Post #67 - December 17, 2012 - Delhi, India

What we did: Day of wedding reception
Budget: 3500R/$70; Spent: 2070R/$42

We woke up at about 9am and went to eat breakfast at Mintoo’s aunt and uncle’s house. We ate again the yummy aloo paranthas, but no yogurt this time.

After this, we went shopping in a nearby market. I needed to buy a dress shirt, dress shoes, and a belt; Patty wanted to buy a lengha, which is a type of Indian getup which is basically a full length skirt that comes with a a matching choli (top) and scarf.

We went to market, I bought everything at reasonable prices, nothing great but good enough. Patty didn’t find a lengha, but she did buy a pair of really nice Indian flat shoes for $7. We shopped all afternoon. Mintoo bought a suit for the wedding. We lost Mintoo and his dad for a few minutes since at one point we went our seperate ways looking for different things. It was then that we bumped into Mintoo's cousin Popely and her husband and kids. She quickly called us over and asked where Mintoo was and if we were okay. She then dragged Patty away and ended up buying her a necklace and earrings and helped her buy fake nails and lipstick for that night. She was incredibly kind with Patty since the first day she always looked out for Patty. She made sure to include Patty in everything and she showed Patty how to dance Indian style and then today she bought her a gift. Patty was very touched.

We hadn't eaten lunch but those paranthas are surprisingly filling so we weren't all that hungry. We came back closer to the house and I got a shave and haircut for 70 rupees. Patty then asked the guy to do her hair for the wedding, but in minutes it became obvious that he had never done a woman’s hair in his life.  He was pulling her hair when brushing it, trying a several times to come up with a way to do her hair. In the end the final product was a disaster. It was like a lop sided bun with half of it sticking up. Patty kind of looked annoyed and laughed at him for saying that he could do her hair in the first place. He looked a bit embarassed so Patty thanked him anyways but we left promptly after that. I guess he tried his best.

We went back to the house to dress up for the reception. I put on my new dress pants, shirt, shoes and belt and looked like a new man. Mrs. Kamboz offered to lend Patty her sari so the plan was for her to get ready with Mrs. Kamboz where she was staying. We left at around 7:30pm and arrived at Mintoo's aunt's house where his parents were staying. Patty went upstairs to put on the sari with Mrs. Kamboz' help. Mrs. Kamboz also lent her bangles and gave her a bindi to wear. A bindi is like a sticker the women where on the middle of their foreheads. At the house we saw the bride and groom, and we congratulated them and soon thereafter left for reception.

We arrived at reception around 9:30pm. The reception was typical North American style, with appetizers, main meal, and drinks; there was no sit down component, however, other than for the bride and groom and immediate family. It was a good experience, although Patty still wasn’t feeling all that great and Jeff wasn’t feeling very good either, so sadly there was not much dancing done. We did have some alcoholic beverages in Mala's car which were provided by two generous donors/parents. There is no drinking done inside the reception but it is common for guys to sneak outside and drink in their cars. We thought we were so naughty for doing it, but then we looked to our right and saw three grown men doing the exact same thing trying to be all sneaky about it. It's pretty funny. Women of course don't do this, so Patty was quite the exception that night.

It was fun to people watch, everyone was dressed up so nicely! Indian fashion is defnitely very unique and quite beautiful. We even got a picture with the bride and groom. Patty got pictures with Mintoo's aunts and cousins whom she got along with so well. Here are the bride and groom getting fed cake:

After the reception we just went back home. We had some of Mintoo’s family escort us to our door because of how many dogs there were on the street. At night the dogs own the streets and you can hear them barking and howling most of the night. They mind their own business all day, but come night time it's party time for the dogs.

Good night,

P.s. Happy birthday Rica!! Love, Patty and Jeff

Post #66 - December 16, 2012 - Delhi, India

What we did: Wedding ceremony, procession and dinner, Sikh festival
Budget: 3500R/$70; Spent: 350R/$7

This morning, both of us woke up not really feeling great. Patty had slept on and off since mid-afternoon the previous day so at least she was well rested. Jeff woke up feeling quite nauseous and with a bad headache, the same Patty had felt the day before. He was a little scared he would get sick today.

Today was the wedding ceremony so Patty put on her pant-suit she had bought with Mintoo’s mom two days earlier. She looked quite beautiful. Unfortunately, she still wasn’t feeling very  good and we had to leave the house relatively early, at 10am.

We had a little bit of an adventure getting to the event because the driver that was supposed to pick us up didn’t show up for quite some time. Then, right as we were going to flag down our own ride there, he showed up on a main road which was not at all where we were supposed to meet him so it was quite lucky.

When we got to the temple, the Gurdwara service was complete, but it turned out that it wasn’t the actual wedding ceremony we had missed. First, was a walk down the street to a hall that had been rented, with the groom riding a very elaborate horse-drawn wagon down a very busy street towards the wedding venue.

The drums were back for another round, unfortunately, and were accompanied by another band. Actually, they were more like two teams facing off against each other, vying for the attention of the people in the procession. I’m pretty sure they rely heavily on tips, so when they get people dancing, the people who are dancing hold money in the air that is then collected by whoever can grab it first. It was kind of silly though, because having both groups there made it a competition and not at all about the wedding. A couple times the groups got mad at each other and made some threatening gestures. I'm pretty sure I even saw two guys in the same band shoving each other over something, likely money. It was a chaotic event. There were also two beggars and their children following the group of us down the street and asking for money. One guy, not sure who he was, was not impressed by these ladies and shoved them away a couple times. What was kind of amusing was that his aggression didn't stop them at all. They continued following us all the way. A couple times the same guy chased them off only for them to return asking for money. The guy actually raised his hand a couple times as if he was about to slap them. The whole scenario was quite the experience, but not really conducive for a wedding, at least not weddings we're accustomed to.

Thankfully, that didn’t last too long and then we were at the hall and could grab a bit to eat. Before entering the hall the girls play a game where the Groom has to pay the bridal party money to enter the hall. We didn't really stay to watch but there's certainly lots of money flying around.

Jeff was still feeling quite ill, but he thought maybe it was because he hadn’t eaten dinner the night before so was just hungry. Turned out this was at least partially correct. Eating helped, but the nausea remained on and off.

Patty was only feeling good when we were sitting, so we just sat and observed what we could from there. It was hard to understand what was happening because it was difficult to see through the crowd of people, even though it wasn’t a very large gathering. There were no more than 50 people there.

After this, the bride walked in and came down the stairs. Finally the bride and groom were together. At one point, the bride and groom were throwing rings of flowers over each other’s necks and their respective father decided to pick them up while they were doing so. It was cute moment and both families looked really happy. It's very interesting to see a couple getting married when they barely know each other, seems it would be awkward. But from the looks of it, they were both happy. We learned that the bride had lost both her parents and was raised by her uncle and aunt. We assume the man lifting her was her uncle.

After this, it was back to the temple for the wedding ceremony. This lasted about an hour. There was some singing, some reading from their religious text, and then finally the bride and groom walk in a circle four times to accept their oaths to each other. Similar to oaths made in typical Western weddings.

After this we went back to the hall for more food and pictures. Patty and Jeff got a picture with the bride and groom. The groom actually lives in Thompson, Manitoba so he speaks perfect English. We have chatted with him previously.

We talked a little with Mintoo about his plans for the next couple of days, because tomorrow is the final event of the wedding, so we will all be leaving Delhi shortly after. We might go to Agra with him and his parents, but we will see.

