And the rain came....even harder this time!!

Thursday, we just strolled the streets of Hanoi. I think it was more of a headache than anything. This city is just really dirty, overpopulated, and so humid. Additionally, there's really not much to see, except for Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, which we didnt get to see because it closes at 11 am. We strolled into a Vietnam War Museum, and then ran next door to a cafe to beat the rain. We ended up there for two hours, saying "I'm sure it'll let up. We'll go when it lets up." Well, it didnt, and it rained all afternoon, night, and then next morning!!

Friday morning, we were picked up from our hotel by a minibus full of other tourists, en route for Ha Long Bay. It's about a three hour long bus ride to the bay, and it rained heavily the entire way there. We get to the dock and unpack the bus, all in the heavy rain, looking sadly at the heavy rain clouds above us. Well, we did plan this trip during the monsoon season, so we can only blame ourselves. We had to take a smaller motorized boat out to where our overnight boat was anchored at. The boats that you take out into the bay are called junks, and they're normally 3 stories, made of solid wood, and have really unique sails (when they're casted). Well, I could not believe it, like out of some story, the second we got on the ship, the sun emerged and the clouds all went away. Really weird, and extremely lucky.

Ha Long Bay is definately one of the most beautiful sights I've seen, and it's a big reason that tourists travel all the way to Vietnam. It's basically a group of more than 3,000 islands, that are made of limestone and shaped like huge mushrooms. The tops are covered with trees and the sides are just sheets of limestone rock. Unfortunately, because of its' popularity, we travelled out there with about 20-30 other boats, just lined up to get to where we all anchored for the night. But, it was so peaceful. The guides took us up to where a cave is located on one of the islands. We went swimming in the water, jumping off the third deck of the junk. There were two other American couples on the boat, so we clicked with them quickly. Of course the one girl who didnt want to get into the water was the one to get stung by a jellyfish!! We ate and drank, and watched a beautiful sunset. I wished we had one more night out there!!

This morning, we left the bay at about 9 am, passing fishing villages that resembled the water bungaloos that we stayed at in Thailand. Like the evening prior, the day was beautiful and clear. We couldn't believe our luck!! We befriended a guy from Ireland, who we chatted with during the ride back to the dock. And now, Keith and I are back at the hotel we stayed at in Hanoi. We leave for Sa Pa tonight on an overnight train at about 9 pm. I'm a bit nervous because we have to sleep in a cabin with two other people. This brings back bad memories of travelling from Barcelona to Madrid overnight with Denisse and Britney a couple years ago. They got stuck with a guy's feet in their faces, whilst he tells them that he'd spent the past 2 weeks on a beach without showering!! AAhhh. Hopefully we'll have better luck with our roommates. Will let everyone know in 5 days when we return!! - Kate