Turning 30 in Vietnam

Well considering I got this far writing my blog, you can tell I made it to Vietnam with the infamous Laos airlines. It was a smooth and pleasant flight actually, so can't complain. We were really excited to be in Vietnam. I'd picked up a US vet autobiography in NZ and it had made me even more interested in visiting the country and it's people, as well as being a fan of Vietnam films. I'll come back to it later, but it was really interesting visiting museums and war sites and seeing the other side of the story. Hanoi was crazy. And I'm talking risking your life everytime you walk down the road, let alone crossing the street in fear of being run over by a moped. There is seemingly no highway code here. Every man, woman and child literally live on the street, and I don't mean homeless, they have homes, but they prefer to spend their time on the pavement, quite often wearing pijamas. And why not? It's not noisy, dirty and dangerous for kids at all. Eating, drinking, smoking, eating, chatting, sleeping, cooking, eating, squatting and encouraging your baby to piss in the gutter by lifting it's legs and holding it over the gutter while you chat to your mate. Hence no pavements to walk on. The cooking, food stalls and street sellers make for some interesting smells though, not all pleasant but interesting. Lighting litter fires (one way of getting rid of it), street bbqs, incense, bubbling pho (spicy noodle soup) to name a few. We found a friendly little hostel, the friendliest we've stayed in so far in fact, and settled in. The next morning I got up early as usual to get the free breakfast, and was surprised that Greg got up with me. He usually takes this opportunity for an extra 30 mins in bed while I dine alone. I didn't mention it as I didn't want to break the spell. After breakfast we returned to the room and Greg took an annoyingly long shower, 15 mins into which there was a knock at the door. I opened it, and to my absolute shock my friend Gabbie was standing there! I couldn't believe my eyes, it was so strange to see a familiar face after so long, not to mention not expecting to see one in the slightest. The first thing that came into my head was that Gabs must have been there by coincidence, intrepid traveller as she is herself. After the shock subsided and Greg finished his sly long shower I discovered that in fact it had all been planned for months and was Greg's birthday present to me. I couldn't believe how organized they had been to arrange it, and the lengths Greg had gone to give me something I really wanted for my birthday. I was so happy to have Gabs with me for my big day, and to have a proper friend to liven up the conversation for the next week.  Over the next few days we went sightseeing, and researched the best way to see Halong Bay. This being the first time I had actually looked into it, it was annoying to find it was a minefield of scams and trips not being what you pay for. After deliberating, mainly Gabs and I, we settled on a mid priced 2 night trip and gave it low expectations so as not to be too disappointed.  After spending 4 days trekking through the heat of Hanoi, I warmed to the city. It may be crazy, but it seems to be calm and organized hecticness, not including the traffic. And I also felt really safe. When Gabs and I went off one morning to see Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, which was bizarre I might add - seeing him seemingly just asleep in a coffin, especially as his dying wish was to be cremated he can't be too happy. We decided to walk back, and got a bit lost down some back streets, but at no point were we worried or felt insecure.  As my 30th came closer I started panicking; when did I get so old? I don't feel it so that's good, but it was all going so quickly. Am I where I wanted to be at 30? There's not much time left. I'm a proper adult now, have been for a while i suppose, no excuses. The pressure of having a memorable 30th - Greg going to the trouble of getting Gabs out, Gabs making the effort to come - what If I didn't feel like it on the day? And the bizarre feeling of wishing I could see my mum and dad, are they finding it strange too? In the end when I was in bed and midnight struck, I shed a tear I admit, I'm allowed to cry on my birthday if I want to. And after a few more I felt better. Weird how crying makes to see straight and come to your senses. In the end I had to rationalize it: I don't regret anything in my life so far. I don't wish i'd done anything differently - how would I know who I am if I had. I'm in Vietnam for gods sake, even if I felt shit on my birthday, tired, or Halong Bay was a bit crap I can still say I spent it in Vietnam. I'm 30 and I'm travelling the world for a year, a pretty brave and exciting thing to do if I do day so myself. I spoke to mum and dad. And with that I got a few hours sleep.  One thing people had said to us, was that as the only way to do Halong Bay is by tour and the most important thing is to hope you get a good crowd, as you'd be spending the next 2 days with them. Well there was no way of assuring this, so as we boarded the mini bus the next day, we had our fingers crossed..... In the end it was even better than a group of like minded people - instead we had the biggest group of weirdos and nutcases (of course) it was hilarious. I always say I wish my stomach would hurt from laughing like it always used to in science lessons with Claire at school. Well I can say it did on my 30th birthday, Gabs and I couldn't stop laughing at the luck of it:  1. A loner from oz who looked like a paedo 2. An old man and a 30yr old Russian woman we assumed to be father and daughter, with her thick oaf of a boyfriend... From Preston. Who proceeded to have a full blown row as soon as they got on the bus, they then made up and he seemed to be touching her up as she kept squealing. 