Blue Mountains

(10.21.08 Sydney Airport 10:18am)
Next morning (10.17.08) I again attempted an early wake up to go to the 7am mtg but it didn’t happen. I finally got up around 930am, took a shower and headed to the train station. I was meeting a Danielle in the Blue Mountains with a couple CS’er she was hosting around noon and it was two hour train ride to get there. I arrived shortly before her and they met me at a restaurant for a late breakfast. Afterwards we drove to take in the sites. Our first stop was a look out over the mountains including “three sisters”. Then took a quick hike out to three sisters. There was a bridge that allowed you to get to the first of the three pillars and a fence with a sign stating that there was no longer any climbing at the site. It also said if you cross the fence and were caught there was a 300$ fine on the spot. I couldn’t refuse the photo opt and quickly climbed over after teaching Marcus how to use the camera. Chris, Marcus and I all took turns taking pictures in spite of the sighs from the other tourist as we climbed over. Then I decided to take it to another level and actually free climb a steep over hang section of the face. To be fare (that’s a new saying I’ve picked up on my travels), there was a ledge just below me. However, we shot the photos at an angle that made it look pretty sweet! I did slip a few times and almost missed the ledge on my fall, had I missed it was a several hundred foot fall with nothing to stop me but rocks. We next went to another tourist trap where we paid 20$ to ride on the worlds steepest roller coast and back up on a Cable car. It was at this stage of my trip that I figured out that the US dollar is actually stronger than the Oz Dollar. Our .60 $ equals 1$ here!!! I thought it was the other way around and was a lil sour about how much everything cost. The cable car and “rollercoaster” were quiet uneventful but since I only paid 12$ us I didn’t mind. We drove back to the city and I got dropped off at Kylie’s house in the city, a girl I had met while waiting tables in Maui 3 ½ year earlier. For some reason I kept her business card all that time and when I saw her I realized why!!! She was pretty hott! We went to the Noodle Markets, one of the venues for “Good Food Month” in the city, where we met some of her friends and a guy she was seeing. It was kinda an awkward situation since she told me they had a fight 5 days prior and hadn’t spoken since. She made up a story that we had a mutual friend in Maui. After eating, the girls wanted to go dancing so they all started throwing out names of clubs. I was wearing blue jeans, t-shirt, hoodie and slippahs. It was decided that we would go to Hugo’s but first I had to go with Andy back to his house and change. He gave me a nice pair of leather shoes and button up collard shirt. Apparently Hugo’s is a high end swanky club in the city and if you’re not a smoking hott girl or know someone, you don’t get in. Andy, Sean (her BF) and I had to stand back while she talked to the door people. She got us in and we didn’t have to pay cover. As the night went on Kylie kept introducing me to her girlfriends trying to hook me up, but I really didn’t have any interest except going to bed, alone. As we talked I found out Kylie is kinda a big deal, in her own head, and to most people in the city. She’s somewhat of a high profile figure and has dated some major players in the City. The club we were at was really pretentious and not my scene AT ALL. But every once in a while it’s nice to see that side of society. Kylie and I discussed both of our prior relationships and her current one to Sean, which she didn’t seem to happy in. As the night wore on I made it clear that I was ready to go, and I would have already except the fact that I left my bag at Kylie’s house. I was supposed to be waking up and going to Cronolla the following morning at 8am. Around 12:45 am Sean and Kylie began to bicker and it made for an awkward situation since it was just her, Sean, her friend grace and I left it the group. We gave them some space but at the same time I wanted to let her know I had to go. I walked back over and let her know I wanted to leave and she agreed but wanted to finish her drink. I minute later she started walking towards the door with Sean close behind. He shoved her forward and I jumped up to follow them. Giving him the benefit of doubt that he might have slipped and caught himself with her rather than actually shoving her I just followed and