After eating, there is a traditional event where the bride is taken from her home by the grooms family, which symbolizes that she is now part of the groom’s family. We decided to skip out on this and go with Mintoo and his cousin Mala to see a huge festival that is going on in Delhi today. I believe the festival is celebrating Sikhs’ equivalent to Christmas, but I’ll need to check. The crowds on the street were crazy. There were bands playing, people “play”-fighting with real swords, and free food being handed out everywhere. The main attraction of the festival is the float that Sikh’s holy book is being brought down the street on. It’s very interesting, so much garbage and mess was being made by the festival, but before the float would enter an area the street had to be cleaned, so there were countless people sweeping the street in front of the float.

The street was absolutely filthy. People threw everything on the ground. Everywhere you stepped, there were plates from all the free food being given out.

It turned out that Mala’s girlfriend’s family lives in that neighbourhood and was giving out food tonight. So, we went there and she brought us a couple plates of food, but she couldn’t stay long because her parents don’t know that she has been dating Mala for four years. Mala was saying that they have a tentative plan of telling her parents that they want to get married in two years after he has a more stable career. Neither of them know what will happen. They’re like Romeo and Juliet, it’s crazy!

Getting back to the car through the crowds took a long time. The street could not have been more full of people. At one point we saw a family collecting as much food as possible and - putting it all into bags, presumably to eat at a later time. They looked very poor. It was very sad. But at least the Sikh community seems very generous and turned no one away.

After this we were pretty hungry so went for a bite to eat at McDonald’s. Jeff thought he was ordering something different from the Canadian menu, but he didn’t.

We took the food back home and ate it there. Mala stayed for a while and we talked.

The wedding reception is tomorrow at around 7pm, so we will shop most of the day. I need to find a dress shirt and belt, and get a haircut tomorrow. Patty wants to find a Lengha, which is another kind of Indian dress.

Post #65 - December 15, 2012 - Delhi, India

What we did: attended temple and ring ceremony
Budget: 3640 Rupees/$70 Spent: 1740 Rupees/$34


Patty woke up not feeling great, but didn’t have much time to think of it because we were off to the ring ceremony that morning. It's essentially the formal engagement of the couple.

First stop was a temple, and some ceremony was performed there with the groom in the Gurdwara which is the Sikh temple.

After this, we left for the hall we went to the night before for lunch and the ring ceremony. Unfortunately, this is when Patty got quite sick so we didn’t get to see much of the ceremony, though there didn’t seem to be much to it anyway. My understanding was that at this time the bride-to-be and her family present the groom with gifts and such.

Patty had to lie down in another room she was feeling so bad. The bed she was lying on was just a thin mattress on the floor and right beside a bathroom. Not the coziest place in the world. Mintoo’s family went out to buy her immodium. They are such nice people. Unfortunately, Patty was still feeling sick after about an hour or so, so we decided to just go back home so that she could rest. I stayed with her, while Mintoo and his cousins went shopping.

Both of us pretty much just slept the entire afternoon. Mintoo’s family came by to check on us, as well as the family that is living above us. Everyone was so kind and helpful offering to take her to a doctor or to call them at any time if we needed something. Mintoo’s uncle came by and brought us boiled water along with Mintoo’s mom and dad who brought us coconut water for Patty to drink to help with dehydration and so she wouldn’t feel so hungry.

Later that night Mala came by and the three of us chatted while Patty slept.

It was kind of a rough day all in all. Hoping Patty feels better in the morning for the wedding ceremony. I guess we'll see.

Post #64 - December 14, 2012 - Delhi, India

What we did: Market, Pacific Mall, Pre-wedding Procession
Budget: 3640 Rupees/$70 Spent: 3600 Rupees/$69 

Jeff here.

We slept in a bit today, and didn’t get going until around 10am. We had been invited to Mintoo’s uncle’s for breakfast, so after some showers off we went. Of course, Mintoo was seeing this side of his family for what I think is his first time, so attention was obviously on him, but his aunt and uncle are extremely sweet people and really welcomed us into their home. They don’t speak English, but we exchanged a few words and mostly smiles and nods.

Breakfast was composed of a pancake-like bread called parathas, one filled with potato (aloo) and the other with cauliflower (gobhi). We smeared butter on these and they were fantastic. I had about six of them. They also offered us some home-made yogurt that they assured to us was safe. We tried some, something I don’t think we’ll be doing again for stomach-related reasons, and it had a very sour taste to it.  Not really my cup of tea. Their tea, on the other hand, was our cup of tea. They made some fantastic tea for us with milk. I guess they boil water, add milk, boil it some more, then add herbs and a tea bag. All this is a very typical breakfast in Northern India and we loved it. Everything was homemade.

We met two other people, Mintoo’s aunt and Mintoo’s uncle’s son-in-law's father from England who is very talkative and friendly. The plan for the day was for Mintoo’s parents to take us to a nearby market after breakfast, but they had a couple things to do so we hung out with Mintoo on the roof of his uncle's house for a bit. The view of Delhi from up there is exactly how we imagined India to be: blue sky, warm sun, busy street below, and rooftops with children playing and women doing laundry. It was fantastic.

Minto also took us to a nearby Sikh temple (called a gurdwara) and led us inside. We had to remove our shoes and put a piece of cloth over our heads, like a bandana. Basically, a Sikh temple houses a book, which they believe is the word of God. People pray to this book. The common practice is to approach the book, put some money in a container, step back, clasp your hands in prayer, and then get down on your knees and bend forward in another prayer. Patty and I both mimicked Mintoo at two different spots. The second time it was in front of two people and it was a little awkward, but they didn’t seem to mind.

Afterwards, Mintoo’s parents took us to a nearby market to look for clothes for the wedding and other ceremonies. Patty and I didn’t have anything nice to wear so we were desperate for anything. We got there on a rickshaw, which is just a carriage attached to a bike. I sat on the back facing backwards…that was an interesting experience for me.  I awkwardly met other drivers’ eyes who were driving right up against the back of the rickshaw. I would never drive here.

The markets were similar to those in other counties, except the honking of horns filled every corner of every store. The noise here is incredible. I honestly think my hearing has declined noticeably! The other big difference from other roads we've seen is Asia is that  they are extremely dusty and there is garbage and little pebbles everywhere on the sides of the roads.

I ended up buying two pairs of dress pants, with alternations, for about $25. Patty bought an Indian style outfit called a pant suit for about $30, and it’s quite beautiful. We ate at a small restaurant for a late lunch and had some excellent food. It was like a huge crepe (called a dosa)  filled with potato, as well as a soup (sambar) that I won’t even try to describe. It’s pretty scary eating here though, since everything here looks dirtier than anywhere we've been.

We split up from Mintoo’s parents after lunch and went to a mall. It’s very nearby the neighbourhood we are staying in and it is huge and modern and a stark contrast to the slum right next door. It’s very sad to see all the poverty present here. We didn’t stay long at the mall and decided to walk home. It was a small miracle that we made it back since we made several choices we were unsure of.

There is garbage everywhere here. It’s incredible. People just throw things onto the street and there’s nowhere to put all the garbage. No one really cleans the streets, either. If you can believe it, we actually recognized a pile of garbage we had seen driving out with Mintoo’s cousin last night, so it helped get us back home. We've seen people rummaging through piles of garbage apparently looking for bottles to sell for some money.

Later that night there was a wedding event that we attended. We went to a building that had been rented out and there we ate some food and met some more of Mintoo's extended family who were all very welcoming to us. After eating, the custom is to light a lantern and carry it through the streets to another family member's home, all the while dancing and celebrating. But before the dancing through the streets started, Mintoo’s mom took us to a more elaborate wedding to show us what they sometimes look like. It looked like a movie set. It was huge, with a grand entrance, pillars, and walls. During the day, the location is just an empty field and looks like nothing. Everything is brought in for the wedding. It was empty though because it was early in the evening and no guests had arrived at that time.

