[LEMONS] 12.09.2002
Goodbye, Crowded Planet
There are things you can't describe with words. Things you have to experience.Two days ago, in Ha Long Bay, we paddled a leaky kayak through a hole in a rock to discover a hidden lagoon, surrounded on all sides by soaring cliff faces 80 meters or so high. Emerald water, with living coral just a few feet below the surface. Two beaches and a few small caves. Rock formations all along overhead. It was surreal, like nothing I've ever seen before.
We'd travelled to Ha Long with eight friends we met here in Vietnam. Six on the ride from the airport, and two who stayed on the boat with us the night before in Ha Long Bay. After a morning of trekking through the national forest on Cat Ba Island, we headed out on a boat with a few kayaks tied behind. Just as we left Cat Ba Town, it began to sprinkle. By the time we reached our kayaking spot, it was raining full on.
The rain was just the latest insult on what should have been (and was) a remarkable trip. Harper and I have been travelling independently; booking all our own transportation, the same transportation the locals use in all but one case. We act as our own guides. We do it ourselves. It's punk rock travel.
But in Vietnam, we didn't have our trusty Rough Guide that accompanied us through Thailand. Instead we had to rely on Lonely Planet--a book that essentially ensures you're going to see every other foreigner in any given area and no locals whatsoever (who aren't employed in the tourist industry, that is). Lonely Planet tells you where the tour operators are that can book you a cheap bus. Rough Guide tells you how to get to the bus station.
Whatever.
We (Harper and I plus our six friends from the airport ride) booked a tour of Ha Long Bay through a tour operator in Hanoi. A suggested operator in Lonely Planet. And so. Instead of 14 people on the boat, as promised, there were 60. Instead of private bearths below deck, we shared rooms (Harp and I lucked out and did not, but everyone else did). Instead of two person Kayaks, they were one person boats with only a single paddle, and we had to sit facing each other. The boat leaked. There was no guide. The only vegetarian meals we had we had to arrange on our own. It was a real bag of rats.
Whatever.
It was still a blast, due to the beauty of Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba, and the relentlessly positive group we were travelling with.
But the highlight of the trip was paddling through the sea cave, and emerging on the other side to find the rain had stopped, and that we were smack in the middle of paradise, of a theater of the mind.
The trip back to hanoi also had its share of excitement. All the tourist boats coming back that day were stopped by the Vietnamese police, who were checking everyone's passports and visas. Those unfortunate enough to not have their documents with them were taken off of the boats and sent to the police station on the mainland until they could prove they had permission to be in the country. We sat anchored in the bay for roughly four hours while this was sorted out.
The lesson here is to never, ever, EVER, leave your passport behind while you're travelling. Even if you don't have problems while you're out, you also hear stories of them being pilfered from rooms and hotel safes.
Upon returning, we borrowed a Rough Guide to find that, despite what it said in Lonely Planet, you could arrange independent travel to Ha Long and Cat Ba. Feeling a little down on ourselves for being tourists, we decided that we absolutely weren't taking LP's advice and using a travel agent to buy train tickets.
So today, we hiked down to the train station in Hanoi, literally elbowed our way to the front of the cluster (there are no lines at the Hanoi train station), and bought our tickets ourselves. Not only was this more satisfying than sitting on your duff while an operator does it all for you, but we saved nearly $30.
Upon returning to the Old Quarter, we picked up a used 2002 edition Rough Guide Vietnam for $5. Anyone want to buy a Lonely Planet South East Asia?
Cheap?
- l i n k -