didn’t say anything. Right then he grabbed her by the back of her neck and started pushing her forward thru the crowd. I ran to catch up and grabbed his arm, spinning him around “bro, you need to chill the F*ck out” I said. I turned back to me took a step then turned around and headed out of the club. Mean while Kylie had retreated back inside. I sent Grace to make sure she was ok. The three of us walked back to Kylie’s and grabbed my bag, called cab and left. When I got to the parking lot I saw my cab and started towards it. As I approached I there was someone in the backseat, it was Sean! I dipped out of sight and called Kylie letting her know he was down here and asked if she wanted me to come back up. She assured me she was ok, as her father is the Captain of the Queensland Police Department and Grace was upstairs with her. I stayed out of site long enough for him to walk by to avoid a confrontation. Did I mention Sean is an ex US Marine? I took the cab to Felicity’s house in Glebe as she was hosting me that night and the next. Arriving at 2am I called to get inside. She wasn’t able to sleep. She and one of her roommates had a falling out about me staying there and it had got pretty lively she said. The following morning the girls were gonna have a house meeting to discuss the situation and Felicity was gonna tell the woman that she needed to move out. Next morning (10.18.08) we woke up around 8am. Felicity asked me to sit in on the house mtg so things wouldn’t blow up. I felt really awkward sitting there, as I was the reason for the fight. About 5 minutes into the talk Line, another of the roommates stopped the discussion and suggested that maybe I should be there and asked me to leave. I was very relived and retreated to Felicity’s room to use the internet. After the talk we had breakfast and finally got on the road about 10:30 to Cranolla. I told the girls I would teach them how to surf along with the CS’ers I had met the day before in the Blue Mountains with Danielle: Chris, Marcus and Cooper. When we got to the beach I didn’t see much surf and was a lil nervous since the girls changed their beach plans from the northern beaches to Cranolla specifically because I needed to go there so I could paddle at 3pm. Down the beach about a mile a saw a lil white water coming in so we walked down to take a look. Surf enough there was a small shore break coming in and even a small class of students learning to surf. I asked the instructor if they rented boards and took his board to catch few waves while we waited for Danielle guys to show up. I didn’t have a wetsuit and it FREEZING in the ocean. Once the rest of the crew showed up they rented boards and got an extra wetsuit for me. I gave me second international surf lesson on the beach of Cranolla to five students: one from Oz, one from Denmark, one from Canada, and two from Estonia. I started with a land lesson and then got them in the water. The waves were slopping shore break and it the cold didn’t make it anymore enjoyable for me. I helped them all get a good start and even got a few of them up, but I soon ran out of patience and warmth so I got out of the water. Eventually they did all catch a wave and were all super stoked! I stayed on shore and barked instructions to them. I got a call from James saying that outrigger practice had been called off. Felicity, Line and I decided to head out around 4pm because we were going to a Japanese drumming show that night. We stopped to grab my clothes from the night before form Andy’s house and popped in a Lebanese restaurant for a quick dinner togo. I dripped juice from my falafel all over my red Hawaii hoodie as I ate in the car  When we got to Felicity’s house I washed the hoodie but the oil/grease didn’t come out. We showed up at the Riverview Auditorium right as the show was starting so we let Felicity out so and went to park the car. When we walked in I was surprised by the $40 price tag of the tickets, but since the Australian dollar is weak (.60 to our dollar) it really only cost me $24. We walked in during the ending of the first piece and I was really stoked that I decided to go. It wasn’t anything like what I had assumed it would be. I pictured a small gathering of 50 people or so in an artsy lil club or something, with a few people playing drums. Instead it was a full on production of full body drumming! (see www.youtube.com/timlara ) After the show we headed back to the house downloaded and swapped pics from the day and passed out.

