Buffalo Soldiers
After the couple of days of big drinking in Hanoi Backpackers it was time to ramp it up a level. A few of us were booked on the hostel’s trip to Halong Bay, one of the most picturesque spots on the Vietnamese coastline. It has also hit the headlines recently for the wrong reasons, with incidents of tour boats sinking and visitors losing their lives. Thankfully there was no such drama while we were there. The bay is full of monolithic rock formations that rise up out of the South China Sea. In great weather it is a stunning spot. After nearly two weeks of light drizzle and a chill in the air, we were blessed with glorious sunshine for our two days at sea.
Before all that we had a three-hour bus journey to get to the port. We were all a little hungover so banter was at a premium. As soon as we got on the boat however, that all changed. It was around lunch time so we all grabbed a beer and got to know each other. We had a few Aussies, a couple of Canadians, a pair of Irishmen and our little group from the hostel. Our guide was an English bloke by the name of Simon who quickly introduced a couple of key rules. Left handed drinking only. And anyone caught disobeying rule one could be called ‘Buffalo’. Which meant you’d been caught red-handed and had to finish the rest of your beer. Buffalo was the regular call for the next day or so and it seemed to be the usual suspects caught again and again.
There was an opportunity to do some jumping off the side of the boat but given the water was freezing I gave that a wide berth. Later we did some kayaking in pairs and I was paired with Conor, one of the Irish. We made a decent little team and soon got competitive with the Aussie pair of Angus and Spandy. A bit of racing, splashing and general sledging ensued. All good clean fun. We moored up at some caves and on the advice of the guide, I kept my flip-flops on while attempting to climb the caves. Bad idea. A footwear malfunction lead to a loss of balance and a tumble backwards. But for the quick reactions of an American bloke behind me my skull would have come crashing down on some jagged rocks. As it was I survived with just some cuts and bruises. Another close call though!
After that narrow escape it was time to head back to the boat and myself and Conor had the bright idea of kayaking backwards all the way back – and attempting to be first back. We set off at a ferocious pace and were leading the pack, but then we lost our sense of timing and direction and quickly fell back through the group. The others seemed to take a long-winded route back and we found ourselves able to head them off by reverting to a more traditional paddling method. We made it back first after all!
After showers it was back to more beer, dinner and then a night of drinking games. These were good fun but people seemed to lose interest and gradually the group dwindled and in the end it was a pretty tame and early night for most. Disappointing really as the night held much promise! I should have probably taken my leave too but ended up staying to the death with one or two others and then getting only a couple of hours sleep. To ward off the hangover I resorted to hair of the dog which would turn out to be a terrible idea. Mainly because back on dry land I would soon be undertaking a 32-hour marathon journey. More on that to follow…
Today’s first tune of the day has a backwards theme. This is Frightened Rabbit and My Backwards Walk:
