Tam Coc

After a couple of days, and much deliberation as to where our next destination should be, Leah and I chose to jump on a bus for 2 1/2 hours and escape the noise of Hanoi in a small town called Ninh Binh. We had heard from some travelers in passing that their stop here was one of the highlights of their trip to Vietnam. The main attraction is located just 7km outside of the city called Tam Coc or "Halong Bay with Rice Paddies." Like Halong Bay, it is filled with enormous Limestone rock formations left over from a volcano that erupted millions of years ago. But instead of being in the middle of the ocean, these formations are surrounded by a flowing river and never ending rice paddies, making for a much different feel than the Bay.

Our first day in Ninh Binh, Leah and I woke up to very dark skies and pouring rain! With us both coming down with colds, and trying to feel like humans again after Halong Bay, we decided a day spent in bed watching movies was what we needed. We woke up the next day to the same weather, but couldn't afford to waste another day. So we dug out all of our rain gear and jumped back on a motorbike headed for Tam Coc.  There's a small ticket office right on the river where you can buy a ticket for $3.50 which entitles you to your own private paddle boat, equipped with driver! Who can drive like this...

or like this...

We then set out with all the other tourists dumb enough to try this in the pouring rain...

for the 2 hour journey down the river. Where we could take in the beautiful scenery...

and be driven through caves, where the water was so high we nearly got our heads taken off by rogue hanging rocks on multiple occasions!

We got really lucky and the rain cleared up for the return trip down the river, so we were able to come out from under hoods and umbrellas and take it all in! I'm really glad we ended up coming here, even if the weather wasn't ideal. It was really cool to see the same huge limestone formations in such a different way!

We were supposed to board an all day bus at 8:30am this morning, but were informed that the bus would not be running today because it was raining. So, we have spent another day stuck inside watching movies and posting pictures waiting to make our next move. And it's a big move! Hopefully at 9pm tonight we will get on a 20 hour bus ride that should dump us at 5 pm tomorrow in Luang Prabang, LAOS!!! Country #16 here I come!!

Halong Bay for Leah's 26th!

When you are meeting loads of travelers everyday, you often find yourself in the same conversation about the same topic...travel: where ya been? where ya going? whats a must? whats a miss? Anyone we have met that has been anywhere in, near, or around Hanoi has insisted many times that we MUST do the cruise through Halong Bay when we get to Hanoi and we MUST book it through Hanoi Backpackers Hostel. They would go on for 20 minutes about the beauty they had seen, the people they had met, and the fun times they had. So we made it our mission to make it to Hanoi and be cruising through the bay by September 5th for Leah's Birthday! The trip started off a little shaky when we unloaded the overnight bus to Hanoi to find our bags drenched and reeking of fish...not the best thing at 6am. We stank up the entire lobby of the hostel trying to sort out what could be salvaged and what needed to be rushed to the laundry and re-packing our bags into trash bags.

Unloading in the middle of the hostel lobby

Our new luggage

We spent that day in Hanoi doing some shopping, picking up some necessities for the trip: aka T-Shirt Towels, and preparing for our departure bright and early the next morning! We were picked up from the hostel at 7am and made the 4 hour drive to the port of Halong Bay where we were herded onto boats to be taken out to our home for the next couple of days!

Ready to Board!

We had to show up in the proper attire

We were sailing for about 2 hours before we made our first stop, where we spent an hour playing in the water and jumping off of the top of the boat!

 We then loaded up in Kayaks and started cruising through the Bay. First stop: a cave

Both our first time in a cave!

After exploring the cave, which is not so easily done in flip flops, it was back into the kayaks to continue paddling through this scenery...

Halong Bay

To get to this floating village...where some of the inhabitants have never seen dry land!

Leah nor I had ever been kayaking before, but we both really loved it and are going to try to find more places to do it along the rest of our trip! Once the kayak tour was over it was back to the boat for showers, dinner, and of course card games and dancing. We were all on guard watching the clock to celebrate the turning of Leah's Birthday at midnight!

Celebrating the stroke of midnight!

The next day we were woken up at the crack of dawn again for breakfast and to board the boat that would dump us on "Castaway Island." Its a deserted island with open air huts jammed full of mattresses, a couple of bath houses, and a big pavilion used for food and hanging out. We had our own private beach, equipped with a volleyball court, badminton sets, kayaks, and a floating barge out in the water. We had the whole day to do whatever we wanted including joining in on some water sports! Hayley and I chose the easy road and picked ole'fashion tubing, while Leah was feeling more ambitious and took a shot at wake boarding!