Wonderful world of Oz

(Wednesday October 15th 11:45pm Crown Gardens Apt #307 Sydney, Oz)
Next morning (10.14.08) I woke up at 6am and grabbed a quick shower. Bethany who had been up all night working on graphic design, made me breakfast and called a cab to take me to the airport. I had a quick 1 ½ flight to Bangkok. On the plane I ran into four people I’d seen earlier in my travels: a couple that were on the bus from to Dalat, and two different guys that came thru the Good Bar on different tours. I caught a cab with one of the guys to Khoa San Rd. where I bought a few more t-shirts and check my emails. Mimi was supposed to send me details on how to get to her house. I had left a large bag of stuff there so I wouldn’t have to carry so much while I was traveling. I checked for the email but it wasn’t there, luckily I still had her address but it was quite far and a cab would have been expensive so I tried to find the canal taxi we had taken last time I was in the city. I didn’t have much luck so I began asking how much for a motorbike or tuk tuk. They wanted 200-300 baht. I found out I could catch a bus to the subway and make it that way. After getting on two separate wrong buses I decided I would just pay for a tuk tuk. When I got to her apartment I was disappointed to find that her keys were not in the basket at the front desk as she said it would be. I went up and knocked on the door hoping her sister was home but she wasn’t. I called her and she apologized and told me her sister would be home from work shortly and let me in. When Niki arrived she let me in and left her keys so I could come and go. I wanted to mail some a package home to lighten my load but Niki told me the post office was already closed. I sat at the house killing time until my 8:30 mtg. After the mtg I caught a cab to the airport for my midnight flight. THAI AIRLINES is the most AMAZING airline company ever! I was excited to find that I would get not one, but two full meals on my 9 hour flight to Sydney. They also give you free liquor, coffee and other drinks the entire flight, even in economy! To make it even better I had the middle three seats to myself! I arrived to Sydney airport a little after 1pm the following day (10.15.08). On my immigration form I checked the box “yes” for having been convicted of crimes in the past. The immigration officers took me to their office for further questioning. I had to fill out a form detailing the nature of my convictions, the sentence and whether I had completed my sentence. If you have been sentence to more than 1 year in jail they refuse you entry to the country because you need to have a special clearance that must be obtained before you arrive. I luckily was able to squeak thru immigrations an hour and half later. I was able to get them to look up my record on the Clerk of the Courts website for Escambia county and see that I was only sentenced to 11 months 15 days. However the 5 year suspended prison sentence raised a lot of concern. The officer let me know that she should legally turn me around but she was gonna over look the suspended sentence and let me through. However next time I needed to get cleared in advance. I followed the directions to Emily’s house; my couch surfing host. We went to an internet café where I had a “long black” for 5$. Apparently they don’t brew coffee in Oz, its all espresso shots. So a “long black” is the closest thing to a real cup of coffee I could get. I used the internet to search for canoe clubs I could paddle with and found several in Sydney. I made plans to paddle the following night at 7pm. We returned to her house and dropped our computers and she took me to the harbor so I could see the Opera house and city! Sydney is such an amazing city, it’s beautiful! Her parents are both in the medical field and own the apartment she lives in, which is in an upscale suburb of Sydney called Woolloomooloo. There is a sick balcony view of the city and harbor and Russell Crow lives down the street. I can stay here tonight and tomorrow night but I have to leave Friday morning because her parents are coming to stay for the weekend. So I’m gonna go meet some other Couch Surfers at the Blue Mountains on Friday. Tomorrow morning Emily is gonna show me around the city and I’ve got to get to bed. A hui hou!!!
(10.21.08 Sydney Airport)
Well the next morning (10.16.08) I meant to wake up and attend a 7am mtg however when the alarm sounded I just turned it off and rolled back over. I before I fell asleep I looked out the window and saw that the sun was coming up over the harbor and casting amazing light on the skyscrapers in the city. I had a hazy thought to get up and take pictures but it faded just as quickly as I did back to sleep. I ended up waking up at 10ish and walked into the city to attend a noon mtg. It was so great to be at a “real” mtg. While in Asia I had only attended 4 mtgs and there was almost a month break in between the last two. The room was full, about 30 people and message really recharged my batteries. I was asked to lunch after and I joined a few guys downstairs at a deli. After lunch I went to use the