When we got back to the rented hall the lineup out the door formed and we all began walking down the streets. Most of the women and a few guys were dancing to four guys playing the loudest drums I've ever heard. I couldn’t even get close to them. Most of the time I had my ears covered with my hands. My ears literally hurt they were so loud. Patty got pulled in and carried the lantern on her head while dancing to the drums. Unfortunately, she was also carrying the camera at the time, so we have no pictures of this! I think many people were shocked to see her have the guts to do it, but they loved it. It was all very neat to experience for us.

After the ceremony, we left with Mala, Mintoo, and two of Mintoo’s cousins, Kamal and Manu, who are also from Winnipeg visiting India and we went back to the elaborate wedding venue Mrs. Kamboz had taken us to earlier. We wanted to see what it looked like later in the night and we also wanted to see if we could be wedding crashers and join the festivities. We decided that instead of being Uncle Ned's kids like in the movie, we would tell everyone we were Uncle Jasbir's kids. We walked in and, hilariously, as we entered in our everyday attire, the band in the entrance began playing as if to announce our arrival. Prior to entering we chatted up some English guys who told us they had tried themselves to crash the wedding but had gotten kicked out more than once. We were worried the same would happen to us but I guess we looked the part. I think having 4 brown guys with us didn't hurt either.

Some weird guy standing alone at the bar got us all drinks and then got someone to start giving food to Patty and then offered her another drink. Pretty sure he was hitting on her. He actually got angry with the server because Patty had to repeat herself when she asked for a drink. It was very odd. It was after 11pm and Mintoo’s cousin Mala explained that most people leave before midnight, so there wasn't that many people left there, so after we finished our drinks we started to leave. The guy at the bar looked angry that Patty wasn't staying for another drink. He then approached the server who was serving Patty and the poor guy looked terrified of him like he was going to hit him or something. Very strange to see.

After this, we came back to our home and just chatted with Mintoo for a couple hours, although I fell asleep on Patty’s lap not long after getting there. It has been great hanging out with Mintoo, here in India of all places. It's so nice to have a good friend and some familiar faces around.

Post #63 - December 13, 2012 - Delhi, India

What we did: Flight from Bangkok to Delhi, met up with Mintoo and family 
Budget: $70; Spent: $14

Today we woke up at 9am and ate a modest breakfast included with our hostel, including coffee, cereal, toast, jam. We spent a little too much time on the internet, and by the time we were ready to go it was well past 10am, which was the latest we wanted to leave.

We traveled by metro all the way to the airport, which took about an hour. We had thought it would take 40 minutes, but we had to wait 15 minutes for a train to arrive on the line that would take us to the airport.

Once we got to the airport, it was a struggle to find our carrier, IndiGo, though it turned out we walked right past it as soon as we entered. We had no troubles checking in and getting through customs, but it turned out we had left our mosquito spray in our backpack, so it was confiscated at security. We are not happy about this, especially since India is the first place we'll have to be careful about mosquitoes and malaria.

We walked quickly through the airport looking for our gate, and then we met a lady who was holding a sign showing ‘last call’ for our flight. We ran the rest of the way to our flight gate and were one of the last people on the already filled plane.

Our flight was uneventful. They did not feed us or provide anything to drink, other than water in small cups. The flight attendants were terrible and looked like they hated their jobs and the world, in general. We also sat in the very last row by the washrooms, so people were always around us and we couldn't recline our seats for the duration of the 5 hour flight. To fight off starvation, we purchased a $7 sandwich that, while tasty, lasted approximately four bites. Never again IndiGo. To top it off we were sitting behind three very obnoxious and loud guys who also smelled of the most toxic and potent B.O. we have ever encountered. The guy sitting in the middle continuously raised his arms and placed his hands behind his head cushion and actually poked us twice since his seat was reclined, and ours were not, and we were reading our India Lonely Planet book leaning forward on the tray. After the second time this happened, Patty punched the seat. Whenever he would raise his arms we would brace ourselves for the odour and we literally had our faces in our shirts. It was actually more like eating it than breathing it it was so bad. Who holds their hands over their head like that on a flight?!

We had no problems passing through Indian customs, and our friend,  Mintoo, was waiting for us as soon as we grabbed our bags. His dad and he had come to the airport by bus to pick us up. We were very grateful! We took a taxi back to an apartment owned by Mintoo’s uncle, which is where we will be staying with Mintoo while in Delhi.

The drive to the apartment was interesting. I thought Delhi would be more or less as crazy as other places in Asia, but I think it’s crazier. There are so many people everywhere, and the driving is even worse mostly because people tend to drive fast and there are no lanes, everything on the road is squeezing into any space they can find. Somehow things flow smoothly! There are also so many people and different vehicles on the roads which are terrible so people are dodging both traffic and potholes. It is common that two vehicles will be speeding towards each other, only to dodge each other at the last second, narrowly avoiding pedestrians. It's nuts.

The apartment is very simple but spacious. It has a kitchen, two rooms, and a bathroom. It’s interesting, most houses in India seem to house more than one family, in particular with one family living on the first floor, a smaller space, and another family living above them in a larger space. Houses tend to have many floors, typically four or more, making for some very interesting , and often lovely, designs. The best part about them though is their roof top which is commonly used for hang drying clothing, but provides a nice view of the streets.

Mintoo’s mom bought us dinner from a local restaurant called Kaka’s Chicken. Despite its name, it made some damn good chicken. We hadn’t really eaten since breakfast, so we were starving.

After eating, we went out for a drive with Mintoo’s cousin, Mala. Other than his car dying and having to switch to his friend's parents' car, it was a great time. He took us to some clothing shops, to try a local restaurant he liked, and then drove us around Delhi. He is an interesting character and extremely friendly, especially since he had no idea who we were and it was his first time meeting Mintoo.

We drove around until around 11pm and pretty much dropped dead in our beds when we got back. Mintoo had only just arrived that morning (3am-ish) from Canada, so I think he was probably more exhausted than us!

Post #62 - December 12, 2012 - Bangkok, Thailand

What we did: flight to Bankok, shopped at Saigon Square
Budget: $60 Spent: $109 

We woke up in Hanoi at 5am to take a taxi to airport at 6am. We packed our bags, had a quick breakfast, and then left. Our first taxi had a flat tire, so we waited for a second. We didn't have any other problems on our way to airport and actually got to airport more than 2 hours before flight!

We had no problems boarding the plane. The flight was uneventful. We weren’t fed anything, but it was a quick two-hour flight. We arrived in Bangkok, already with a plan in mind for getting to our hostel. After grabbing our bags it took asking some questions and wandering around a bit to figure out where to pick up a bus. At long, long last, it was hot and humid! Yay! As we walked down the stairs the piece of paper with directions to our hotel got swept away over the railing, but a nice local noticed and went out his way looking for it and a couple minutes later approached us with the paper in his hand.

When we found the bus stop and got onto a bus, it was going in the wrong direction; we walked back to other side to catch the right bus. The bus took us to the metro stop we wanted. Getting on the skytrain was pretty straightforward and the view along the way was spectacular.

We changed trains once and then arrived at our stop. It was the hottest weather we've seen since starting our trip and we were hungry so we stopped at a food stand selling bubble teas and enjoyed a delicious lichi flavoured drink. It was awesome. Our hostel was only a couple minutes’ walk away from the stop. Our hostel was pretty nice, but our room was filled with a bunch of dirty, sweaty men. Patty was bothered by smell more than I was.

