First of all, I just read Allison's post and I think I have a different version of what I said while we were in the crazy traffic with cars, mini buses, motor bikes and local women carrying local food on a pole. I think I said "oh my goodness". I also think I only head bobbed at the Water puppets for 10 min. that show really was interesting and is world famous for the unique show. There was a live band/chorus and the puppet workers were in the water behind the backdrop working the sicks with the puppets. Very Cool.
Now it is Saturday morning. Last night we walked to the Handspan agency we booked the cruise with. It was 10 blocks from our hotel. I admit I was a bit paranoid we would get lost, even though we had a map. All the roads have Vietnamese names that sound alike to me. Many of the shops look similar, so I could not remember specific land marks and the lighting is very dark in the streets with many many people sitting on little stools outside their buisness eating vietnamese food cooked with charcoal right there or seeling their wares. We got to Handspan after eating breakfast and the clerk calling us by our names "Mrs. Swink and Allison". It is so cute to hear them draw out the name Alllison.
We got on a mini bus which was "cold"...just imagine. We talked to a girl and guy, Anna and Holden. They recently graduated from a college in Washingtown state and are traveling for 2 months. It was fun talking with them. We have met many other persons who travel to several countries in SE Asia. We saw rice paddies with workers and Yak...the closer we got to Ha Long Bay the more frequent we saw very nice new 3-4 story townshouses...Many construction trucks on the road.
We got on our "junk" at Ha Long Bay. We met the Wyatt family from Arizona: Ivan, Lori, Ivy and Olivia. Ivy and Olivia are 7 and9 years old and were adopted from Vietnam. This is a special trip for them to see the country of their origin. Very very nice family. Ivy and Olivia were very content kids, but we also were on a cool "junk". I can still visualize them waving goodbye when our boats seperated. They were only doing a 2 day trip. Oh I almost forgot. Poor little Olivia got stung by a jellyfish. She had welts on both her lower legs. She was a trooper and no more tears after 20 min and back to having fun. There were only 12 patrons and 5 staff/cook/captian. Alex is 25 years old and is from England. Allison and he enjoyed company and chatting. He works lights for Broadway type shows in England and is on a holiday for 6 weeks. Tara and Jed are newleweds from Toronto, Canada. They got married in Bali and are traveling to several countries. Really cool stories. Lastly we enjoyed really humerous moments with Peter Veale, Marin Schmitz, and Michael Bolter from Germany. They are in Vietnam to produce a concert with their contemporary classical ensemble, Musik Fabrik. They worked with a Vietnamese composer to perform her piece. I need to google them when we get home.
We had an amazing day kayaking.....we had lots of fun...we saw a fishing village...self-sustaining with a school ages 1-6 grade. We saw babies on the dock behind netting on their small floating homes. We saw children in hammocks. We saw dogs on the floating homes...There are 55 families and 120 people in this village...Very Very amazing. You had to see pics to understand.
We went through 3 tunnels through the limestone formations..stalagtites hanging down...really cool. In the afternoon we went out again for 1 1/2 hrs. Our kayak was the slow one. Allison did not practice enough for the trip...Randy I needed you!!! to paddle more, so I could rest more. Claire and Ben you would LOVE this. We took lots of pictures. In the afternoon we saw a fishing farm...raised fish and clams in netted areas. Then we paddled into another lagoon after going through a very small tunnel with a very low "ceiling". Peter, Martin and Michael were funny. Michael is bald so he had a white shirt wrapped around his head. He looked like Arafat.
We got to the Sunrise Resort at 4:30.....I have never been to such a beautiful secluded resort..now remember we only paid $185 dollars for the 3 days and 2 nights (meals, accommodation, transportation, and kayaking included). The first night we slept on the junk in the bay...About 30 junks in the area amongst the Ti Top Karst formations. We were greeted with cold mint scented clothes and a fruity green drink at the resort. The room is BEAUTIFUL. 1 queen and 1 twin bed...beautiful bathroom, some know I like cool bathrooms. There is a pool, a beach, massages from 12-20 dollars. Dinner was included....elegant...pumkin soup, chicken coleslaw salad, sizzeling shrimp, sea bass, ymmy breaded squid, rice and steamed mised vegetables. It was served family style with a rotating thing in the middle of the table. The newleweds, the musicians and Allison and I were the only ones from the orginal group who came here for the third night....We can hear the ocean from our room and see it stepping up 2 steps and sitting at a cute table with chairs...we are definitely getting spoiled. I suppose the volunteering part of our trip will not be elegant, through meaningful in a very different way.
So glad to hear Kallie, our dog, is being a good mother, after Randy had to remove the futon from the computer room for her to tend to them in the whelping box he made for her. She birthed them on the futon....how do you move a mother in labor? She has 7 puppies. We saw pics and they have long tails. She looks uncomfortable with 7 puppies nessled up to her.
Sorry this is so long, but it truely was an amazing 2 days...Tomorrow we leave at 12:30 and get a fairy back to the mainland and back to Hanoi by 6:00. We need to find a place to stay for 2 more nights since the Guest House is full. They said they would reccomend us to their friends down the street. Have I said how hot it is here lately...it really is hot.
Please call Randy and Claire to see if they are OK with the puppies.
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