internet and sort out my future couch surfs in Byron Bay, Gold Coast. I got sucked in and almost two hours passed before I got away. I was also dealing with the rental car accident I got in my last day on Oahu before my trip. I had to email documents to Thrifty and Visa so they could sort it all out. I called Emily who was in the city a few blocks away at a book store and she came over and met me. She suggested that since I didn’t have much time, that maybe we should ride the monorail to get a quick tour of the city. It was a nice thought but the views weren’t so great and it was kinda a short ride. We went back to her house and I got ready to go paddle. I had found a club in the city; Pacific Dragons that invited me to come train with them at 7pm. I caught a several trains and ended up in the suburb of Glebe and walked to the Harbor. The sun had already set and it was pretty cold out which made me a lil apprehensive about the paddle. When I got there I met Todd, the coach I had talked to, and he gave me one of his blades to use. The canoes were equipped with lifejackets, flashlights and flashing lights on poles connected the iako’s. It was kinda different, since the canoes we paddle in on Maui are always completely bare except the crew and paddles. Apparently the canoes are considered the same as any other boat/vessel and have to abide by the same rules while on the water. I suppose the lights were a good idea since it was night time and there were larger ferry’s zipping around. We had a two hour paddle and went out around Cockatoo island and there was a beautiful view of the city at night. After practice I walked to Felicity’s house, a Couch surfer who lived in Glebe, for dinner. He got her lefts and rights mixed up in directions she gave me so a mile and half walk turned into a 5 mile walk. I finally made it to her house right as dinner was coming out of the oven. It looked great! Two large pieces of meat slow cooked in the oven on a bed of sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes and peppers. I was starving and dug in. It wasn’t til I was more than half way done that she told me it was KANGOROO!!!!! I couldn’t believe it! Here it was, my second day in Oz and I had just got done paddling in the harbor and was now eating Kangaroo! I ended up hanging out til around midnight and then caught a cab back to the city to go to bed.

Last Night on Cat Ba Island

(Auckland, NZ CS Host House 4:50pm 10.30.08)
Next Morning (10.10.08 or 10.11.08 somewhere I lost a day?) I got up and went to work. It was my last day I was able to work for Slopony as I was leaving the following morning. Luke, Tim, Dinh and I set the ropes for the first climbs while Slo went to do the transfer. This free time allowed an opportunity for me to get some rock climbing pics of myself. Luke went up on the second route while climbed the first (super easy) route. The fact that the route was easy made it really easy for us to get some good pics. I had been telling Luke for the past week that he owed me since I got such amazing pics of him climbing. Well he finally paid up. Tim choreographed the photo shoot from below. “get a heel hook with your right leg reaching out towards Luke, now reach back with your right hand like you’re chalking hands and look up the route” Tim instructed. The result was some pretty sick pictures and if I didn’t tell you that they were all posed you’d probably agree. I came back down and somehow Luke and I got into a pushing match that quickly escalated into a full on beach wrestling match, complete with sand in my eyes and all over my face. Luke’s ribs will probably never feel the same after me blasting them soooo many times! A few minutes later I got Tim to play photographer while I snuck up behind Luke, wrapped him up and slammed him, simply for the photo. When Slo returned, Luke and I were sent to do the kayak tour. After the tour I took advantage of my last day at work and tried to climb a new route on tiger beach, well new to me. 3 of the guys tried the route and didn’t make it very far and after they were done I got geared up. Slo was belaying me. I asked him for advice on where to go and he simply said “straight up, then go to the left or right” I could tell he was gonna be much help. I began climbing and made it past where everyone was getting stuck and found a nice rest spot. I again asked Slo for some direction and I got the same reply. The next section was an over hang and you’re mean to make your way through it pretty fast so that the weight of you body doesn’t drag you off the face. The problem was I didn’t know where the holds were and I wasn’t getting much help. I tried and tried again, eventually my arms wore out and I could no longer grip the holds. Slo suggested I come down and try again after did it. I watched as Slo, who had probably climbed this route a hundred times, quickly made his way through the route with no delay. I again went up but had the same fate. When we got back to the Noble house I told Jess and Luke that I wanted to take them to Green Mango, an upscale restaurant and only restaurant with dessert on Cat Ba, for dessert. After