After settling in, staff at the hostel directed us to the nearest good restaurant. After a five minute walk we were there. It was kind of like street food – cooking out front – but more clean inside. We ordered the Pad Thai. It was amazing. We also ordered some spring rolls that were yummy too. Everything, including a coke, cost $5.

After eating, we wandered around looking for a grocery store. We thought it was in a particular direction, but after walking for about 10 minutes, we turned around and headed back. We stopped at a 7-11 to pick up some water and went back to our hostel to figure out what to do next.

It was scorching hot, and we needed to rest and drink. We planned the rest of our day on the patio of our hostel. We decided to go to a mall we could get to by skytrain. We were hoping to buy a gift for Mintoo's parents and a card for his aunt and uncle with whom we'd be staying with.

Getting there was very easy, but it turned out the mall was closed for some reason; we went to its more expensive brother that was pretty much next door. It was a really nice mall, but extremely confusing. It is built like a casino: there are no obvious exits and no signs

We picked up a card for Mintoo’s relatives, as well as a gift for Mintoo’s parents. We bought them a nice set of chopsticks that came with a napkin and placemat, as well as a glass holder for the chopsticks.

I’m pretty sure Patty’s going to want to do a lot of shopping in Bangkok when we go back there; some of the prices were amazing, especially at the shops along the road. There were very cool t-shirts and tanks for around $3!

We ate dinner in the food court of a nearby shopping centre; we both had pad thai again and I think it was even better than at lunch. It actually tasted different from lunch, too. A friend of ours had told us before going on this trip that you could probably have a different tasting Pad Thai everyday in Thailand. After our one day in Bangkok we can confidently say we're looking forward to trying them all.

We headed back to the hostel around 8pm and decided to watch a movie Patty’s parents had recommended: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. We had a lot of fun watching the movie, which is about India, and we are hoping it prepares us for what’s to come!

India tomorrow!

Post #61 - December 11, 2012 - Hanoi, Vietnam

What we did: shopping in the Old Quarter, planned for India
Budget: 1,200k Dong/$60; Spent: 1,210k Dong/$60

Jeff here.

What a lovely city Hanoi is. This is our ninth day here and we have yet to tire of it. We slept in a bit this morning and got down for our included breakfast around 10:00am. The breakfast was quite tasty, but not overly large. After this we left the hotel for the street and shops of Hanoi. We had decided the night before that we were going to buy Mary and Peter, the managers of the Hanoi Lucky Guesthouse, a gift for their unborn baby boy. They have been so sweet and so kind to us that our decision to buy them a gift was an easy one.

Turns out that there are a lot of shops for babies in the Old Quarter. Still, it wasn't until mid-afternoon that we found a set of three jumpers that we were happy with. Along the way, Patty bought a bra and I looked for some linen pants. Sadly, I'm still pantless.

We grabbed lunch at a cafe called Joma Bakery. We had chili and lasagna and both were very nice. We decided that we would have to come back tonight to do some research on India and pick up something tasty!

We then purchased a card from a deaf kid who was raising money for a charity for deaf children. Anyway, I hope that's all true. Regardless, the card was nice and we are happy with it. Unfortunately, when we got to the Lucky Guesthouse, Mary and Peter had left for the day! So, we didn't get to say good-bye or give them their gift! To top it off, they had invited us for breakfast in the morning and we hadn't gone because we had wanted to give them the gift when we went to see them. Really a shame. Doesn't feel right not saying goodbye. Lack of closure, I guess.

After this, we decided to eat dinner and then do some India research. We went to a restaurant called Banh Ghoi. The restaurant serves all kinds of pork in pastries of various shapes and sizes. Yes, it was street food and yes, it was damn good. Our favourite reminded us of a cross between my mom's meat pies and Patty's mom's fried tacos. Delicious!

From here, we wandered aimlessly for almost an hour searching for the Joma Bakery. Finally, Patty remembered that she had grabbed a business card earlier in the day and it had the address on it! Thank goodness, because we had lost all hope by that point.

We made it there no problem and ordered a banana split. Best banana split ever. Here's a pic:

We did a little research on India and booked a hotel in New Delhi for the two days after staying with Mintoo's family. Turns out there is more for us to see there than we thought. Many people have told us that we wouldn't want to spend much time in Delhi, but I think the shopping alone will probably consume two days. I WILL find linen pants. I'm on a mission.

Tomorrow we're off to Bangkok! Taxi picks us up at 6am (boo!), so time for bed.

Good night!

Post #60 - December 10, 2012 - Hanoi, Vietnam

What we did: Travelled by bus and boat to Hanoi, window shopped in Old Quarter

Budget: 1200k Dong/$60; Spent: 979k Dong/$47

Patty here.

We had a tough time getting up this morning. We were absolutely exhausted from our hiking/trekking trip yesterday. But up we got. We packed our stuff fairly quickly. Thanks to sending half our stuff home in Hong Kong, both our backpacks are literally half the size now. 

Breakfast was an adventure, at least for Jeff. We were in a bit of rush since we needed to catch our bus at 9am. We got to the restaurant at 8am and while I ordered, Jeff went to the hotel to pay our bill. We didn't have enough cash to pay the bill so we were hoping to pay with visa, but no such luck. Jeff apparently had to walk down the main road to an ATM only to find out that BOTH were out of service. He then had to walk back in the other direction to another ATM which was on the other side of the harbour but that one didn't work either. He apparently went to hotel and asked what to do. They of course gave him very vague instructions. So Jeff went in the direction they pointed. Didn't find anything. Then the kid from our hotel who originally gave Jeff the directions came outside and pointed Jeff to the hotel across the street. Jeff went there, but when asked about an ATM, the lady said she knew nothing about an ATM. Fortunately, the guy actually running the hotel came into the picture and got someone with a motorcycle to take Jeff to a Jeweler where he could withdraw money from our credit card. Meanwhile I was back at the restaurant with both meals in front of me curious about the whereabouts of my husband. In reality Jeff wasn't really that far from me. He was going back and forth passed me down the same street I was sitting on. 

Jeff ended up paying a 4% charge to use the thing, and his breakfast was getting cold. The whole ordeal took him about 25 minutes. Not bad considering. He finally got back and poor guy rushed through his luke warm meal. At least the coffee was still warm. We quickly paid the bill and rushed upstairs to grab our stuff and give my parents a quick call. We didn't get a chance to talk for long but it was nice seeing them even if it was only for a bit. Paco our chihuahua gave me the cold shoulder again. I think he's mad at me for leaving him... at least that's what I tell myself.

My parents recommended a good movie about tourists in India called "The Exotic Marigold Hotel". Since we'll be there in 2 days we'll have to watch it. My parents were saying that the movie followed several people's journeys in India and that like most people each character in the movie either loved or hated India which was largely impacted by their attitude. The ones who embraced both good and bad experiences loved it. And naturally, the ones who couldn't, were simply miserable. So a good message for us as we prepare for what will be a very interesting experience.

We got to the bus stop at 8:50am and the bus arrived promptly at 9am and off we went. 

The trip there was pretty uneventful. Jeff slept most of the way and I had a great time listening to my iPod. I feel like I haven't enjoyed music in forever! I missed it. It got me thinking about lots of things. While travelling it's amazing how free your mind gets. There's so many less distractions. We joke all the time that our lives are so stressful trying to decide where in the world we'll travel to next. Or which restaurant/dish we want to try. It gives you so much time to get in touch with yourself again, and connect with your significant other. 