Hayley and the boys turn

My turn!

The death of my 3 yr old Greek Key ring

We spent the rest of the day resting in the sun, followed by dinner and more games and dancing with the 30 or so other castaways! We were woken up far too early by the big metal gong the next day and had to board the boat to be taken back to dry land, to make the 4 hour drive back into Hanoi. We left a little dehydrated, a lot sleep deprived, and with many bumps, scrapes, burns, and cuts! But it was all worth it!! I can't imagine a better way to celebrate Leah's Birthday!!! I would do it all over again in a heart beat if we had the time...and the money of course! Here are some more shots of Halong Bay that I got from one of the better photographers on board...

The Best Corner in Vietnam

Located in the heart of the Old Quarter of Hanoi, lies an intersection of 4 small streets, called Bia Hoi Corner. Bia Hoi,, or "Fresh Beer" is a local beer brewed every night and delivered to small restaurants across the city every morning and sold until the keg runs dry for 5,000 dong (24 cents). 

The corners are littered with tiny plastic chairs and stools were Foreigners and Vietnamese alike start setting up around 6pm to drink away the long hot day in the city!

Bia Hoi Corner

Apparently his was too expensive

We found our way there with some new friends our first evening in Hanoi after a long day of market shopping.

You never know what kind of characters you will run into at Bia Hoi Corner. Not pictured here, unfortunately, is who I refer to as "Pink Lady". Named after her bright pink, not so discreet ensemble. The only thing more entertaining than her clothing was her "life story"...She is Vietnamese...but she lives in Holland with her boyfriend...while they wait for her husband in England to die...so she can get all of his money...and they can travel the world. Bia Hoi Corner is her favorite corner in Vietnam. She sometimes comes in the morning; sometimes in the afternoon; sometimes at night; and sometimes all three! Fantastic lady! Then there's "Rainbow". We are pretty sure she is the daughter of the lady that fights with the other lady next door about whose plastic chair is whose. We are not sure what her name is but I like to call her "Sassafrass." She has an attitude like no other, her favorite word is a particular cuss word that starts with F, and wears a short bob wig that she likes to fluff every 20 seconds. Lucky for us, she took a liking to us, so we got an even bigger dose of attitude!

We had to make one last appearance at the corner after our return from Halong Bay to visit our old friends. Unfortunately, Pink Lady wasn't there, but Rainbow was manning her corner in all of her glory! I sure will miss the circus of Bia Hoi corner...it holds a special place in our hearts!

Stuck in Nha Trang

We had been pretty disappointed in the beaches of Vietnam so far, but had heard many good things about the beach town of Nha Trang, which was our next stop! We were pleasantly surprised to find a long stretch of beautiful white sand with many islands out in the water in the distance. Not to mention, this town had a reputation for a pretty big nightlife. One day and night here and we knew we would probably be here for a while. And that we were! We spent a week relaxing on the beach and getting our dance on at the Beach Bar/Night Club called Nha Trang Sailing Club. By the way: the third girl showing up in the rest of the Vietnam blogs is a 20 year girl from Vancouver, named Hayley. We met her on our bus out of Saigon and ended spending the next 3 weeks together making our way to Hanoi. We had a really great time with her and will definitely miss having her around!!

Beaches of Nha Trang

Crab and Mussels on the Beach

Leah's First time being buried

Fire Show at Sailing Club

Dancing at Sailing Club

Me, Hayley, and Leah

Face Paint Night

We did manage to make it off of the beach a couple of days. One day we spent on the biggest island off the coast, Vin Pearl "Hollywood" Island. A Russian investor took this island and turned it into an amusement/water park. We couldn't pass on the chance to act like kids again. So we jumped on the longest ocean cable car and headed to the island. We spent the day riding dinky roller coasters, playing in an average arcade, and sliding down many water slides over and over again! 

Cable Car to Vin Pearl

Cable Car Ride to Vin Pearl

Arcade at Vin Pearl

Arcade at Vin Pearl

Our last day in Nha Trang we jumped back onto a scooter and headed out to see some more waterfalls. We rode for about an hour or so and arrived at the Yang Bay Waterfalls. We originally wanted to swim in the pools in front, but the water was not looking the most sanitary, so we opted out!

Yang Bay Falls

Yang Bay Falls

Yang Bay Falls

Yang Bay Falls

After a week of sun and fun it was time for us to finally move on. We were sad to leave, but excited to see what else Vietnam had in store for us!!