Luke got his shower and was ready to go the tour group had already eaten dinner and was making their way upstairs for drinks, which meant I had to go to work. Jess ended up going and getting every dessert on the menu to go and brought it back to the bar for us. Our feast included: Crème Brulei, Sticky Rice with Mango, Fried Ice Cream, Lava Cake and Fried Banana! Since it was my last night I was really relaxed at work. I spent more time playing pool and sitting at the bar then I did behind the bar. I also showed off my signature bar move: “the one handed, hand stand, drink pour” I had learned it a few days earlier when I had a real princess at the bar being very particular about how she wanted her drink. After she apologized for being so difficult, I replied “no worries, if you want I can do a hand stand while I make it for you”. Stacey called me out and said I wanna see it!! So I walked out from behind the bar so I’d have more room and went for it. To my surprise I was able to do a hand stand, reach with one hand for the bottle (lid already off), poor a shot and put the bottle back down before loosing balance with my other arm! We closed the bar semi-early and went to the Blue Note Karaoke bar to continue the last night celebrations. Around 3 am I finally made it home. Next morning (10.13.08) I woke up at 7 am to walk my “very good friend” from the night before, back to her hotel so she could pack. I had meant to go back with the tour group back to Hanoi so I wouldn’t have to buy a bus ticket, but after the night I had I really didn’t feel like packing in a rush and heading out. All I wanted to do was sleep! I ate breakfast and said goodbye then retreated to my room for some shut eye. I woke back up around 1130 and packed my bags. I said all my goodbyes and gave all the Vietnamese girls at the Noble house their necklaces I had made for them out of “puka shells” and fishing line, just like the one I wear. Ms. Oanh told me to come back anytime to work and I told her I’d be back next year, same time, but for a lil longer and I walked up the road to catch my bus. It was the same route I had come on, only in reverse except this time the bus to Hanoi stopped, literally, 50 times to let people on the bus. What was supposed to be a 4 hour trip turned into a nearly 5 ½ hour nightmare. I was sooooooooo hungry when I got to Hanoi. I called Bethany, my host in Hanoi, and she gave a motorbike driver instructions on where to take me. We had dinner with “Be’s” roommate and friend, then went home.

Crazy Monkeys

(Auckland, NZ CS Host House 430pm 10.30.08)
Next morning (10.6.08) was another typical day; however I only had a one couple on the kayak tour. We went a way I had never been before and found a couple nice little beaches, well except for all the plastic, slippahs and medical waste that had drift up. We even found a syringe! After the kayak tour I was able to get 8 people that wanted a photo package of them climbing. Slo decided to let me “anchor” in at the top of the 4th climb using 10 quick draws connected to the U bolts at the top of the route. I was then able to move around just enough to get the angels I needed while the climbers came up. Climber after climber I shot the same shots over and over. Keep in mind it takes about 15 for each climber to make the route. So I ended up being up there for over 2 hours! For those of you that aren’t familiar with climbing…. Being in a harness for 2 hours is NOT comfortable at all! Not to mention I didn’t have any water and was being blasted by the sun the whole time. In between climbers I would retreat back into a small cave on the wall and sit for a minute until the next climber was on the line. After a long day up the air I was finally lowered down and we headed back to Cat Ba. On the boat ride back I began to feel a lil scratch in the back of my throat. Another night at the bar is what I had to look forward to as the scratch in my throat turned to a head and body ache. Next morning (10.7.08) I woke up in the afternoon feeling like shit. I had a headache, possible fever and congestion. I just sat around the noble house eating fruit salads, noodles and drinking water all day trying to recover. The fact that I was sick didn’t mean I got the night off, so at 7ish I was at the bar. However I definitely leaned heavier on Bear, my Vietnamese bar back, that night. The following morning (10.8.08) I felt a little better but was still quite weak and congested. I again just kept it low key until Slo told me that he and Dinh were going to the Harbor to climb if I wanted to join. I went along to take photos and see if I would be up for climbing. I ended up trying animal again but got shut down at the exact same spot. Already feeling weak from being sick, I only attempted it a few times before giving up. Another night at the bar and it was time for bed. Next morning (10.9.08) I was surprised that I had another day off work. I was starting to feel better and was about 80% so I again just hung at the noble house all day. I had a mini photo shoot with the crew from the noble house kitchen and servers. They had a really good time with