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hey guys this is my final blog from vietnam before i move onto australia
so having experienced the horrendous halong city, got ridiculously drunk and played on the beach in our new cow boy hats (don't really know how we got those i think we just asked how much they werre and before you knew it the awesome foursome were kitted out in hats) we prepared ourself for the ride around halong bay and the arrival at cat ba island.
the journey to be honest didn't start well - it rained! beach week was supposed to be browning week and it was raining, we had arrived at the harbour which looked remarkably like a pirate village with very old looking boats and within 10 minutes on the boat the weather began to clear and was quite pretty! yay! we stopped off at a cave - this is now known by team vietnam as the rave cave purely because the mass stalagmites and stalagtites that were within the cave were lit by coloured lights. this still though, didnt take away the beauty of the cave and we desperately tried to find the many animals that the satalagmites and stalagtites were supposed to look like. after meandering around the cave it was back onto the boat but only for a short time as we jumped onto a teeney weeney boat to go and see some of the more secluded parts of halong bay. we then ended up in cat ba island. our guide took us to a favourite haunt of his, which was karaoke. with 3 beers only costing me a pound i was well on they way to being happily drunk and dancing with kim at the back of the bar. it was here we met the jolly green giant (a canadian that was very jolly, wearing a lot of green and was enormously tall) and dr lance ( a canadian training to be a dr). they kindly informed me that my singing was awful - yes i did kill a tune or two but that my dancing was good so maybe i should just stick to that!
the next day feeling slightly hungover we went in search of the beach! it was quite pretty and very relaxing but we were constantly aware of the rather unsubtle pictures being taken of the westerners by the asians! whilst harmless enough it did spoil our relaxation a bit as we were constantly on edge. the afternoon saw us going kayaking! this was great, we were in double kayaks so obviously me and kim raced mairi and annabel for a little bit until we got tired and then we just sat and bobbed around, paddled a bit more then rested! we had dinner that night on the floating restaurant, the food was great but the gentle rocking stayed with us until the next morning.
the following day we went to monkey island!it was supposed to do exactly what it says on the tin an island with monkeys! however, the monkeys didnt want to come out and play when we were there although in some ways that was a relief as there were signs saying stay away from the monkeys they bite and a guy had ealrier that day been scratched by a monkey - living on the wildside is gd but at the risk of rabies not really my cup of tea! the island itself though was very pretty! that evening we went to a bar called 'green mango' it had lots of sofas and bean bags and this was where i discovered the best hot chocolate pudding and ice cream ever!
our last day in cat ba island was so much fun, we lazed on the beach, swam in the sea and played volleyball - i did however get ridiculous strap marks that i am not even slightly impressed with!the evening started off a bit slow, we were taken to a fancy smancy restaurant where we ate lots of seafood and then we moved onto green mango bar for pudding (when i say we i mean kim and i!) then back to the karaoke bar but that was somewhat quieter and without the crazy canadians not as much fun!so we decided to hit 'blue wave' the club that played western music in cat ba island. however, by about 10.30 pm there was only me, mairi, kim and annabel dancing to the music we had selected with about 6 vietnamese people watching us!very strange! when we stopped dancing they left and then we were told at 12 that it was the dj's bed time and could we please leave!!!!!! ive been called a dirty stop out before but at 12! ! !
today we made our way back to hanoi, where we had to do last minute things for people who were going home like get last minute pressies for kim and go and collect her dress that had been made. having said goodbye to them - which the awesome foursome did sob quite heartily at (again when i say we cried it was mainly me followed in second place by kim!) i am now just waiting for the second part of my adventure and arriving in oz! so the next blog will have a bit of a down under twist to it!
write soon
x x x
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