Crappacinno*

After a day or two in Hanoi, we set out to spend time in one of north Vietnam's best known areas--Halong Bay, a set of limestone formations and fishing villages spread across emerald water. We gathered in the bottom of our guesthouse, a seedy but well loved place, and met our fellow travelers--a trio of Argentinian girls, a pair of Brits, and a lone guy of unknown origin, who was dressed as if it was 1968 and he was standing at the corner of Haight and Ashbury. A few minutes before we left on what was to be a three day trip to Halong Bay, our tour provider told us that our three day trip was being downsized to one day. Typhoon. It seems that the season lends itself to unpredictable weather and we were left with the choice to go for one day or not at all--we chose to go. We spent the majority of the day on a boat, weaving in and out of beautiful formations, exploring the largest caves I have ever seen and visiting local fishermen and their homes.

We made use of the extra time in Hanoi by visiting one of the many museums the capitol offers. The Museum of Ethnology features tons of information on the endless tribes in the northern part of Vietnam and included an outdoor exhibit of traditional tribal housing and communal meeting spaces. In general, Hanoi is loud and congested so we opted to spend our last days in the country by escaping even farther north. The morning that we left, Hanoi, two of Oded's friends from Israel joined us for our journey north. By evening, the four of us were crowded into the bunks of an overnight sleeper, prepared for a rough night's sleep but ten hours later we arrived in the small mountain town, rested and ready to trek.

To see photos of Halong Bay, please click me

*I know that the title bears no relation to the content of the text, but it was my favorite of many misspellings in Vietnam and I wanted to share it. xx