it. The kitchen girls kept to their usual theme of beating me up while Bear took pictures. Luke also had the day off and I was finally able to convince him to go to Monkey Island with me. I had been wanting to go see the monkeys for some time but didn’t have anyone to go with me. Not that I needed the support of another person, I needed a camera operator! He had been climbing all day while I rested. Monkey Island is about 1 ½-2 miles from the harbor so we were going to try to find a motorized basket boat to take us. I had one of the Vietnamese girls write me a note in Vietnamese saying “I need a boat to take me to Monkey Island, wait 30 minutes, and bring me back” I planned to show the note to people at the harbor with 100,000 VND. Eric had already told me that I would cost 200,000 VND, if I could even find someone. Its actually illegal for westerners to ride in the motorized basket boats, I’m not sure why though? When we got to the harbor Luke was certain that his Vietnamese speaking was sufficient and we wouldn’t need my note. He approached a group of men and tried speaking to them but they shook their heads. The problem was that there was a police officer at the harbor building so no one would take us. And he had seen us talking to the men so he probably already knew what was up. We decided to rent a kayak and paddle instead. Our kayak cost 50,000VND and we set off for monkey Island! As we pulled up I was lil uneasy about the fact that there were 4 tour boats and around 60 people on the beach. I told Luke that there couldn’t be monkeys there, or else no one would be laying out in the sand. I had heard from Eric that the monkeys are crazy and will try to attack you. So how could there possibly be crazy monkeys and so many people lying peacefully in the sand?! As pulled the kayak up onto the beach a man dressed in a uniform came over and told us it would cost 20,000 for us to come to the island. I asked him if there were monkeys on the island, because I was hungry and wanted to eat them. He smiled and pointed down the beach and repeated “monkeys, monkeys” I don’t think he understood what I said. As we walked down the beach Luke was skeptical, “I don’t see any monkeys” he told me. “Look up there, in the tree’s, there they are” I replied. You could see a few monkeys jumping from branch to branch, but they were back in the woods a lil ways. I pulled out a banana and began to make a “thuuuck, thuuck, thuuck, thuck” noise with my mouth. Monkeys came rushing towards us from the bushes. Three, then two more, followed by others. Luke was holding camera filming the whole thing and was walking backwards breaking off small pieces of the banana and dropping them in the sand for the monkeys. The large monkey that was following me seemed uninterested in the pieces I had dropped on the ground as he walk right by them focused on the banana in my hands. Meantime two other monkeys had circled around my left hand side. All of a sudden they rushed me. I dropped the banana and took off into a zig zag sprint, hopping and jumping in order not to get scratched by the monkey that was chasing and batting his claws at my legs! I rushed out into the ocean thinking it was my safest bet and I was right. Two monkeys followed me to the waters edge but stopped there. As I tried to come back out they lunged at me. I walked down the beach in the water and took my back pack off to leave it a safe distance away incase I had to go for a swim. As I went through my bag looking for the Ritz crackers I had brought for the monkeys, I noticed that they were on to me. They were making their way down the beach, eyes fixed on my bag. Before I could get it completely zipped up they took off running straight towards me. I again retreated to the water while one of them riffled through my bag and took my ritz, the whole package!! All I could do is snap pictures from the water while he robbed me and then preceded to tear open the package and eat my crackers in front of me. I still had a half package of oreo’s in another part of my bag so I quickly ran and grabbed them. Luke and I took turns feeding the oreo’s to the monkeys from the waters edge while the other took pictures. I took my last banana and tried to draw the monkeys out of the trees one last time to make a video clip, but as soon as they saw the banana they freaked out and rushed me. I dropped it and retreated to the water once again. Grandpa monkey sat and at the banana while “scar face” kept me at waters edge. Every once in a while I would try to walk onto the beach to film a lil closer but he would lunge at me sending me back to the ocean. Now that we had completely ruined every beach go'ers day by awakening the terror of the monkeys we took back off in our kayak for Cat Ba. Back at the bar we showed pictures/movies and recounted the excitement from our adventure on Monkey Island. ( www.youtube.com/timlara )

Deep water soloing and Blind folded climbing

(Sydney International Airport 1:30pm 10.28.08)
