Trip to Halong Bay
Hi Everyone,
Well, I have a job starting October 26th here in Hanoi. Teaching 19 and a half hours to start but may increase somewhat later. Two days after I committed to this one, got an e-mail from the school in Danang stating they were interested, paid a lot more money, but didn’t know when a job would actually be available. Such is life. C’est la vie. Maybe another time. Still doing touristy things.
So, here comes another of those long, rambling tales of what I’ve been doing. If you’re not interested, please hit the delete button now. If you don’t want to be bothered with them in the future, please let me know. I won’t be upset or offended. I know that sometimes long e-mails cause trouble with your computers. And maybe you’re just not interested in Vietnam. Feel free to say, don’t send any more.
Well, here goes. Went on a three day trip to HaLong Bay east of Hanoi. Started with a three hour bus ride to the coast. Midway we stopped for refreshments at at “tourist” stop where they were making embroidered pictures. Over 100 young people sat at tables sewing. One person made the picture from start to finish. They had a drawing or photograph which they sketched on the cloth stretched in front of them. Maybe a tiger, a street scene, a landscape, a woman on a bicycle in traditional costume. Then they selected the colored thread they wanted and began to sew. A 20×24 inch picture took 25 to 30 days to complete. Larger ones took longer. They were incredible. You had to get close to see that they were embroidered rather than painted. It is a special art. I noticed that many of the people working there were crippled in some way. Maybe this was a vocation for those who could not work in the fields.
At HaLong Bay, we got on a boat which was very similar to a Chinese Junk. We had those funny looking sails though they never put them up. (other boats did). They fed us lunch immediately. Don’t remember what we had but there was a lot of it and it was good. Sat with a couple of nice young people from the Isle of Man, off the coast of Scotland. They refer to themselves as Manx, rather than Brits. Sailed out into the bay weaving through the islands. Most of you have seen pictures of HaLong Bay though you may not know it. Two thousand islands, each a huge rock coming out of the water and stretching straight up to the sky. Reminded me of Cypress knees at Reelfoot Lake, for you Tennesseans. First stop was the Amazing Cave. It was high up on one of the islands and we had a steep climb getting up there. I was soaked in sweat when we got to the top. The cave was huge but like any other, stalactites and stalagmites. At least it was cool. The view from the top was spectacular and I got pictures of the bay.
Next we went to TiTop Island, a short ride away. I had noticed this island before because it has a Pagoda on the very, very top. It also has a beach and we had the opportunity to swim. Rather than make another climb, I opted to cool off in the water. Others went to the top. All the tour boats stopped here, including a boatload of Russians, most of whom were overweight and wore bathing suits too small for their bodies.
Back on the boat, we sailed out into the bay and anchored for the night. Women in small fishing boats loaded down with merchandise, water, drinks, potato chips, cookies, etc., rowed out to us and called, “Buy from me?” There were several of these boats and they rowed from one boat to the next. We could even hear them after dark. Supper was excellent, Spring rolls, spinach, rice, cuttlefish (small squid) and a whole fish. I avoided the whole fish. Our group included the Manx, two Finns and six young French (4 girls and 2 boys). After supper, we played UNO and I got to practice my French. One boy lives in Aix-en-Provence and the others are from Istre, near Marseilles. Really a nice group.
The next morning, the women in the fishing boats were there bright and early selling the goods. We sailed to Cat Ba Island and got off the boat. We went to the National Park on the island and began a three mile trek. We climbed to the top of a mountain which had a metal tower on the top which offered a spectacular view of the area. I didn’t climb the tower. A lot of the climb up the mountain had been like climbing stairs, sometimes steeper. It was rugged and I was exhausted. One of the French girls noticed I was lagging behind and she slowed the others to let me catch up. Not only was I tired and winded, the tower had metal stairs. I’m not afraid of heights until I can look down though the structure on which I’m standing and see the ground. That bothers me. I knew I wouldn’t enjoy going up the tower so I didn’t. The climb down the mountain wasn’t a whole lot easier. I was by far the oldest in the group and it showed.
We found our van and rode to the hotel in town. Our room overlooked a large bay filled with the sailing junks. It had been a fishing village which now catered to tourists. We had lunch and were told we would go to Monkey Island at 2:30. We went to Monkey Island in another boat. They nosed into the beach and put down a board at a very steep angle and told us to climb down. The board, about 8 inches wide with 1×1 boards nailed on as steps, kept moving as the boat kept being pushed around by the waves. Anyway, we all made it. Our guide pointed out the path to climb to see the monkeys or we could go swimming. We set off to find the monkeys. This climb was steeper that the morning, but was only about fifty feet up. The French got to the top first and called down that the monkeys were there. I was near the top and saw a monkey about ten feet above. I grabbed a climb to climb up, looked down below, and felt a strong tug on my arm. I jerked my arm away and looked at it. My right forearm was bleeding. I had been bitten by a monkey. He was sitting on the limb screaming at me. Evidently, there was a small monkey sitting on the limb when I grabbed it and the big monkey, protecting the little one, attacked me. I had a deep cut about an inch long and and a spot about one-quarter inch round where the surface skin had been removed. Needless to say I started back down. I didn’t get any pictures of monkeys though I got a close-up view. One of the French girls was also bitten, but just a scratch.
We went back to the beach and got some first aid, disinfectant and bandages. We decided to go back to town immediately. In town our guide took us to a local doctor. He was a happy fellow wearing white pants and a sleeveless undershirt. He looked at my arm and told me I needed stitches. He put on a white jacket and a white pillbox cap. Now he looked like a baker. He sterilized his instruments by pouring a liquid on them and setting it on fire. He cleaned out the would and did a good job closing up the cut. We stopped at an Internet site and looked up Rabies, my major concern since I had not had a rabies vaccination before coming. It said I needed immunoglobulin and the rabies vaccination. The local doctor had neither. Supper at the hotel followed by more UNO.
Next morning, we got back on the boat and sailed back to the mainland with a stop for a swim half way. I didn’t swim because of my arm. Lunch in HaiPhong and the three hour ride back to Hanoi. Went to the SOS International clinic where they looked at my arm. Had a Doctor from Holland and one from Vietnam. I was in good hands. There was a debate as to what to do. They said that suturing the wound was the wrong thing to do. Never close an animal bite. They couldn’t decide if they should remove the stitches and reopen the cut or wait a day to see what happened. They opted for the latter. They gave me the immunoglobulin, some antibiotic, and the first of four shots, spaced out over for weeks, for rabies and told me to come back the next day. The immunoglobulin was VERY expensive so, if you’re coming to Vietnam, get the rabies vaccination first!
Went back the next day and they decided to remove the stitches. Pus began to ooze out, so they were pleased that they were doing the right thing. Ended up going back four days in a row getting the wound cleaned out and the dressing changed. Hope to have a nice scar so I can say, “Well, when I was in ‘Nam …”
It was a good trip. The area is beautiful and very different. It’s bizarre how the islands come straight up out of the water. If any of you have seen the French movie “Indochine”, you have seen HaLong Bay.
OK, more later on the continuing adventures of Higgiro.
Love to all,
Tom
higgiro39