After the bus ride my brain was overflowing with ideas and thoughts about life, people, and this experience. It got me thinking about how Jeff and I had been feeling down about how little we had to offer in our conversations with other travelers. We would always let them do most of the talking. And for a while I think we both were beginning to believe we sucked at telling stories and that didn't have anything interesting to add to the convo and that surely what they had to say was much better. All this negative self talk got us insecure about telling our stories to people. This got me thinking about all the negative comments we make about ourselves in a day. Or how we put ourselves down even about little things. But these little things, build up into larger things. You start telling yourself enough times that you suck at something, you will start believing it and then it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. This was one major idea I walked off the bus still thinking about. So I told Jeff I want us to stop ever putting ourselves down, even in our own heads. Not only that, I'm going to start writing down positive qualities about who I am and reading them to myself everyday. Probably sounds hokey to most of you reading this. And I don't blame you. But when it's you experiencing it, it's not. And maybe there's a piece of this you can relate to. We all like to tell ourselves what our limits are. What are weaknesses are. But how very rarely do we pat ourselves on the back for being kind, generous, or polite. And we should. 

I feel so lucky to be alive, to have found Jeff, to be experiencing all this with my best friend, to be healthy enough to do so. This experience reminds me everyday to count my blessings. My life was not and is not perfect but I am damn lucky. There's good and bad, beautiful and ugly, sadness and happiness, kindness and rudeness. It's all part of life. If I went home tomorrow, what this experience has taught me is to focus my energy on the good. 

Now this is all easier in theory of course but in practice not so much. And right after getting off the bus and thinking about all this, I was very grumpy. And I was visibly annoyed with a taxi driver who would not leave us alone after declining his offer several times to drive us. But, it's a work in progress. We ended up finding two other travelers to split a cab with back to the Old Quarter. We argued with the cab driver for couple moments and the 4 of us worked as a team and didn't back down from fixing the price of the ride at 70k Dong. We won the battle. A local told us that was the going rate, but all the taxi drivers were demanding 100k. 

We got into the Old Quarter in 5 minutes and in no time we were back at home in Hanoi Lucky Guesthouse. Peter and Mary greeted us with big smiles, and Mary actually said she missed us so much. She is the sweetest pregnant lady you will ever meet. They made us coffee right away and we had a couple laughs with Peter who we later confirmed is married to Mary. We thought so, but weren't sure. After our coffees, Peter asked us to write a review of Hanoi Lucky Guesthouse on hostelworld. We sat there at their desktop kind of awkwardly evaluating them. I of course gave them 100%, but joked aloud to Peter that it was a horrible experience. I sat there trying to write the review while Jeff had a nice conversation with Peter about Canada and our debt system vs. Vietnam where loans are never given, at least not for the average citizen who wants to buy a home. We got to know Mary and Peter much better after talking to them and it turns out they really are as kind and good-natured as they always seemed. Truly wonderful people.

I think all of us walked away from that conversation smiling like fools. Tuan walked us a few feet down the street to the hotel they put us up in. Turned out a lady staying in the room we booked had gotten very seriously ill, so they allowed her to stay in the room another couple nights. Mary made arrangements for us to stay in a nicer room with a balcony and an enclosed shower all for the same price. Who would have thought an enclosed shower was a feature?! Most bathrooms we've had lately are completely open to the sink and toilet in the room. As you can imagine, everything is soaked in there by the end, and sometimes that includes the toilet paper. 

Jeff and I talked for a bit in the room. I was spewing out all the things I was thinking on the bus, and we talked about how we needed to buy a gift for Mary and Peter. They are expecting a baby boy in a month so we figure we'll buy them a gift for the baby. After all this we were hungry.

We went and grabbed Bun Bo at our fave place. We walked around the Old Quarter looking for linen pants for Jeff. First pair he tried on he loved. Unfortunately no luck buying a pair today though. We also went into a jewelery shop and the worker there taught us a lot about pearls. This was very helpful since we bought some yesterday which we were told were real. From what she said, the ones we bought fit the bill. We're thinking we'll maybe go back tomorrow and show her them and see what she says. 

Dinner was good we went back to the "vegetarian" place we had dinner at a week ago. I put vegetarian in quotations because most of the stuff on the menu has meat. But on the menu it actually has written as the header  "vegetarian beef dishes". What is vegetarian beef? Whatever it is, we ordered it and it really tastes like beef.

That was our day.

Patty

Post #59 - December 9, 2012 - Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

What we did: trekking through Cat Ba National Park, boating through Lan Ha Bay
Budget: 1,200k Dong/$60; Spent: 2,455k Dong/$120

Jeff here.

Today was like waking up from a dream. A boring, repetitive, claustrophobic dream. The past couple of days have been so-so. We've felt a little lost, not really knowing what we are doing out here. Perhaps it was that we had no firm plans or anything to look forward to, because today, with our tour beginning at 8am, we woke up with a purpose and I think this made us happier. The sun also came out today. That didn't hurt either.

Our day began at 6:30am, which might sound terrible, but it's so bright in the morning waking up wasn't really hard at all. By the time we made it to the restaurant for breakfast it was only 7:15am, but it might as well have been midday it was so bright. It's a fantastic way to wake up. We had a pretty nice breakfast. For the first time in a long time I actually felt very full. It's a nice feeling to have once in a while!

We arrived at the tour agency, Cat Ba Ventures, and almost immediately hopped aboard a bus after being handed two 1.5 litre waters. They were large, but we would be needing those. The bus ride took us to the entrance of Cat Ba National Park. It turned out there were three others also doing the tour today. A younger couple, who were speaking Spanish to each other, and an older gentleman, who seemed to speak French.

Our hike began simply enough on a paved road that more or less remained flat for 20 minutes. The paved road led to a parking lot, and from here on out, there was no pavement. In fact, I would argue, there was often no path at all.

Anyway, we were told that we had five different "mountains" (hills) to get up and over before the end of our hike, which ended at a village where we would be eating lunch (8 km to the village). The first hill was more or less just stairs leading up. And up. They weren't very steep, but they went on for eternity. The Spanish couple disappeared into the distance and the French guy lagged well behind. We got to the top of the first hill and we were all pretty tired. After a five minute break or so, we carried on, going back down the hill, across a plain, and then up the second hill. It was at this point when I genuinely began to worry for the older guy.

He was huffing and puffing, sweating like mad, and his face was beat red. This was clearly not something he did everyday. As we climbed the second hill I stayed in front of him, but close, so that he didn't feel like he had to rush. It was concerning, but he made it up that hill, and then three more. And let me tell you, those were not easy climbs, especially the last two where the path literally disintegrated and we were clamoring up over rocks. Patty noted that this path would never exist in Japan: it would be impossible for girls in high-heels. Here's our guide and the "trail":

The climbs were pretty challenging, but more difficult and scary than physically demanding. At least for Patty and I. The older guy would probably disagree! The way down from the fifth hill was the worst part of the whole trek. The rocks were loose and many of the stones were jagged. It's not like there was the opportunity for us to fall off an edge to our deaths, but the chances of an injury like a sprain or broken bone was higher than we were comfortable with. In the end, we made it down with no problems. Once we were at the bottom, we waited about 20 minutes for the older gentleman to get down, since he had slowed considerably after the last two hills.