Early next morning (10.2.08) I was woke up by Jess lightly knocking on my door “Tim…. Tim” I answered and she asked if I could work again. I agreed and quickly got ready and grabbed breakfast. This time I was sent to do the transfer by myself and when we got back to tiger beach I was also sent out on the kayak tour by myself. I thought to myself, “wow, that was a quick training period!” I had around 16 kayakers and this time several people bought the photo package. I took them the same route we had done the day before it was quite challenging keeping everyone together with only one guide. After our break on the beach we headed back to the boat however two kayaks were trailing pretty far behind. The number were uneven so I had a girl on the front of my kayak and she had cut her finger while at the beach so she couldn’t paddle. I yelled back to the two kayaks to come along, they had tied their kayaks together and were playing tug-a-war. The lead kayaks had already made their way around a corner so I could no longer see them, which worried me a lil bit. I spun around and paddled to the trailing kayaks who didn’t listen and were still tied together. “Un-tie the f*cking kayaks and start paddling, the rest of the group is already around the corner!” Then I hightailed it back to the rest of the group. When I got around the corner I shocked to find that one of the kayaks was full of water and barely afloat while another couple was trying to help them get it back out of the water. Apparently they thought it would be funny to flip their friends kayak over in the middle of the channel. There was obviously no thought about the fact that these sit inside kayaks could easily fill up with water! The rest of the group was sitting in their kayaks watching and making jokes so I told them to paddle back to the boat around the corner. I honestly didn’t think we were going to be able to get the boat back out of the water. However we some how managed, after several unsuccessful attempts, to get just enough water out to allow them to paddle back. Back on the boat I told Slo and Jess about my kayak tour from hell and started to question whether or not I was willing to be a kayak guide. The problem is that is in Southeast Asia people get accustomed to not having any rules. In countries like these pretty much anything goes if you are a westerner spending money. So I would basically be dealing with college aged kids that were are just looking to get shit faced and party everyday, most of who are hung over or drinking on the kayak tour. I big difference than the cliental I’m use to on Maui. Later at the bar I decided rather than refusing drinks when people offer to buy me a shot, I’d just do a shot of “vodka” (water in a vodka bottle) and keep the money from the shot. I ended up making a decent amount of money with my new plan coupled with the tip jar I decided to put out. Next morning (10.3.08) I went out on the tour myself. There were no climbers and only two kayakers. I decided that rather than taking the normal route I would start to explore the area a little bit. I decided to bring Mr. Tien a Vietnamese guy along as a safety incase we got lost in the maze of islands so he could speak to some of the fisherman and get us back where we needed to be. After lunch I gave the guys the option to kayak more, hang at the beach or head back to Cat Ba early since they were the only ones on the tour. They opted to head back early. When I got back Jess and Luke were on their way to climb at the harbor so I tagged along to take pictures and attempt some more climbing. I tried a route called “animal” which is rated 7B and got shut down not even half way up. It was a pretty technical climb they told me and I realized that climbing is a very humbling sport! With only two people on the tour it proved to be a quiet night at the bar so I closed around 11pm so I could get some sleep. Next Morning (10. 4.08) I woke up around 11am and used the day to catch up on emails that had been neglected due to my work all day and all night schedule I had the 3 days prior. In the afternoon Luke, Dinh and I headed back to the harbor for some climbing. I was really disappointed as I began to climb and realized the shoes I had on had almost no grip whatsoever. I made it where I had been shut down the day before but only attempted it once before giving up due to the shitty shoes I had on. I really didn’t have a shot in the world making any progress with those shoes on. I caught a ride back to Noble house with the tour group that had just pulled up to the dock and got ready for a night at the bar. Next morning (10.5.08) it was back to the old routine of waking up at 7am to play kayak guide. Another small group of 3 allowed for more exploring of new routes and I was thoroughly impressed with what I had found. Towards the beginning of the tour I saw a small A-frame passage through the side of one of the islands that were able to paddle through. Then around the corner I found a nice rock face that looked perfect for deep water solo’ing. Solo’ing is when you climb without harness or ropes and deep water just means you do it over water so when you fall or let go you simply hit water instead of rocks! We paddled on and found a beach to stop. I swam across the channel