Travelled: August 15-16, 2015

WOW. Words can barely explain the amazement and satisfaction I endured this past weekend. Friday after work, I finally drove myself to Miss Nhi Beauty Club to treat myself to a long overdue pedicure. For $9 USD I got a pedicure, 30-minute foot massage and made a new friend Ly. Ly works at the salon, selling accessories and speaks really great English. Friday was the first day of the month on the lunar calendar and in Vietnam that is a sacred day where many people go to the Pagoda to pray to Buddha. It’s also traditional to burn fake money in a small kiln on the street. Nhi, the salon owner, began burning fake USD, VND and gold blocks outside her storefront. I went out front to see what it was all about and ended up burning the money with them. It is supposed to be good luck for fortune and to tribute to the dead in heaven. Lightning was bolting in the background, cars and motorbikes were honking in a heavily backed up traffic jam and I sat in front, taking in the culture first hand, with freshly painted toes.

Ly lives very close to me so I followed her to our neighborhood in a frantic state, as we zipped in and out of the clusterfuck of vehicles. This only prepared me for my first motorbike trip to be followed the next morning.

Rising at 5:00am to hit the road by 6:00am was a brutal and beautiful way to start the day. Waking up is always the hard part, but knowing you are about to set out for a new adventure keeps those eyes wide open and focused. Leaving from a local coffee shop, six of us set out on motorbikes to Cát Bà Island. The drive took about five hours, with a few stops for pho, rice noodle soup and nước mía, a sugar cane juice. We missed the 11:30am ferry by 20 minutes so we had to wait about an hour and a half for the next one. In the meantime, we ate pho for the second time that day and had a 333 beer. Once we got on the ferry it was a nice resting point to just relax and take in the view. The sky was clear with bodacious white clouds filtering through. It was nice to just zone out and look around in such a peaceful state of mind.

The drive was still not complete, as we had to get to the other side of the island. NO PROBLEM! Peaceful Easy Feeling by the Eagles was my song of choice that I kept singing out loud to myself throughout the journey. That with many others, formed a small and fitting playlist for my trip.

Once we reached the beach town of Cát Bà, we found a hotel to stay in for the night. We ended up staying at the first place we looked which was a whopping $5 USD per person for one night’s stay. AirCon included. Quickly, we changed in to our bathing suits and started on our mission to get drunk on the beach. The hotel manager told us the second beach was the best and was only a ten minute walk. Off we went on foot, grabbing a beer for the walk uphill to reach the beaches. We paid the minimal resort and chaise lounge fee, put our stuff down, bought some beers and carried on our way in to the warm, salty water. The feeling of getting in the water was a magical relief. WE MADE IT!

We brought countless bottles of Tiger beer in the water with us. With the one goal solely being not to get the salt water in our bottles. When a wave would be mellow, we would sip. When a wave would be larger, we would raise our arm, high to the sky to keep the beer safe. A German woman traveling alone, put her stuff with ours and upon request, took some photos of us as a group. She happened to capture the epitome of our actions.

Then there was the tennis ball—the social interaction of the Vietnamese and the Americans—a simple game of catch from us in the ocean to those on the cliff. I didn’t partake too much in this game, as throwing a ball is not really my forte. It was enjoyable to watch the excitement of everyone, as people passing by on the cliff would stop and play a few rounds of catch. It truly is wonderful how strangers and those of different cultures can connect in such a simple way.

We must have been in the water for a solid three hours. The sun was starting to set so we went in to shore and continued drinking beer and just hanging around. Eventually we started our trek back to our hotel to change and get some much needed food. Dinner was delicious. We ordered pizza, spring rolls and French fries. A wild combination of everything a drunk person may want. And more beer. And some margaritas. The constant chatter and laughter at our table was timeless until I decided to fall asleep at the table with a slice of pizza in my hand…

Assumingly so, myself and one other went back to our hotel to catch some z’s. The other four continued on with their night of debauchery. Always hesitant to leave the party, even when I am half asleep, it was a glorious thing I did considering we woke up early to catch the ferry at 10:30am to head back home.

Ranging from 40-80km per hour, we zipped through small towns and open highways, crossed bridges, braved roundabouts with vehicles coming in all which directions, and avoided and flew over one too many potholes. The views and drive was well worth the gravel, dirt, sweat and bugs that hit and stayed put on my face. It was worth the quick turn around and forever-memorable first motorbike adventure.