I'm here

[I wrote this post a couple days ago, internet here is tricky]
Hello everyone! I just got back to my hotel on Cat Ba Island after rock climbing on a couple smaller nearby islands. It's my third night here and I'm having a blast. The trip was a long one, not only did air travel take something like 28 hours, but right off the plane I grabbed a taxi to Luong Yen bus station and just barely made my bus. I had a little sheet of paper with detailed instructions on how to use the buses to get to Cat Ba which I clung in my hand as I lugged nearly 100 lbs. on my shoulders. First there was a 2.5 hr ride on one bus, another 45min on another, then a 30min boat ride which got me to Cat Ba, and another 30 min bus ride into Cat Ba Town. The bus conveniently let me out right in front of the rock climbing headquarters, SloPony. I went in to get some advice on where to stay but the crew was out climbing for another couple hours. Luckily, there was a room available right above them for just 10 dollars a night. The room...had its drawbacks. It was simple in appearance, fan, airconditioner, bed, but it had a bad odor to it, like sweat and sewage bad. It was their only room though and I was exhausted but I couldn't just take it as it was. I asked them to change the sheets which I don't think had been, and they also washed the bathroom, which vastly improved things. The bathroom was something else, the shower consisted of the shower head and a drain in the floor, so the whole bathroom was in fact the shower. In all, I think the hotel was worth it for its price, convenience of location, occasional wifi, and this view:

After unloading my stuff I sat down on the bed and let a sigh I'd been holding in since I got on the first [delayed] plane in D.C. The flight was in general decent, and China Airways is a good service. When I checked in they made me a fake booking for a return flight so that I wouldn't get turned away in VietNam for only having a one way ticket. This wasn't a problem though, as the visa process was quite simple. In customs, they asked for my passport and gave me an application to fill out. I was halfway through the application when the official got impatient and just told me to sign the bottom. He already had the visa glued inside the passport and stamped!
So on my first night in Cat Ba my agenda is simple, eat, talk to SloPony and get to bed! So I head out in search of some Pho[oh, and some shampoo, soap and water, amenities all in lacking at the hotel], getting called out for bike rentals and solicited by different restaurants along the way. The entire trip from Hanoi to Cat Ba I didn't see a single westerner en route and in town nothing had changed. The majority of tourism on the island came from within the island, as school's were letting out and family were on the beaches to escape the summer heat. Unable to distinguish one restaurant's value from another, I stop into maybe the 20th one that advertised pho. But for 12,000 Dong[18,000 Dong=$1] all I got was a big bowl of ramen noodles with beef. Sitting there, eating my fake pho, and watching the all the 'foreign' faces passing on the street the distance finally had caught up to me. I was so caught up the last two days in the journey that I had little time to even think about the destination, until I almost spontaneously realize that I'm on the other side of the world. I pay for my meal and head back to the hotel, finding Oslo, one of the SloPony founders. I was ready to climb the next day, but the next time they were going out was in two days so I threw down $60 and had my first plan made. Of course, that still left tomorrow open but I was tired and decided to save the planning for the morning. I was out cold at 7pm[that's 8am Eastern y'all]. For those wondering whether I had jet lag the next day the answer is a surprising no. I hear on NPR that fasting until just before you go to sleep will cure jet lag and having done so myself I can say that it definitely seemed to work.
I woke up at 6 the next morning, with the aid of a some one playing their radio through a concert speaker into the street. This seems to happen every morning as if to say, 'wake up, tourist! go spend your money!'. I was in no rush to get out of bed, I spent the last two days in a constant state of motion, so I was glad to exercise my right to not move. Besides, I didn't know what I wanted to do!
Finally, an hour later, I get my shit together and head downstairs for some breakfast[not included, but cheap and tasty]. I have a simple omelet and some Vietnamese green tea. For the tea they let the leaves steep in the metal pot and you drink it from a shot glass. Because of the oversteepage, the tea is quite strong and its also a dark, army green colour, but it still tastes good with a seedy, vegetative taste and some musky tones. Makes me nostalgic for home.
Hotels aren't just hotels here, they are restaurants, tour guides and they'll rent you motor bikes, too. While eating my breakfast, one of the girls that worked there offered me a motor bike for 100,000VND[$6]. I'd never ridden a motorbike or scooter before, but I also wanted something to do and I noticed a national park on bus ride in that I thought would be fun to check out. So after breakfast I go upstairs and get ready, but on my way down I run into some climber in the SloPony lounge trying to arrange an overnight boat for the next day. While I waited to ask Slo for a map, I struck up a conversation with them. Two of them, Cheung[Japanese] and Audhild[Norwegian] were going to a place on the island that day called Butterfly Valley to do some climbing. They ask me to join and its no question that I say yes. It was great to finally meet some people I could hang out with and that actually spoke my language[Audhild's accent sounds Australian, but she claims its American].
We rent some gear[$5 each], buy a day pass[$3] and order lunch at the site[$3], and then head downstairs where I rent my bike. I won't lie, I was very nervous. I didn't even know how to turn it on! Cheung takes me through the operating instructions, not hiding that he's nervous about me driving, too. We start slow, me following behind as I try to work out what I was doing. Surprisingly, I picked up very quickly, and Cheung didn't have to pace himself on my behalf for too long. It was a 30 minute ride through a beautiful countryside.
I'll try to write the rest of this post faster, as it's getting late, I'm getting hungry, and I've got a good lead on where I can get some quality pho. The rock climbing was great, and I did great at it. There was one route that I had to fall twice though before I got it[don't worry, there's a rope so no actually falling is involved, you just swing]. Lunch there was absolutely amazing. Spring rolls, fish, some omelet thingy, rice, lychees...awesome.


After lunch we took naps in hammocks under the shade, as chickens and dogs ran by us and a cat meowed in the distance[word for cat in Vietnamese is meow]. Cheung and Audhild were cool to have met and good climbers. Hopefully I'll climb with them again when they get back from the boat trip in a couple days.


That night, a quick swim at the beach before sunset, when a fully clothed man comes to blow a whistle and wave a flag for everyone to get out. Then, some very good dinner with other climbers I met. Owner of restaurant sat with us and told crazy stories, about how gecko vodka improves your sexual stamina and that he wanted a third wife[he has two!] that was foreign so that he could have a tall son to play play football[soccer] for Manchester United.
Today, had to switch hotels cause my room was booked. No problem, this one's around the corner and in better shape for the same price. Went on climbing trip with Slo Pony by junk[boat]. Hit up a couple beaches for climbing on some islands. The climbing there is different then in Butterfly Valley, the rocks are sharp to the touch, like climbing on axe blades. It was good climbing though, and lunch on the junk was great, too.
Tomorrow, national park maybe? I'm not sure. Just have to wait and see.

[Me climbing over water]

[One of the islands]

[Junk near a fishing village]