Day #4 started out early with a nice breakfast at Holiday View Hotel. After that the Iranians requested that we swing by a store for them to purchase some alcohol. We were at the port belong long to await our junk back to Halong Bay for the end of the tour. :( Along the way, the Iranians opened their alcohol and offered ALS some. After a drink or two, his whole face became SUPER red – causing more than a…

Ok, back with part 4. Good bye beautiful Lan Ha Bay. So after we had lunch, we were “shipped” to Cat ba Island to check into the Holiday View Hotel. There were many choices of accomodation on the island but it’s a small island. Holiday View was adequate. Here’s our room. :) Catba Island really isn’t very exciting. We were given free & easy time after we checked in. So after a nice warm shower, we wasted no time checking…

So finally with the morning’s drama behind us, we moved onward to the second half of the day’s itinerary. Catba National Park To say I expected what we experienced would be a complete lie. It was everything I did not expect. I HAD SO MUCH FUN! First the junk stopped quite a distance from the shore. Duc (the guide) said we had to take a local water taxi over to shore because it was too shallow for the junk to…

Last where we were at the previous post was kayaking merrily in Lan Ha Bay. Such a beautiful lagoon – our midpoint. So… to pick up from where I left off, disaster striked.Dammit. ALS did it again. He did something odd again. See this is what happened… (imagine the clouds and dream-like kind of transition effect on your vision before the next paragraph takes place) See we were paddling merrily through some tunnel when we all heard a very LOUD…

Before I begin on this day, please check out the last post I did on this. I mentioned about how dog-tired ALS was after climbing 400 steps to the top of Titop Island ya? Well, guess what! I found incriminating evidence!! Today’s itinerary promises to be exciting – I just had no idea how exciting! :) I was groggy from my sleep and what a sight when I got out for some fresh air. : ! That’s ALS btw. Breakfast…

We were at Halong Bay at my last post. This is part 2. :) The Amazing Cave is not amazing at all. My goodness. It was such a waste of time. I could have been swimming or kayaking or something more fun than going through the crowded paths within the cave with only the eerily lit walls as a view. Boring. After the boring hour at the not-so-amazing cave, we set sail again for Titop Island nearby. Duc (guide) said…

It is interesting that the houses and shops at Hanoi are built so closely to each other and so narrowly. I wonder how they can feel comfortable! I mean, I am used to having a lot of horizontal space but vertical? We were constantly afraid of eating dog meat or the likes of pig brains and stuck firmly to those we could identify. Anything suspicious is a big NO NO. God I saw 4 or 5 slimey brain matter (I…