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I woke in the morning and pulled back the curtains to reveal the big grassy islands scattered across the water. I tip toed past my roommate and walked along the side deck and up the stairs to the rooftop. It was early but already the sun beat down on the deck. After admiring the beautiful view of Halong in the morning, I climbed down to the second level to find everyone slowly wandering in for breakfast. Miguel joked while he ate that he swore he heard Shania Twain herself last night, while giving Christina and I quick glance. We found it so funny how much Asians love their Karaoke. On the taxi ride from the airport, I had passed so many of them I began counting and had reached fourteen alone, on my street. Karaoke bars were every where in Cambodia as well. There was always one next to any guesthouse I stayed in.
At breakfast Binh announced the plan for the day. We would be going to the largest island in Halong Bay, Cat Ba. Here we would go on a trekking tour up the mountain and then check in to our hotel and have lunch. We quickly finished our meals and went back to our rooms to pack up before the boat docked on Cat Ba Island.
The sky grew dark over us as we headed to the tour van that carried us to the Cat Ba National Park for our hike. Christina turned to me, "I only trust you Julie since you predicted the good weather yesterday. What will the weather be like today?" She asked in her Spanish accent. I looked up at the black sky and turned back to her, "It's definitely going to rain, but just lightly all day. Just enough to keep us cool." She smiled and hit her husband on the shoulder. "See Miguel! Julie said it wasn't going to rain hard." I had no idea, but was again, just using wishful thinking.
We headed down the dirt path through a deserted road until we reached a narrow hiking trail leading us into the jungle. The jungle was bright green and exotic to hike through. Life size lime green leaves scattered along the path. The trail started with a stone path and the elevation began right away. After climbing straight up hill for the first twenty minutes with no stops, everyone was panting up the trail. The rain started drizzling a little harder but it felt cool on our skin. We reached a fork in the road and Binh turned to us and announced,"It will be a little more difficult from this point on." The trail transitioned from stone steps, gradually guiding us though the jungle and climbing old rusty worn ladders into the mountain. Some ladders missing steps and some with eroded rails.
The rain began pouring down harder and harder. Some hikers slipped on rain ponchos, but I was relieved it was raining. This made the six story hike in my hostel look like a piece of cake. I appreciated the cool rain on my body. An hour into the hike, we were getting closer to the top of the mountain and it went from ladders to straight rock climbing. There were no rails, no steps, just reaching for any piece of rock you could use to hoist your body up. The hike was definitely intense up but I was wondering how we were going to get back down.
Without the protection of the jungle, the rain came heavily pouring down once we reached the top and were exposed to the storm. All out of breath and already soaked, we admired the bright green jungle with the mountains peaks hidden in the fog.
After we collected our breath, the hard part came. With it being so slippery, you had to be very strategic with every step down the rocky climb to the bottom. You couldn't let go of one rock without your plan of where to place your next hand to ensure you had a secure grip. It was intense climbing down the mountain and even more difficult climbing down the rusty ladders backwards. I however, loved it. It was fun, I felt like I was on an episode of LOST with the pouring rain and trekking through the jungle.
Once we reached the bus, the rain began to let up. The bus took us along the winding roads through the island. After a thirty minute drive to the other side of Cat Ba we arrived to our hotel. It was back to busy markets and random trinkets for sale lining the side walks along the street. Our hotel was a tiny little building off the main street. Once we checked in, Binh told us we had one hour before lunch was served. I climbed to the third floor to find my room, with pale blue painted walls and sheets with holes in them covering the bed. It wasn't exactly paradise but I did have a nice few of the mountains. I was just happy to finally have a room to myself, I didn't have to bunk with anyone tonight. I took my time in the hot shower until I realized it only lasts for about three minutes and quickly turns to cold. I slipped out as soon as it cooled down and hurried down to join everyone for lunch.
A few new member joined us for lunch. They were from Scotland and only signed up for the day tour. They asked how our night on the boat was and Dominick announced, "We learned how to play an American game last night." "An American game? What game is that?" The Scottish girl asked. Dominick pointed to me and explained that I showed them how to play as he mouthed "Dragon Fruit" without exposing his teeth. I shook my head as I realized now they are classifying this game as an American tradition or something. What have I done?
Binh let us know that we had free time the remainder of the day unless we wanted to take a boat over to Monkey island. I knew that I would be going to a Monkey island tomorrow for the remainder of my trip so declined. I opted in for free time and relaxed for the remainder of the day. After that intense hike, I felt like I had done enough activity for today.
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