"I Feel Like A Pirate"

One of the staple things to do in the Cat Ba/Halong Bay area is to take a boat around the bay, either for a day trip of kayaking and swimming, or for an overnight cruise amongst the karst cliffs.  We opted for the overnight cruise.  2 days, 1 night, and not five minutes from the dock and Darren said, "I feel like a pirate".  It was a great experience and we definitely lucked out with some amazing weather and managed to redeem our fading tans.

The two days consisted mostly of sitting on the top deck of the boat, riding from one location to the next.  Stops would include kayaking amidst and under the karst cliffs, swimming on empty, white sand beaches and, having dinner with Vietnemese naval captains!

Throughout the bays there are all of these small fishing villages that live entirely on the water.  Many of them also double as small fish farms, and these small floating communities are clustered all over the place.  It was on one of these small fish farm living spaces that we docked for the night.  The "captain" of our boat, also a former captain of the Vietnemese Navy, invited us to dine with some of his friends.  Our company for the evening consisted of 2 naval captains from Haiphong (a nearby port city), a captain from Cat Ba (the island we had been staying on), amongst other naval officers.  Before we even started to eat, the captain (from Cat Ba) began pouring us shots of the local whisky.  Not wanting to be rude or refuse we kept with their customs.  Unfortunately (but not detrimentally), it seemed their custom to take a shot with every new comer to the table.  This wasn't weak store bought liqueur they were pouring us, it was home made rice whisky which was contained in any sort of bottle (there was a bottle of green tea, a bottle of vodka, and small jug that said "milk" on it).  By 715 I was already asking them to pour me half shots, and by 730 and I was asking to be poured nothing.  It all happened so quickly and before we knew it, all our friends were red and flushed and I was feeling quite free to giggle in excess.

Once we finally began eating (more to balance out the ratio of whisky in our stomachs) something similar happened and food seemed to be in endless supply.  The food our "captain" had cooked for us was already laid out on the table and more than enough (squid, egg, spring rolls, cucumber and tomato, rice, fried potatoes...).  The first strange thing was when the Cat Ba captain began to feed us.  At first he just put a spring roll in our bowls, and then rice.  But then he did something very odd happened.  When what I assume were the suboordinate/younger officers brought out some fish, the Cat Ba captain removed a piece with his chopsticks and held it above my mouth.  He didn't just put food in my bowl but was actually putting food IN MY MOUTH!  And then, just when I thought that was strange and uncomfortable (especially since I was the only woman on this floating accomodation) the Cat Ba captain proceeded to do the same to Darren, and eventually got around to doing it for everyone at the table, and more than once as the pluthera of seafood continued to expand.  By the end of dinner we had been fed (amongst other things) fried fish, mussels, and barbecued prawns--all excellent!  It was some of the best seafood we've had since Malaysia.

Despite having eaten and drunk as much as was humanly possible, and despite being more than content, the fun was not over yet.  No fun-filled Vietnemese night could be complete without a round of karaoke and dancing, and I'm sure it would have been more than rude to decline.  The great thing about Vietnemese karaoke (or any Asian form of entertainment for that matter), is that the television is often an old, small model-- in this case it was probably about a 19" television--but the stereo system takes up an entire room (and there isn't really any to spare when you're leaving on a floating house).  The amp alone was bigger than the tv.  So, with BLARING sound and a tiny tv the evening got started with some Vietnemese tunes!  (At this point, our Cat Ba captain had gotten the hiccups quite badly and gone to sleep.)  They were more than insistent that Darren and I be the main act and the songs they most longed to hear were "My Heart Will Go On", "Hotel California", "Hello", "Get Down" and anything by Michael Jackson (to name a few).

The night also included a friendly match of arm wrestling between Darren and one of the buffer naval officers.  Poor Darren didn't stand a chance.  The guy looked like he was barely trying and Darren looked like he was struggling vigorously.  I think it was 930 when Darren and I finally gave up and when our Haiphong captain began dancing blissfully by himself.  They all wished us a "happy" night and sleep and they place suddenly became very quiet.

The whole trip was pretty fantastic and getting to party with some high ranking locals was a treat.  Our trip may have been a little more luxurious than that of a pirate, and there was no pillaging or treasure hunting, but Darren did scope out some good places to hide treasure if we ever find any.