Morning. A few hours ride, to the Halong Bay city docks. The Chinese junks floating anout looked like, well, junk. Hop and off we were cruising down the calm waters. Towering stacks and stumps made of karst lined the bay.
Sunbathing, lunch, camwhoring. An excursion to one of the islands. We traversed the huge caverns inside, kitschy lights shining from the ceiling and limestone structures jutting out of the looming darkness. Swallows flitted. I wandered.
On deck, we lay on the beach chairs, admiring the scenery floating by our eyes. The junk floated along the blue-green waters. A market floated along, too, looking hopefully for some buyers for their fruits.
We talked. Life, global politics, dreams for the future. Great guys, these people. Witty, learned, smart enough. Our tour guide, Uy, a promising high-flyer (relatively) with a degree in geology and petroleum, told us his life story. A love story. Aren't they all?
Swim. Dive. Jump from the boat into the great unknown waters! Salty, for one. Pretty awesome fun anyway, swimming in the calm bay.
We washed up for dinner. Calamari, chicken, kangkong and fish. We feasted with a spanish couple who sat with us, Mark and Cristina. Then an after-dinner chat for a couple of hours! We exchanged cultural info, travel stories and life in general. We shared little anecdotes, like the vietnamese guy talking on the handphone while navigating AGAINST the traffic flow. They were an economist and lawyer, and looked like they were made for each other.
Hopped up to deck, relaxing, looking at dimly lit silhouettes of the majestic rock islets around us, amid the starry night. Uy shared more stories with us. About local politics. The communist government is all about connections and relations. He reckons there's a need for Vietnam and its leaders to revamp and improve its government in this modern age. Hell, all the locals knows that. But people are hard to change. Aren't we all?
"What is your dream? Do you wish for a change in your life?" I pressed.
"Daily life itself is change. Every new day brings about change, improvement or otherwise. Everyday i'm contributing to society, earning money, seeing my wife and children's smiles. I do not have to wish for change," And Uy laughed.
I mulled.
And the night passed in beer and philosophy.
The morning saw us at breakfast with an Australian couple, Sam and Alice. They're headed to London to work there and use it as a hub to travel around Europe. It's a very popular choice of options for young people raring to see the world. I finally got the hang of hearing, 'Yup.' 'Yup.' 'Yup.' Trust me, it does get on the nerves at first.
Tidbit: Firefighters in AU work out at the gym all day, and are bored stiff. No wonder they were so happy to help put out the fires at live firing in Wallaby.
The morning programme: trekking at Cat Ba National Park. We put on our battlegear (New Balance NS shoes for most), and began hiking up a steep hill. Fastforward one grueling hour later, and you see us at the top of a watchtower, gazing at mesmerising ranges beyond ranges of forested hills. We met Angela on the way down, a tour operator who studied English extensively. Oh, and i lost her namecard.
Lunch on the boat, till we reached Monkey Island. The apes could speak and they even captured us into cages! Somehow we were able to get a female one to pity us and set us free. And we escaped in a space ship. After that we went kayaking.
The Halong Bay experience was closing to an end. I sat at the prow of the boat, brooding, thinking.
Evening, and we check in at a 3-star hotel! Splendid luxury for an affordable price. We met the other 4 SGeans who get even more peeved for continuing to be Kanned. Chillex, guys.
My first shot at motorcycling! We rented a motorbike from this fella at the roadside. Jason, who'd mostly learned biking back home, gave me a 101 tutorial. I spent a couple tries at figuring out its controls, then finally set off! It was crazy, roaring fun scooting down the roads. The exhilarating feeling of freedom...
The bike's owner nearly had a heart attack when he saw it was me riding it. He lambasted Jason for letting a potential bikewrecker ride, so we had to find some secret corner to practise instead.
Someday i should get Class 2. My dad has class 2(bike), 3(motorcar), 4(container), 5(crane), the complete works. Sick.
The sun rose, and we were on our way back to Hanoi. Bumped into Mr Vincent, a Hwa Chung teacher, and Ricky, his Vietnamese student. Ivan et al reminisced happily about Chinese High. It was great chatting with them and whiling the time away. Turned out Ricky's father was related to the Chief of Police, and could get a high position in a department, thus affording to send him to SG for studies. Strange how nothing disgusts me anymore.
Just.
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