"Hellobuysometheeeeeeeng!"

This morning we got up at 6:30am to do tai chi on the deck of the boat. Normally the promise of tai chi would not be enough to get me up that early, but since we were still adjusting to Vietnam time, we had gone to bed at around 9pm. :) We did a basic tai chi class and giggled a lot. I was wearing flip flops and kept sliding on the astroturf. Looking around at all the tourist boats parked nearby, ALL OF THEM had groups of tourists muddling their way through a tai chi class!

Our pathetic attempts at tai chi. :)

After tai chi we had a delicious breakfast, then headed to another part of the bay to kayak in an atoll. From the boat we kayaked through a tunnel/cave in the water into what was essentially a big hole in one of the karsts.

Gavin and I kayaking in Halong Bay.

 

Jeff and Golien kayaking.

Once inside the atoll, we saw a crowd of tourist kayaks near the edge. There were a bunch of small monkeys playing near the water, swinging from the branches of the little trees and scaling the sheer cliff face. One tourist had brought bananas and was feeding them. Gavin steered the kayak a little too close for comfort - he put me UNDER them with only about 5 feet between them and me! (Gavin and I can't do anything that has us both on the same vehicle - no bikes for two, no two people on a scooter, etc, and this kayak was no exception. After trying to row together we gave up and Gavin got to row and steer while I rode in front. :) )

Monkeys on the shore.

 

A monkey family. These were the ones I freaked out by being directly under them.

 

We were able to get really close!

Chilling in the branches.

After kayaking we headed back to the boat to shower and check out of our cabins, then had our last delicious lunch on the boat. The boat drove slowly through the karsts to let us enjoy the view on the way back to the dock. We said goodbye to Xung (our helpful and enthusiastic guide on the cruise) and headed to the Saigon Halong Hotel, where Gavin and the others would head to the conference.

Hotels in Halong City are dirt cheap, as most people stay overnight on the cruise boats when visiting Halong Bay. We rented an Executive Suite in the hotel for a little more than $100! It had a full living room and large bedroom and bathroom and two balconies overlooking the bay.

Foggy view of the bay from our 8th floor room.

 

Lovely live orchid in our room!

Since Gavin needed to go to the conference in the afternoon, we did a bit of hand laundry in the sink and hung clothes to dry all over the place in our nice room, cuz we are classy like that. :) Then I went to the tiny gym in the hotel, which left much to be desired. I think the carpet hadn't been cleaned since 1970. I dropped a weight plate on the floor and a cloud of dust billowed up... My travel yoga mat was brown on the bottom when I picked it up. The gym had a large deck outside facing the ocean, so I took my yoga mat outside and practiced in the breeze with the noise of honking moped and car horns as my musical background. :)

Later in the evening, we took a taxi to the Night Market. There was a restaurant right outside the market that had tanks full of fresh seafood, so we ate a delicious dinner there.

Fresh seafood of all types at the restaurant beside the Night Market.

The night market was a large tourist trap filled with cheap souvenirs that are probably all made in China. :) There were anything from cheapie souvenir magnets to huge and elaborate wood carvings. There was also a ton of fake North Face stuff. Walking through the market, every stall the woman or man inside would call out "Hello, buy something!" but it came out all as one word with the last syllable elongated, sounding more like "Hellobuysometheeeeeeeng!" :) The only thing I was really interested in buying was a cheap kimono, so I headed to one of the stalls to see if I could get a good deal and try my hand at bargaining (which I am TERRIBLE AT!), since bargaining is expected for almost everything in Vietnam. The woman in the stall told me the price of the kimono was $20 (they take US dollars a lot of places), showing me the number on her calculator. I took her calculator and typed $8 thinking she might come down to $10 or $15. She came down to $19, only one dollar! (see why I am terrible at bargaining?) I went up to $10, and she came down to $16. We agreed on $15, but I think if I had done it better I could have gotten her down to $10. I gave her a $20 bill that had a tiny little tear in it, and she said she couldn't take a bill with a tear. So I said I had two $5s or she had to take my $20. After showing my beat up $20 to everyone around and they all lamented the sad state of my $20 bill with her, she finally accepted it and I got a new kimono. :)

Me at the Halong City Night Market.

 

Looking at some junky souvenirs. :) (actually I wouldn't have looked at those, but Gavin wanted me to pretend for a photo. :D )

 

Stalls at the Night Market.

 

Me haggling over the price of the kimono. :)

After the Night Market, Gavin was tired so he went to bed. I was wide awake, so I decided to take advantage of the massage services in the hotel, which were strangely open from 5pm to 1am... For $17 I was able to get a 1.5 hour massage, and it had to be the weirdest massage I have ever had. After changing into a robe and size XXXL shorts that I had to hold up, I went into the massage room for an herbal foot bath, which was lovely. They placed my feet in a wooden barrel filled with warm water, rose petals, herbs and lemons. A few minutes later, a small, plump Vietnamese woman came in and started washing my feet and legs, which felt oddly intimate and weird for some reason. Then she took off my robe so I was only wearing shorts (no concern for modesty here :) ) and I got face down on the table. After a few basic massage strokes, she got on the table WITH me and put my legs in her lap to massage them, then she PULLED DOWN my shorts and massaged my butt - once again, no concern for modesty, no artful draping of sheets like we get in the US. :) Then she began to massage my back, and somehow grabbed the skin on top of my low back and pulled it up sharply, and the skin itself POPPED! I couldn't really feel anything uncomfortable, but the Vietnamese massage therapist seemed to be surprised at the sound. She popped my skin about 5 times! She did a relatively normal massage for a bit, then flipped me over onto my back. After massaging my shoulders for a bit she suddenly grabbed my head and turned it sharply to the left and the right, cracking my neck really loudly - what a surprise! It was a chiropractic sneak attack! She also paused massaging for a bit and was doing something with my hair, then suddenly SNAP SNAP she pulled out two of my hairs from my head! She pulled out two hairs on my head in about 12 different places! I wondered if she is going to make a voodoo doll of me. :) (yes, I know voodoo dolls are not Vietnamese, it's a JOKE! :) ) She later sat me up (still no coverage on top) and squatted behind me with her legs wrapped around me, then she interlaced my fingers behind my head, and twisted my body to the right twice, saying "One, two..." then on "three" she threw me into the twist across her leg, I think attempting to crack my low back!

At the end of the massage she said the only other English words she knew - "Good tip for me?" :) I told her it was in my locker and she followed me there. I only had the equivalent of about $1 in Vietnamese Dong, and I had a $5 American. I took both out, saying I could give her one or the other in case she didn't want American. She took them both. :D

Despite the massage's weird parts and lack of modesty, it was overall very relaxing, so I was ready for bed. Tomorrow I will be by myself exploring Halong City. :)

 

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