3. A group of youngish Russians, who looked like they'd spent their entire life on a concentration camp, yellow sallow skin with huge bags under their eyes. We stopped at a artisan craft centre on the way there where hundreds of woman were sat embroidering complex pictures of anything from flowers to tigers to naked women, without patterns. All of  which were just slightly skewwif making them look a bit demented, which added to our hysterics. We arrived at Halong City and despite the number of other tours and tourists there, we went straight through the crowd and onto a boat to take us to our 'Junk'. The boat and our room was quite luxurious. After a lunch of seafood which I could hardly touch, we sailed through  the most photographed bit of Halong Bay, and I could see why. The endless limestone rocks  towering out of the sea looked like something out of Avatar, it was breathtaking. I was also surprised how many there were. We've seen similar rock formations in other parts of the world but nothing like this. The boat stopped and we went off to discover one of the caves, there were loads of other tourists, but afterward Greg and I took a kayak out and circled a few of the rocks. I can't believe I hadn't tried kayaking before, it was brilliant and so surreal to be that close to these natural structures.  While we were back on the boat waiting on the nutcases to finish several one woman boats pulled up along side, selling anything from cigarettes to shampoo. They were so eager to get our attention they started shouting, "scuse me, buy somthin?" After repeating it 10 times her English failed her and it ended up sounding like, "kiss me, buy sumthin!!!" Later that evening we showered at got ready, as usual I was the last ready and as I walked up to top deck I was greeted with a candle lit table and champagne on ice, which Gabs had organized. It was gorgeous, sipping champagne sat on a luxury boat with the shadows of the Halong Bay rocks overlooking us. Needless to say after our sneaked on bottle and vodka and box of wine the conversation was flowing, along with a few heated debates as always happens when the 3 of us drink together. But it was a memorable evening with great company. Thank you Greg and Gabs for making it so special.  With slightly sore heads (especially Greg's) the next day the boat set sail again. This time for monkey island. I stupidly thought I knew a bit about monkeys because of volunteering in Bolivia, so I got a bit too close, and was a bit too confident, and got bitten. Very luckily it didn't break the skin, but it taught me a lesson! Next stop Ca Ba island. We were led on bikes from the port into a pretty little village surrounded by rice paddies and mountains, where we stopped to take a hike up to one of the hills. We'd not been told to bring trainers, so expected it to be a stroll. Instead it turned out to be a treacherous hike, the worst part being trying to get down a sharp quarry of limestone rocks, one wrong step and we would have been shredded. By this point I could see by Gab's face she was not impressed, this is the girl who's motto is "why walk when there's a bus/tube/taxi". Seeing as we survived without a scratch we can now say it was a great experience, and we were rewarded with great views of the island.  We spent the second night on another part of the island in bungalows on the beach. The bungalows were nice inside and the view was amazing but the beach, restaurant and state of the sea left something to be desired. Greg and I took kayaks out again but the sea was filthy with scum and rubbish. It's such a shame, as it's the level if tourism and lack of restrictions about fuel on the boats and floating fishing villages that have caused this. I saw locals throwing their rubbish into the sea, and I'm sure a lot of tourists do the same. Unfortunately it puts a dampener on such a beautiful place. Overall we were pleased with what we got for our money, and were very impressed with the beauty of the place. It made a great location for my 30th. I just hope they do something about the water before it's ruined for the future. Unfortunately after a quick meal back in Hanoi, Gabs had to fly out. A week had gone so quickly. Greg and I were back to our travelling routine and made plans to get a sleeper bus down to Hue. To my surprise a moped turned up at the hostel as our taxi to the bus. Without a chance to argue I hopped on, along with my luggage balancing on the front for the first relay. It was quite thrilling riding through the sea of other bikes and I forgot for a moment the dangers. It dropped me at the bus pick up point, and I made the fatal error of stepping off the wrong side and onto the exhaust. The sting shot through me, and as I bent down to check, the skin on the inside of my calf just peeled away like raw filo pastry. It was embarrassing as loads of other people were standing there, but luckily some waiter gave me some ice, which isn't the best thing, but my only option. So there I was about to get on a 14 hour night bus, with a raw burn the size of an orange on my leg. Greg prepped me for the pain to get worse...