Up early and have some of the lovely muesli that we got yesterday. It's not exciting but it does the job of keeping hunger at bay. We are down promptly for 8, though I don't know why, as I have been on a few tours and I know that we operate on Vietnam time, not real time. True to form I think it is closer to 9 before we are picked up. On to a little bus and we stop at a couple of hotels to pick up some more people. The usual obnoxious English making up some of our bus. Its about 20min drive in the bus before we get to the port and get herded on to the boat. On with the compulsory life jacket for departure and we are off. The guide speaks decent English and from the offset it is clear that this cruise is focused heavily on people buying drinks, with many of the English getting stuck in to the Tiger beer first thing in the morning. Not really my idea of fun.
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Today is an absolute scorcher, and the good weather does a great job of making the sea look majestic. The water quality is much better here than it was in Ha Long Bay, beautiful turquoise sea with the glistening sun reflecting off the surface, directly in to my eyes. First island we get to has an aquarium on it, though this is an additional charge and so Elias and I decide that it is not for us, instead we walk the opposite way round the island and just find a nice spot to relax and apply some sun cream. Scrambling over the rocks proves to be quite a challenge for me and my gammy leg. Today my leg looks the worst yet. The cream that I put on last night has broken down the scab tissue and had the effect of keeping my wound wet. As it dries in the sun I get a lovely orange puss seeping from my wound. Sexy. Of course everyone is quick to tell me that it is infected, though I am not convinced, I think it is just the by product of the cream and scad combo. Never the less, I am eager to get in to the sea and give it a good cleanse.
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After our brief stop here we move to the second island. This is where we get the chance to do some snorkelling. I am pretty excited because of how clear the water is. We get off the boat and over to the area where we get to pick up our masks and breathing tubes, from a communal bucket. My mask is a lovely merky brown/orange taint to it. Lovely. After attempting this mask and a number of others I give up with the snorkelling idea, instead I find myself a pair of googles and just dive in. Much better. On the way to the sea Elias has managed to kick a rock, and cut under his big toe. It looks pretty sore and he is not dealing with the pain particularly well. Ha. Elias has a waterproof camera and so we are able to take some video and photos under the water, which is pretty cool. When I get a little further from the shore I am able to see large areas of coral, and plenty of fish as I dive down to the sea floor. It is beautiful and it feels like another world as you plunge down, with the noise of the English muffled and the heat of the water coupled with the view. While I am enjoying the scenery the English are beached on the shore, ordering more beer, throwing their old cans in to the sea. I can't say I am surprised.
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Back on the boat and it is time for lunch. The wooden benches that we had been sitting on get transformed in to one long table, with everyone sitting around the sides of the boat. A makeshift tablecloth is thrown over and then the food starts coming out. Many, many different dishes appear and it is much better quality than I had expected, having been disappointed by the food before. I help myself to plenty of food, stretch or starve appears to be the order of the day. Once lunch is finished the boat moves to the third island. We don't get off here, instead what happens is that a band appears on the boat, the crew produce a drum kit and some electric guitars and we all move to the front of the boat. Two more boats pull up beside us and it is now time to party. Elias is cheery as ever at this revelation, a smile from ear to ear. His absolute disgust at the drinking/party culture only adds to my amusement. Ha ha. One of the cabin crew dresses up like a woman and gets up to sing, while one of the English guys starts dancing with him in a somewhat inappropriate manner. Elias fails to hide his revulsion at the whole affair. Next up, we have some Korean's from another boat who start dancing to 'Gunnam Style' that was hilarious and caused a big cheer from all the boats. The band disperse and it is now happy hour with a crew member and a cool box in the ocean, offering free drinks to all that come to see him. The English, first in of course, making a beeline for the boos. I get approached by a Irish girl, who is as drunk as the English, she is so happy there is another Irish on board. She can not contain her excitement, unfortunately this excitement causes her to lose the power of balance, as she falls backwards with the elegance and grace of a sumo wrestler being toppled. I help pick her up and she starts singing Irish songs, while holding on to me, to prevent another burton. A true credit to the country, ha ha ha. I take my opportunity to remove myself from her company and jump in to the water. She follows later, fully clothed, and rather than jumping in, the move she performed would be better described as falling. Elias gives me his camera and I take some slow motion video of him jumping from the top deck of the boat. I must say it looks particularly cool in slow motion. As we are summoned back to the boat I notice one of the English throwing up in the sea and then trying to shoo it away with his hands. Initially I found this quite amusing, however when his expulsion started moving towards me it became a different story as I hurried myself up the ladder and in to the boat.
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Elias is still complaining about his toe as we head to the last island, I kindly remind him about my leg and that his lack of sympathy and support has caused him this injury. Well, that and stupidity. When we get to the last island there is fee to pay to get on the island, but you get the use of a deck chair included. How wonderful. On we go and this is like the tropical paradise. Sitting in a deck chair over looking the sea, watching the shimmering of flying fish in the distance, streaking across the surface of the sea. I decide that my leg has had enough salty water today and so I just sit in the comfort of my chair, while actively avoiding any eye contact with the Irish girl, for the fear that she may come and talk to me. Elias, being the big French girl that he is, just wants to moan about his toe. Ha. Rather unbelievably while I am relaxing I notice that bokey English guy heading back to the boat to get more beer. I'll bet if I ask him if he had a good time that he would tell me that it was amazing. Crazy freak.
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Back to dry land and on a bus back to the hotel. Shower time to remove some of the salt from my gash. I decide not to apply cream and the gauze today after the disaster this morning. Just leave it open and let it dry, that is the new plan.
We head out for dinner with some people that we met on the boat. Hannah from Malaysia, Nathan from Australia and Spencer from America, though he is half Vietnamese and so can speak the language no problem. We end up grabbing a table by the road and spencer orders us up a selection of veg and meat and stuff. So handy having someone who can speak Vietnamese. We get some of these cracker things, they are about as big as a dinner plate, with sesame seeds on the top, delicious. After this we go in search of a banana pancake for Elias, but have no joy. Instead he settles for a fruit drink for a street stall. My leg has entered a new stage of pain. If is stand still that is when I have a problem, I feel the blood pulsing down my leg and it feels like I am being stabbed. To counter this I just pace around in circles when the guys stop. Hannah decides that she will pace around with me so that I don't look completely ridiculous by myself. Thanks Hannah. The evening is drawn to a close with some pool and the exchange of Facebook and phone numbers, all except Nathan, no one is interested in his contact details, and as the night has gone on it is clear that he is only interested in talking to Hannah. Spencer is on holiday and is living in HCM and tells us to hook him up when we get down, Hannah extends an invitation for when I get to Malaysia. Something I am sure I will take her up on when I get there. We want to get away early tomorrow, the plan is Da Lat.