From there, it was a 20 minute (horizontal!) walk into the village. The village was in a very pretty valley. Once we were in the village it was another 5 minute walk to our restaurant. Here are some pics:

The meal was pretty good and was included in the price of the tour. The conversation around the table was minimal. I think everyone was too tired to talk. Once we were done, it was another 5 km to the harbour where we would be taking a boat through Lan Ha Bay back to Cat Ba Town. The French guy decided to pay for a ride on a motorcycle to the harbour instead of walking, which I think was an excellent choice for him! We walked with the Spanish couple (Lara and Miguel) and learned quite a bit about them. They told us how difficult it is in Spain right now because of the recession. Apparently, it's extremely bad and violence will likely erupt if things don't get better soon. Lara lost her job because she worked for an NGO and the government cut its funding. Miguel was just hired for a new job and would start when returning to Spain in a couple more days. Many family members and friends of theirs have been affected. They told us that there is no such thing as declaring bankruptcy in Spain, so once the bank takes back houses people cannot afford, they sell the houses and force the previous owners to pay the difference. This sounds like absolute madness, especially since the Spanish government apparently bailed out the banks twice! So, essentially, the Spanish government bailed out the banks with the people's money, but would not bail out the people with the people's money. But I guess the same thing happened in the US, and probably in many other places as well. It's so sad.

Our walk to the harbour was very beautiful. Here are some pics:

Once we arrived at the harbour a boat was waiting for us. We all jumped on and away we went. It was an extremely calm ride for the first 15 minutes or so, and then it got a little bumpy for the last 30 minutes. We really enjoyed the bumps. Reminded us of Ocean Park in Hong Kong! Here are some pics along the way:

We were dropped off at a harbour a couple minutes away from Cat Ba Town. A minivan had been arranged to drive us back and it took only minutes before we were standing in front of our hotel again. We decided to go straight to the shower to get rid of all the mosquito spray. There was a beautiful sunset from our window:

After showering we grabbed dinner at the Bamboo Cafe, before heading to Good Bar for some drinks and fries. On our way back to our hotel, Patty began looking at some pearl necklaces being sold be a street vendor. We looked up how to tell if pearls are real, and it seemed like they were, but who knows. Patty ended up buying two necklaces and some earrings. They're very nice, and she's pretty excited about them.

Back in our room we booked our one night stay in Bangkok and that was pretty much it. Time for some much needed sleep!

Good night!

Post #58 – December 8, 2012 – Cat Ba Island

What we did: Fort Cannon, booked day tour for next day, trip planning

Budget: 1200k Dong/$60; Spent: 708k Dong/$34

Patty here.

We rolled out of bed at around 9:30am and grabbed the breakfast we had bargained for the day before. We negotiated a bundle for the room and breakfast all for $15. It turned out to be a pretty good deal. We got the room for $10 and breakfast for $5. The price of breakfast this morning would have been $7. After breakfast we had to ask the hotel owner to turn the hot water on for us so that we could shower. The hot water lasts for about 5 mins and then quickly starts cooling so that sucks. It’s better than no hot water at all I guess.

We got cleaned up and out the door at 11:30am. First stop was Fort Cannon which is supposed to have one of the best views in Vietnam. We walked passed an entrance gate on our way up and further down the path a guy on his motorcycle stopped us saying he had tickets to get into the war monument/museum at the top. We were a bit confused and thought maybe he was trying to swindle us. But we soon realized he was legitimate. And we begrudgingly forked over 100k dong even though our book indicated it would only cost us 40k for the both of us. It was a steep climb uphill for about 30 minutes to get to the top and another reminder that we are no longer in shape.  We had to walk passed a big grumpy dog barking at us and ignore some of the rustling in the jungly bushes beside us. It was an interesting climb. The weather today was hot and humid but it felt good to get exercise.

Once we got to the top we realized we forgot our memory card for our Nikon camera as well as mosquito spray so that was annoying. The views up there were pretty spectacular. Can’t believe how many little islands there are just off Cat Ba. Here are a few pictures we took with the iPhone:

The war monument itself was interesting. It had signs guiding us through the various sites but other than that it didn't provide any information on what we were seeing. We saw several underground tunnels and gun emplacements as well as living quarters for the soldiers manning the post. The most interesting part was seeing the cannons and statues manning them as they would have in real life. As you entered the area with the cannons all you could see was the backs of the soldiers and they looked like real people for a couple seconds which kind of gave me a spook. 

Apparently the bullets could travel 40 km from that point on the mountain. Further on, we saw several pieces of military equipment and some uniforms from the Vietnam war.  Near the end of the walk through the museum we arrived at the café which the book highly recommended. We had been excited to get there and have a nice lunch overlooking the ocean and the Karst mountains. Sadly it was closed.  But there were chairs and tables out and we grabbed some seats and enjoyed our snickers bars and the view for a bit. On our way down we saw a helicopter pad used during the war at the very top which is now just an empty parking lot. Cat Ba Island is pretty quiet these days. With so few tourists around there’s not much life on the streets of Cat Ba. It’s kind of dismal actually. It sounds like we just missed the busier season for them too which ends the first week in December.

Once we got down the mountain we decided to try and find a tour agency our book recommended called Blue Swimmer. This took us about an hour up and down hills of streets and we never ended up finding it. We got back to town tired and hungry. We came across a sign showing prices of trips back to Hanoi. Well, well, well, we thought, look what we have here. There was a bus, speed boat, bus combo that took you directly to Hanoi in about 4 ½ hours for $11.50 per person. We jumped on the chance to buy them and the guy at the office was super helpful and super nice. We didn’t have the cash on us to pay for them but he directed us to an ATM so we made our way there. We took out some cash but got distracted by hunger so we stopped for lunch. We had a nice meal; 2 yummy soups, vegetable fried rice, chicken spring rolls and Jeff had beer and I had an Orange Fanta. All this for $8.50.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We went back to the hotel and hung out there for awhile. We talked a long time together about lots of things and a couple hours went by.  Later we booked a day tour to Cat Ba National Park and boat trip to Lan Ha Bay for tomorrow. And now here we are in a bar called “The Flightless Bird”. We can’t help but be reminded of our pet bird back home, Dan Grossi. This bar was named after him no doubt.

For the rest of the night we’ll probably just do some trip planning and then get a good night sleep before our all day tour tomorrow. 

Good night!

Patty

Post #57 - December 7, 2012 - Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

What we did: walked around Cat Ba Town
Budget: 1,200k Dong/$60; Spent: 1,160k/$58

Jeff here.

Not too much to report today. It was definitely a slow day, even by our standards. Patty is still not feeling 100%, so that's our excuse for not doing anything exciting.

We started off with a breakfast at a close by restaurant called Bamboo Cafe. It was an excellent breakfast, although a little on the expensive side. Afterward, we went to check out another hotel to see what kind of rate we could get. They took us up to their top floor and showed us a room there. It had a wonderful view of the bay. Nice room, too. They offered the same price as the hotel we were already at, which wasn't much of an incentive to switch hotels. When we returned to our hotel, we negotiated an included breakfast with our stay, so that we wouldn't have to pay so much for our breakfasts in the morning.

We had noticed a place just around the corner from our hotel that burned DVDs so we went to check that out. We have been looking for a place to burn our pictures onto DVDs for some time, but not had any luck. This place did so without much hassle, except the price. All in all, we got five DVDs and paid $15 for them. That sounds like a ripoff to me, but I should have haggled more. Sigh.

Patty still hadn't written the blog post for yesterday, so we thought we'd go check out a cafe recommended by Lonely Planet where she could write it. The cafe we ended up at is called Flightless Bird, and is apparently operated by a bunch Kiwis, although a local was running the place while we were there. It also had super cheap manicures and pedicures, so Patty got both. We ended up paying $5 for those, a coffee, and a Sprite. Not bad!

