Julie, a friend of mine who I had met in Phnom Penh in March,
gave us plenty of suggestions for our time in Vietnam. It was in Ha Noi when we realized exactly how
amazing those suggestions were going to be for our northern Vietnam experience.
Caroline, Jennifer and I caught a flight from Saigon to
Hanoi and were excited to spend the last few days that Caroline was with us
exploring the famous Ha Long Bay. We had
no idea what to expect, and what we found was the perfect ending to our month
together.
Enter: Julie’s amazing suggestions.
At the hostel’s Happy Hour that night, we were informed that
we would receive free shots all evening if we had our faces painted...
This service was available for about $3 USD
from a professional make up artist, but why pay someone when you have your
sister and cousin to draw hideous and frightening designs on your face for
free?! My thoughts exactly…
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| Lovely sister picture |
We took turns creating new looks for one another, and
intermittently enjoying our free beverages.
After a few drinks we decided review Julie’s message, and after immediately
speaking with the hostel management regarding our options around these
suggestions, we realized that the only option we would have to go on the
infamous Castaway Island Tour of Ha Long Bay was the following morning…at 6
AM. Not a problem. A few more rounds of beer pong with guys at
our hostel and we were ready for dinner, and then bed.
The next morning I was in shock that so many partiers made
it to the early morning round up, and with everyone cringing as we passed the
hostel bar towards our bus, we were off.
We arrived at the port a few hours later, and were shuttled
somewhat randomly on small boats until the entire group was aboard our ship for
the night. Reese, our “guide”,
introduced us to the mandatory rules of the Castaway Tour as well as the
commencement shotgun with the group.
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| Shotgunning in the morning, always a great choice! |
The day was spent enjoying the fantastic views, kayaking
through the islands, jumping off of our three-story boat, drinking games,
eating the delicious cuisine of a woman who went by Mama (who fondled Jennifer
at multiple points of the trip) and making new friends with the 40 other
travelers who were in attendance.
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| Pictures can never capture the beauty of Ha Long Bay - it was stunning! |
The next morning we had to wake up quite early, around 7 AM,
and shortly thereafter we were taken to another boat and had to say goodbye to
Caroline. The only thing as sad as
parting was realizing that she would be on her own in quite a hung over state
for the next few hours on her way back to Hanoi.
Jennifer and I continued to Castaway Island with our new
friends to spend the day relaxing on our private island and getting to know our
Castaway mates better.
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| Amy and I off the coast of Castaway |
There was rock
climbing, volleyball, kayaks, tubing, and of course Reese’s drinking games. The day came and went way too quickly, but
the friend’s that we made there were some of our favorites of our travels
together! That night we all swam in the water with the phytoplankton, which glows neon green when it is disturbed. 40 intoxicated twenty somethings splashing around in the water under a full moon off the coast of a private island in Ha Long Bay - pretty epic experience.
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| So much fun with our new island friends |
After the cruise, we returning to Hanoi Backpackers and
practically crawled into bed despite the never ending-rave occurring one floor
beneath us in the hostel. The next few
days we enjoyed exploring Hanoi and relaxing, while Jennifer fretted over finally
publishing her own travel blog – check it out!
We had very little idea of what Vietnam had to offer when we
arrived, but after few days of rest post-Castaway we were off to see what we
could find!
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