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Today we were heading off to Halong Bay for a night on the boat, but we had heard reports of a cyclone heading that way so we were hoping it would pass us by. We left in the morning for a 4-hour drive where we saw some pretty crazy things along the way. One of the things we saw was a live cow tied to the back of a motorbike. We knew it was live as its tail kept swinging around and not in the way that the wind would. We stopped at a market of some sort where the kids are taught different arts and crafts, which are then sold at this market.
To me it reminded me of a sweatshop production line as they were all making the same crafts over and over again.
Sitting down with a cup of, well I guess you could call it coffee, I chatted with our local guide for the next two days. We talked about our families and he told me the story about his brother who went into hiding after finishing high school. The Vietnamese men are required to join the army if they do not go to university after high school and as his brother did not want to go to uni or join the army he asked his family to hid him when the army came looking. A few years later his brother got married and had kids and the army stopped coming around looking for him so he was able to return home.
About another 2 hrs later we finally arrived at the port in Halong Bay where we were told the news that we couldn't stay on the boat tonight as they cyclone was heading our way.
Disappointed about not being able to stay on the boat especially since it was Di's birthday, we made the most of it and ended up still having a great time. The scenery was amazing and the floating village even more so. We were taken to a couple of caves then returned to the boat for lunch and a surprise for Di of flowers and birthday cake.
We eventually arrived back at the port and taken to the guesthouse we are now staying instead of the boat. After checking in Susan and I went for a walk around town. Wanting to get her hair shampooed and blow dried Susan decided to try one of the local hairdressers. Leaving her to it I went back to the hotel for a nap. When she returned she told me how they didn't really understand what it was she was asking. She told me that when washing her hair it they end up matting it all up and she ended up having to brush out all the knots and blow dry it herself.
Later on we met the group for dinner and began the celebrations for Di's birthday. Matt scoped out the local restaurants and found one not far from the hotel. After dinner we went looking for a pub. Not having to walk far we found a pub and where we stayed for the rest of the night. We ended up playing a game with a glass, paper napkin, a coin and cigarettes. What you had to do was put the napkin over the cup and place the coin in the middle and burn a hole in the napkin without the coin falling through. After about 80 burns and the coin still not falling through we gave up and called it a draw then a night.
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