On Sunday I went for a wonder around the city with Teresa and Calum. The other boys were hungover from going out the night before. Hanoi is insane!! There are so many motorbikes and scooters that you have to weave in and out of the traffic just to cross the road! We have got to grips with it now though I think. Haha! ... Monday we went on a two day, one night trip to Ha Long Bay. They are trying to make it one of the wonders of the world. It was nice, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't consider it one of the wonders of the world. It has 3000 little islands, which are basically just rock formations; therefore uninhabited. It was very pretty but you couldn't see far cos it was misty, I don't know whether this was because of the pollution or it is just misty in that area?! ... I took photos but they obviously don't do it justice. After a 4 hour bus journey to arrive at our destination we boarded a boat called the jolly Roger, also known as "the party boat". After a couple of hours cruising in the bay, we anchored so that everyone could jump off the boat and have a swim for 15 mins or so. The water was FREEZING!! Then we went kayaking. I teamed up with brad, who was doing all the work whilst I chilled in the front with a couple of beers. I gave it a go but it was just too much hard work so I gave up! Lol.
We kayaked for about an hour until we got to some caves. I freaked out cos a) it was pitch black and didn't have a torch and b) we had to crawl through some very small spaces. I get a bit claustrophobic in situations like that and have heart palpitations but Teresa was great and took my hand to calm me down and made sure that we were close to someone with a flashlight. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her, she is from Mexico so is very feisty and head-strong. She has a heart of gold though! She works as a psychologist in the psychiatric ward of a hospital for children and also works with counsellors and social workers in Montreal. She lives in Canada and tells everyone she is Canadian when she is actually from Mexico city, hilarious!
Anyway after we got out of the caves, we had to kayak back in the pitch black. Brad ditched me to go with Matty in a kayak probably cos I didn't do much and Matty was in a kayak with a mini hitler, who I then had to pair up with. Karma or what?! ... It was hard work, I was wet and cold but I just wanted to get back to the boat so I just grew a pair and got on with it. I wasn't feeling too good when we got back to the boat, I think the kayaking took it out of me but whatever it was I went to bed at 9.30 whilst everyone else was playing drinking games and generally just getting battered. I had really bad cramp all the way down my legs and had no energy, plus I didn't want to waste my money so I decided to get an early night instead.
Everyone knows that I like a good party and having a few drinks but u can do that anywhere in the world!! I would rather save my money and get drunk another time when I can enjoy it rather than being forced to down my drinks etc. I am running out of money and my bank cards still haven't arrived yet. They were meant to arrive at the embassy on Monday but when I spoke to dad last night, he tracked them and they were still in Paris?! He paid £50 to make sure they would be here by Monday!!
I have had a bad tummy since Monday so even though last night was teresa's last night with us I couldn't go out. I felt awful; I thought I had malaria cos I still had muscle cramps and I felt nauseous, had no energy and had diarrhoea. Bad times! I couldn't even eat my dinner, so I definitely wasn't well!! ... We are meant to be leaving Hanoi tomorrow but if I haven't got my cards then I might just do another city tour and see some more sights and just make my own way down Vietnam. The boys are great and really fun but I want to hang out with some girls now; all they do is talk about sex and football and sit there burping and farting!! ... Not cool!
There has been a power cut in the hostel so we can't do anything. I can't go anywhere anyway in case I need the toilet!! My tummy is really gripey :-(