of our fellow passengers being slightly less than savoury characters.

The next morning most of us wake up a little worse for wear and breakfast is rather awkward as stories of some of the actions of other cruise goers starts to spread. However, once breakfast is finished it is a lovely experience kayaking around some of the islands; to be honest I spend pretty much my whole time in the water swimming among the boats, I find the cold water a lot more refreshing and it almost instantly gets rid of any feelings of hangover I may have been feeling. Although when my kayak buddy Scott heads off to explore a cave as I start to get a bit out of breath I have to rely on Alex coming to my rescue, as I had stupidly started swimming back to the boat and it was little further away than I had realised! After I spend the rest of the morning sitting on the top deck quietly watching the world go by as we make our way back towards land. Like I said Ha Long Bay is a beautiful place and would recommend a visit but, personally, I am just not a fan of a booze cruise.

Ha Long Bay boating

Viet has a surprise for Alex, Scott and me: he is taking us to a little local restaurant that specialise in a dish I have kind of wanted to try since China. Dog meat. It is a pretty awesome experience my first experience of a really local restaurant which is little more than a shack with a corrugated steel roof; the locals are extremely friendly. Viet says unsurprisingly that they don’t get many white people here, even the other diners seem happy to see us, cheer us and want us to join them in shots of the local rice ‘whisky’. The staff let us in the kitchen which, tbh, makes me worried more than the dog meat itself, but nonetheless we sit down and share a stew between us, the flavour was actually really nice although I have to admit I did find the meat chewy and hard to swallow. But still an amazing experience: literally a real taste of local culture.

The rest of the day is spent doing the trip we did yesterday: boat, bus, back to boat and then back to bus. We got back to our old hostel just in time to collect the laundry I had handed in earlier, grab our bags and head out for a quick meal. Tonight we are on a night bus to Phong Nha Town, as I’ve mentioned before I’ve started to enjoy the night bus experience with reclining chairs and, having learnt to put both my bags in the luggage compartment and only taking what little I need in the bus with me, I tend to get a good night’s sleep. So as the bus starts pulling away I start to drift off once again as we travel through the night. The next morning once we are all checked into our hostel the boys, Viet, me and a few others head to breakfast. I use this as my opportunity to try a Vietnamese egg coffee. Now those who know me know I don’t like coffee but this, this, I also didn’t like. Don’t get me wrong I appreciated the sweetness from god knows how much sugar and condensed milk and the creaminess the egg gave it, I just don’t like the coffee tasting part but, hey, I tried it and the breakfast was good! After filling our bellies me and the boys join Lars, Hayden, Louis, Charlotte, Elain, Zara, and Lydia on a bike tour. We head through towns, fields and down winding roads to our first stop, ‘The Pub with Cold Beer’ and that’s not me forgetting the name, that was actually what the place was called. After some beers, a little food and a few games of pool we are off to our next destination.

Zara and Elaine – ducking the ducks

Ha long Bay bathing
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Night bus to Phong Nha

Our next stop is a duck sanctuary; not something one would necessarily associate with a trip round SEA, but a lot of fun anyway. We are asked to change shoes and are given traditional style farmer hats before being taken into the duck pen. There are quite a lot of ducks here, like more than I was expecting and we get to feed them. However we are supposed to do it in a specific way. We take turns in the feeding, leading the ducks around the enclosure, and then taking a handful of feed throwing it in the air, to get the ducks to all look up, and then bringing our hand down in synchronisation with all the food hitting the floor and the ducks getting stuck in. It is rather weird, we then end this ritual by throwing feed at the rest of the groups feet, followed by the group panicking as a horde of ducks quickly waddles over to them pecking at the feed at their feet and even the feed that has gotten into the crocs we are wearing. Zara and Elaine especially struggled with this part! We were even given the chance to hold one of these lovely birds, although we did realise that after having them on our laps many of us were then covered in duck shit but, hey, guess that’s the price you pay for cuteness! Afterwards some of us took it in turns to ride a water buffalo and get some questionable photos! Then we biked our way back to the hostel in time for dinner, passing an ornate cemetery on the way.

Biking back
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Anyone for Rover ragout?

Once we were back in the hostel it was time for the group to head out for the night, but not any old night out; tonight it was karaoke night! We all had a lot of fun drinking and singing a range of songs. Mia the one person in the group impressed us all by smashing some German rap songs! The group then head to a bar or two to continue on into the night. I will admit my memories are a little blurry but one thing I do remember clearly is how my night ended. A few friends and I decided once back at the hostel that the pool looked ever so inviting and was just asking us to skinny dip. So with a few of my friends in and me undressed and ready to jump, I take a step back, lose balance and fall onto a metal crate with a massive crash that wakes the entire hostel. So as I stand up, dick in hand, I watch as the lights turn on floor by floor, room by room, ending with the night receptionist coming out to stare at me in an angry and disappointed manner. Me, embarrassed, just want him to turn off the outside lights, so I can get dressed and take myself to bed but he stands staring for what feels like an eternity! Finally the lights go off, I rush back into my clothes, my friends get out of the pool and we make our way to bed. Note to self: don’t skinny dip with Louis if you don’t want to get caught!

Tom twerking
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Tom in tune?
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