Unfortunately, Patty didn't have the opportunity to write her blog post because after all this we were starving and went looking for a place to eat. Of course, Patty's nails hadn't dried completely yet so the second she put her feet into her shoes her nails were ruined. This seems to happen a lot with pedicures. Makes them kinda pointless.

Anyway, we decided to return to the Bamboo Cafe for dinner. Patty chose to take it easy, since her stomach was still pretty sensitive. She ordered a vegetable soup, which was very nice. We also got some vegetable spring rolls, vegetable fried rice, and fried chicken with chili. Everything was fantastic. A huge improvement over yesterday night, in both price and flavour!

After dinner, we went on a small crusade in search of a tour group called Blue Swimmer. We got some crappy directions from a tourist ("Ya, it's like down the road that way, and you turn right at the intersection. Hypothetically, I've never actually been there"), but decided to follow them anyway. We spent the next 30 minutes walking through town having no bloody clue whether we were on the right track. The only interesting thing of note on this walk was when some hoochie-looking girl, who was sitting on the patio of a cafe with her friend, approached me and offered me a card. I declined. We are pretty sure she was offering me her services. Patty almost kicked her ass, and I don't blame her. Then again, I didn't take the card, so who knows, but neither of us are giving her the benefit of the doubt. Our lengthy journey eventually ended right back where we started, having completed a humongous loop. Awesome.

We decided it was time to ask a local. Surely, they know better! We asked the owner/operator of our hotel and he pointed down the harbour in the other direction and said it was a ten minute walk. So off we went. Ten minutes later and we're in the middle of nowhere again. We approach a building that looked like the last building for quite some time and asked about the Blue Swimmer. No one seemed to know what we were talking about, so we left. Disgruntled.

On our way home we have an epiphany: why not just look for it on Google Maps? Why not, indeed. Back at the hotel, we checked out the location and it turns out that nobody gave us good directions. We had passed a fork in the road earlier and taken the road back down to the harbour, but if we had taken the other direction and followed the pitch black, scary-looking road in the other direction it turns out we would have found the place no problem. What an ideal location for a tour office!

Anyway, so we decided to check out the other tour agency, called Cat Ba Ventures, which is a locally-owned tour operator also recommended by our book. It also happens to be located next door to our hotel. It being low-season, there are few people taking tours at this time. Unfortunately, this means higher prices. The prices aren't that much higher, and of course drop with more people taking the same tour on the same day. There was another couple on a tour we were interested in, but there was room for more so the price wasn't great. We decided to hold off and check again tomorrow.

After this we headed back to our hotel room for two serious blog-writing sessions. Thankfully, this one is short and sweet! Well, maybe just short.

Buenas Noches!

Post #56 - December 6, 2012 - Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

What we did: Bus, boat, and bus trip to Cat Ba Island, caves
Budget: 1200k Dong/$60; Spent: 885k  Dong/$42

Patty here.

Felt well rested this morning after sleeping for most of the day before and getting to bed early. I managed to eat some breakfast from the hostel but gave some of it to Jeff to finish. Overall I was feeling much better. Our bus arrived promptly after eating and once we paid our bill at the hotel we set off on a verrrrry long journey to Cat Ba Island. We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. As far as we knew we had paid for simple transportation from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island. Well we were in for a few surprises.

We grabbed what looked like the last two seats that were side by side at the very back of the mini bus. But there were other seats we just couldn's see them at the time. Long story short after picking everyone up there were a total about 20 people packed into a minibus like a bunch sardines and we all roughed it for the next 4 1/2 hours. I felt especially bad for the tall people who had no leg room. That's a long time to keep your knees bent in the same position. Naturally half way through the trip we took a 30 minute "bathroom" break at a large shop selling paintings, clothing, and other textiles. Upon entering there were several of the artists seated and working away. The artists seated were disabled, and according to one of the sales people at the last shop we stopped at prior to arriving in Ninh Binh, many of them were born disabled and/or with birth defects as a result of their parents' exposure to Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical weapon used by the Americans in the Vietnam war. It was used to defoliate forests and rural land to take away cover for Guerillas. This shop apparently employs these individuals and also uses them as a sales tool. It is not made transparent anywhere in the shop itself exactly how your contributions benefit the workers, therefore we've been a bit turned off.

We browsed around but without much interest. We hopped back on the bus and were unimpressed to find that our spots had been taken and that we would be sitting a part the remainder of the trip. Another 2 hours went by and we arrived at Halong City Harbour. We got herded out of the bus and into a parking lot like a bunch of cattle by our less than enthusiastic tour guide who then rattled some instructions off like a drill sergeant  He was difficult to understand so someone asked him to repeat himself and he did again with absolutely no expression on his face except maybe a hint of irritation. There was definitely no smiling happening. Turned out there were papers that needed to be filled out by all the tourists. Something that could have been easily done on the bus but for some reason was left til we were off the bus. Forgive me if I sound bitter and negative but I'm recollecting one nuisance out of what would become many during our trip to Cat Ba. All we wanted was transportation to Cat Ba!!!

We got a circus instead.

After waiting for one binder to be passed around to 20 tourists to fill out some basic info, another one was passed around. Then, the guide explained that the tourists who hadn't paid for the overnight cruise would have to walk over to a booth to buy entrance tickets to something... I think they were for the area of Halong Bay as well as some caves but I'm not totally sure and we never really found out. It turned out there were many people who had bought the same ticket we bought from their hostels which were simply to get to Cat Ba Island. But we all were also lumped together with those tourists continuing on with an overnight cruise. This was a bad idea.

Many people stood listening to the guide, confused about why they needed an entrance ticket. You would assume the $20 cost of the transportation would include that sort of thing, but no. So I approached a booth the guide had pointed at, assuming it was where we could buy the entrance tickets but the lady looked at me totally confused and annoyed. I thought okay, maybe this is the wrong booth. The lady didn't speak any English so it was difficult to communicate with her. So I went to a little building beside where her booth was and explained what we were looking for. And luckily a lady who spoke English redirected me to the same booth. But it was as if they had never encountered people approaching them for two entrance tickets before. The lady again looked at me annoyed and unsure of what I would be asking for. And again I asked for two entrance tickets to god knows where. She then told me the price but not until another lady explained to her in Vietnamese what we needed. There was so much confusion between us it was a miracle anything got done. None of us had any idea what kind of entrance ticket we were buying and who knows what was going on from this lady's perspective. She's probably been through the same confusion day in and day out and maybe there's many different entrance tickets so she didn't know which one... I don't know, but this all could have been easily avoided if the price of the transportation included this entrance ticket.

So after this debacle which took an entire hour, we were finally on a boat to Cat Ba Island. Or so we thought. We breathed a sigh of relief once we got on and took our seats in the dining room of the boat. The boat itself was kind of cute:



The guide organized the tourists into 2 sections of the dining room. One side was for those staying for the overnight cruise and the other side was for those continuing on to Cat Ba. They might as well have put chains on us and dressed us up in little striped jumpers because we were treated like criminals. We spent the next hour watching the "overnight cruisers" eat a delicious lunch before our very eyes. One girl was appalled rightfully so, and asked if we had the option of buying lunch. He ignored her. I guess that meant no.

Next thing you know we arrive somewhere on Halong Bay and are directed to some caves. The English speaking guide on the boat didn't bother to join us, I guess he figured we were all geological experts on caves and he had nothing to add. So this was our 2nd surprise. A stop to see some big, high-ceiling, neon lit caves. Here is a picture:



By the end all we could do was ask the question, why? Why was this happening? Why didn't we ask for me information on the trip? Why wouldn't they feed us?

