Day 2 in Ha Long Bay

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Dec 11



Ah yes, the people. I'd forgotten how good it feels to have a beer with other travelers and hear their stories and throw in one or two of my own. The young people were welcoming of this old fart last night. Some glimpses:





1. After about five minutes, it became clear yesterday that James from Ireland, 30?, a male nurse in care facilities, wasn't about to let his nation down. He was both hyperactive and funny from the moment the beer fridge opened here, and only when we went kayaking was he without a beer in his hand. I sat beside him later, for some reason, and he revealed a serious and caring side that was passionate about demanding more qualified care for his clients.

2. His three Irish female friends, one of whom worked in Vancouver, loves pot, has a grad degree in info technology/innovation, and wants to open a home-cooking restaurant: they were all lovely, kind and witty in that Irish way.

3. A FAM' of four from Singapore: young couple and her grandmother and mom; her mom is a retired English teacher who just spent a year in Jiangsu teaching. She says Singapore is a "fine" city: fine place where people pay lots of fines! She thinks it has loosened up a lot since I was last there. Which it needed to do-- desperately.

4. A 30 plus male from Peru who has thinning hair and looks like I imagine Don Quixote looks like. Somewhat sad eyes with large Spanish nose, a bit of a hook to it. He studied English in the US and wants to introduce permaculture to his country--has read a few books, done a bit of farming with a friend....

5. Three 20ish girls from Israel who seemed to enjoy the karaoke last night, led by James, the young Irishman. A withdrawn couple--why is there always a withdrawn couple?--from Ozz who seem to enjoy each other. Shy twosome.

6. Two South African girls, students at Capetown: one of whom is sweet and an e-reader (I called her Australian earlier), the other a wide-shouldered, athletic person, v friendly and outgoing. I enjoy hanging out with these young people.





Now what would a novelist do with this confection? Someone would have to die, or disappear...or a medical emgency at the very least.





OK, off to a national park by bicycle, beach bungalow tonight. The Irish are decidedly slow this a.m. They will join us along the Israelis. The rest return to Hanoi. I'm not really dressed like the others, who today favour sports shoes or healthy sandals. I have my Merrill slip-ons with a sole coming off and, for some reason, no underpants or socks. The perils of unplanned travel.





(Later) Now my typing will get worse b.c. I gave the luxury junk's steward the pointed little stick for typing on a tablet. He was quite attracted to it and he'd returned my wallet more or less intact after I'd left it at my luxury dinner table last night.





Some updates. I forgot to mention a lovely young woman who deals with unemployed people in Italy, guaranteed employment for her it seems. Quietly elegant. Not sure how things went on the voyage b.c. she was told to share a double bed w. M. Don Quixote from Peru. He seemed like a gentle man and they were chatting quietly together at breakfast so they must have negotiated the bed situation in a satisfactory way.





We had a cycling tour into the center of this island (I was given a girl's bike with a low seat) where we overnight in thatched grass bungalows, white sand beach, quietly lapping surf. Only thing missing is the sun this foggy day, but the view is wonderful and I love doing nothing at all.

The island is called something like Cat Ba, 2nd largest island in Vietnam.

The cycling ended at what I'm guessing is a model commune. Sparkling clean, prosperous houses, lots of ragged dogs about to be eaten.... I was surprised at this b.c. in general I think China gave up on communes in favour of private land (in most cases). And Vietnam seems to be modeling its development on China re. recognizing private property's role in entrepreneurial activity. The village commune is making money from aquaculture in reclaimed rice paddies, according to our cycling guide, but I'm wondering abou not an infusion of government money as well because the tourist volume here is huge enough to get propaganda attention--those English signs....





The air is clean here and feels good after the charcoal smoke and motorcycle exhaust smells from the Old Quarter of Hanoi. I think we 'll tog up for supper this December night for our "outdoor dining." Back to Hanoi by boat and bus tomorrow. Lots of photos but we can't figure out how to move them from an IPhone to a Windows platform using my tablet.

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