A Halong Bay Thanksgiving

Upon our return from Sapa we jumped on another bus and headed for a two day boat trip on Halong Bay. Wikipedia: "The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Đou Go (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest grotto in the Ha Long area. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites (as well as 19th century French graffiti). There are two bigger islands, Tuon Châu and Cat Ba, that have permanent inhabitants. Both of them have tourist facilities, including hotels and beaches. There are a number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands." To see the islands and grotto's a boat trip is mandatory and we had a great group of people on the boat with us, which made for a great trip and an eventful night.

We spent two glorious days and one night aboard the ship (three star ship status) on HLB. Our first day consisted of laying on the boat deck just reading and listening to music. The boat stopped at two of the bays famous caves. The first cave, Thien Cung, was filled with incredible stalactites and stalagmites that have been in evolution for over 20 million of years. The cave was also full of colorful lights, probably to accent the s-mites. The multi-colored lights made you feel like you were in some awesome cave club as opposed to a Unesco World Heritage site. (As a sidenote- if you were able to rent the cave out it would be an awesome clubbing venue, obviously only complete with a incredible DJ and bar. Talk to the world heritage people and sign me up.) The other cave was missing the multicolored lights, but proved to be just as spectacular.
It was Thanksgiving Day while we were on the boat. It was a bittersweet day because we are so thankful to be doing this trip and living this life, but at the same time we are still missing our family and friends back at home. Lets me just say that tofu and rice isn't exactly up there with turkey, cranberry, sweet potatoes, and family for Thanksgiving dinner. Despite being two of the three Americans on the boat we had everyone at our table say what we were thankful for. There can never be a wrong time to do that.

That night (lets face it, we started before the sun went down) we played a lot of cards and drank a lot of Hanoi Vodka. We were introduced to this awesome game called Snap which consists of a group of people passing around playing cards, trying to get a four of a kind. You move cards around by saying something like 'pass two cards to your left' etc. Once you have four of a kind you yell Snap and throw your hand and cards in the middle of the circle. Then there is a mad rush of hands flying into the middle and the last hand on top losses. You can also mix it up and do a fake 'Snap' shout out. Trust me, Snap is a blast! We played cards and chatted late into the night. Although not a traditional Thanksgiving, still one we will never forget.

The next day on the boat was spent much like the first- music, sun, and books. Good times, new friends and too much Hanoi Vodka. Happy Thanksgiving.