We didn't get fed at all during the trip to Cat Ba Island. But we did have the option of purchasing snacks and drinks like Pringles and Oreos which no doubt were probably grossly overpriced. Anyways by the end we were starving but we refused to give them another penny.

Our next surprise was a stop amidst Karst mountains in the ocean for the "overnight cruisers" to do some kayaking. We the criminals had the option of paying an additional $2.50 per person for 40 minutes of kayaking. It was a beautiful spot, but we were starving and hadn't planned any of this. We were told the trip to Cat Ba would take about 5 hours. And there we were at 3:30pm watching our fellow travellers hop on some kayaks for another 1 hour stop over. We took some nice pictures from the deck and it's too bad we didn't enjoy the moment more. Considering the circumstances, it was tough to appreciate it all.







We departed the area at around 4:45pm. Two new passengers came aboard. A very outgoing and friendly Polish guy who was ready to start the party with some Vodka, and a Latvian girl who we spent the next hour or so talking to about kite-boarding. There was also a nice couple from France that were in the same predicament we were that we met during lunch time. Their names were Sophie and Eric. A sweet couple. Both were tech artists. Eric had actually helped with the graphics for Dispicable Me and was working on a "secret" project that he couldn't share with us. Jeff asked if we bought him some beers would he tell us more about it, and he said maybe. But in the end we were given no more info about his project. Sophie was working on her PhD in Art. She specializes in Video Game Art. As you would expect Jeff and her had plenty to talk about. She was more passionate about video games than he was! It was quite cute. We must have been so boring to talk to though, and so grumpy.

Eric and Sophie made friends with another French couple who were spending the night on the boat. When they learned we hadn't eaten anything, they were very concerned and quickly brought us a bag of fruit and cookies. The 4 of us and a Chinese girl, whose name I can't remember unfortunately, sat around the bag of food. I wasn't going to eat any, but the French girl sharing her food insisted we have some. It didn't take much convincing and soon we were all scarfing down baby cookies like they were some extraordinary dessert. Baby cookies never tasted so good. Seriously they were delicious. The French girl brought out a little puppet she had brought on her trip. She had made it at home and it had flags stitched on it. It also had a Canadian flag pin on it that some travelers from Quebec had given her. When the mouth opened it showed the site to their blog. It was an interesting idea.

We thanked them several times and finally we arrived on Cat Ba Island. We read in our book that often times they will drop you off on the Island but will leave you with no option but to take a taxi for $50 to the town itself where all the hotels are located. We had talked to Mary at our hostel to ensure the price of the transportation included the trip to the town and we were told it was. But with the number of surprises we had seen that day, we were prepared for anything. We hopped off the ship into darkness. There were no lamp posts at all. Eric had a flashlight so that was helpful. We were relieved when we saw that there was a bus waiting for all the tourists to take them to the town. Again in the bus there was confusion. There was some kind of roll call taking place. I don't know if they were trying to figure out where to drop everyone off or what, but the bus didn't start moving for awhile.

After about a 20 mins ride the bus stopped in town. Some guy at the front asked who was staying at the Sun Flower hotel. Two girls stood up and got off the bus. There were probably 30 people on the bus so we were thinking are they going to do this for everybody?! It was 7:00pm at this point. There were a bunch of locals trying to organize everything at the front of the bus. They began talking to each other for awhile and before we knew it they were telling all of us to get out there. The entire bus had no idea where we were being dropped off and what was happening and why. This led to one guy demanding that he get dropped off at his hotel. A group of people stood by watching him. The guy he was talking to said that was the last stop. Meanwhile  5 minutes later as were walking down the road we see the bus with about 10 other tourists still on it. Not to mention the bus had no choice but to continue down thesame road.... go figure.

We were exhausted and slightly concerned because we hadn't booked our accommodations yet in Cat Ba Island. This decision was based on a recommendation from a traveler we met who said we could get a great deal on somewhere nice if we booked upon arrival. We were worried we would regret this. But, it turned out to be much easier than we thought. It was low season and the hotels were looking pretty desperate to fill the rooms. The first place we went to said they were almost full with only one double with a private ensuite left. He said he would give it us for $10. We asked to see it. It was very basic and had no window so we told him we would think about it. As we were leaving he came down to $8. But we continued on.

We approached the main strip and saw a hotel that was recommended by our book. We walked in went through the same convo with the owner. Someone showed us the room. It was spacious and had a pretty view of the bay all for $12. We went downstairs and offered $10 per night and he accepted.

What a long day. If you're still reading this... which would be very surprising, we had to find somewhere to eat. The owner directed us to a seafood place recommended by the book. It was expensive and not overly tasty. But we were hungry so it was satisfying.

Once we got back to our hotel, our heads pretty much hit the pillows and we were both out like lights.

A loooooong day it was.

Patty

Post #55 - December 5, 2012 - Hanoi, Vietnam

What we did: traveled from Ninh Binh to Hanoi
Budget: 1,200k Dong/$60; Spent: 754k Dong/$38

Jeff here.

I can't believe we actually got up at 6:30am this morning after the night we had last night. Poor Patty was not well. She definitely has Traveler's Diarrhea and really had a horrible night last night. Thankfully, she was feeling better this morning, and good enough to insist that we make our train leaving for Hanoi at 8am. She's one tough cookie.

We had a small breakfast at our hotel (free), before we were driven by two members of the family that own the hotel by motorcycle to the train station (also free). Honestly, the value we got out of this hotel was incredible. It left me feeling like they did us a favour by allowing us to stay there. If anyone ever heads to Ninh Binh, which I would highly recommend, stay at Canh Dieu Hotel.

Our train ride was pretty uneventful. I napped on and off, and Patty slept most of the time. It was sooo nice to travel by train again! There's just something so very comfy about a train. The ride itself took about 2.5 hours and then we were back in Hanoi. It felt like we were coming home!

Once we stepped out of the train station and checked some signs, we knew where we were and decided to walk to our hostel. It took about 30 minutes, and the only notable occurrence was me stepping in a fresh, steaming pile of caca. Lovely.

We were greeted very warmly by our hotel's staff, which made it feel even more like we were coming home. We both really like Hanoi! After this we went to our room and Patty fell asleep. Poor thing was beat. She hasn't had any problems today, so that's a good sign. I, meanwhile, cleaned my shoe, which stunk like, well, caca. It was disgusting. I'm really glad that's over with!

Patty slept for most of the afternoon and I napped for a bit, too. We didn't leave our hotel until about 6pm and went in search of a place to burn our pictures onto DVDs. Unfortunately, the place recommended by our hotel didn't actually burn DVDs, which was a downer, since we are desperate to send our pictures home! We decided to then just grab dinner.

We went to a restaurant called Highway 4. We had been there before and it was nice and close to our hotel. We had a pretty decent meal, but at a not so great price. Patty ate a little bit, but her stomach was still a bit sensitive. We sat with an interesting older couple that we think is from England. It was their third time at the restaurant and the man was not impressed. He voiced his unfavourable opinion of the place loudly and often. Luckily, I don't think anyone working there actually understood a word he was saying. The couple seemed to be on a somewhat different kind of trip than us and, I think, were used to higher quality of service. Meanwhile, Patty and I are thinking to ourselves that this is the most normal (in terms of the service and ambiance) restaurant we've been to in a long time!

After dinner we hiked our way up to our room on the fourth floor of our hotel and settled ourselves in for a long night of blog writing. And that pretty much covers it. Tomorrow we're off to Cat Ba Island!!

Good night!