and attempted to do some solo’ing on another face but wasn’t able to get more that 10 feet up the wall. Which was probably good since the water wasn’t sooo deep. I fell once and cut myself on the oyster shells on the rocks underwater which convinced to give up. As we paddled back I asked the guys if they would be ok with me attempting to solo the first face I found. They agreed so I showed one of them how to work my camera and paddled over to the wall. I started the climb from my kayak and was soon about 40 feet up the wall. It looked a lot higher from up there. I decided that it was probably high enough and leaped outwards for the water below!!! Back at boat we joined the climbers for lunch and I pitched them on a photo package for climbing. There was one taker so I climbed the 5th route and took pictures as she climbed up the 4th. They turned out pretty good and I was able to get some pics of Luke and Tim climbing a separate, harder, route as well. Somehow we got to betting on who could climb which routes and so on, I ended up betting Joe that he couldn’t climb the 5th route blindfolded and to my surprise he took the bet. The prize: one pack of oriel cookies! The negotiations over the rules began: “ok you only get 10 minutes” I told him. “No, no, no. No time limit. And Luke gets to coach me through it” he responded. “Ok 15 minutes and Luke can only tell you whether you are hot or cold” I countered. We finally settled on 18 minutes and Luke only being able to say the two words: Hot or Cold. To mine, and I think everyone there’s, surprise…. He actually climbed the entire route blind folded!!!! Now is a good time to mention that Joe was once one of the top climbers in the world. Again after 10 hours at "work" i ended the night with another night at the bar!

Wanna get high?

(Sydney International Airport 12:45pm 10.28.08)
Next Morning (9.30.08) we woke up around 11 a.m. and made our way down for breaky. The Vietnamese girls that worked at the Noble House commented on my “very good friend”, telling me how beautiful she was. I downplayed it and told them she was just a “good friend” and “yeah, she looks ok”. They got a kick out of me. After breaky I called Antwon and he brought a motorbike over for us to use. I had got reprimanded by Slo for using Tim’s motorbike the day before without asking for first. I figured it was ok since me and Mr. ha had used it earlier and I had filled the tank with 200,000 VND worth of gas. We decided to go to the Cat Ba National Park and go on a hike to the observation tower. On our trek through the woods we kept hearing and loud banging noise like someone slamming a heavy object against a metal container. After about an hour trek we reached the observation tower and realized what the noise had been. One of the pieces of sheet metal was loose on the roof and slamming back and forth in the strong winds. The tower looked soooooo dodgy (dodgy is a new word I’ve learned which is equivalent to sketchy) but we climbed it anyways. It had to be at least 150 ft high and when we got to the top we noticed that the boards on the floor of the observation deck weren’t even secured down. They were just sitting across the metal support beams and some were missing!!! We took few minutes to take in the 360 views of the island and then made our way back down. It was another busy night at the bar, I guess since there weren’t tours for a few days due to the storm they were having larger groups now. Again the talent at the bar made me wish I didn’t already have a guest in my room, who was strictly just a friend…not a “very good friend” as the Vietnamese would say. Next morning (10.01.08) I was woke up by Kat who told me that Slo had just come to the door asking if I wanted to work for them today. I was confused and in a sleepy stupor made my way downstairs to see what was up. He told me they needed me to work the day after next as a kayak guide and could train today if I was up for it. I was suppose to go climbing with Luke but decided getting out in the water for a paddle would amazing since I hadn’t paddled in nearly a month. I quickly ate breakfast and joined the rest of the people on the tour. Kat decided the night before that she was leaving today so it actually worked out quite well. I went with Jess on the boat to transfer the guest from the day before for the new guest while Tim, Slo and Dinh set the ropes up for the rock climbers. When we got back to Tiger beach I was told I would be going out on the Kayak tour with Dinh to see how the tours are run. We had about 10 people who had signed up for a kayak tour and there were another dozen or so that signed up for the rock climbing tour. I offered the guest a photo package, just as I do on Maui, however instead of $60 per CD the price was drastically reduced to $7 per CD to coincide with the prices of Vietnam. Surprisingly I got one couple to take advantage of the offer. Dinh lead the tour and I followed the last kayak, every once in a while paddling up to take pictures of my guest. We paddled through a maze of islands and stopped on a secluded lil beach so the guest could go for a swim and relax a lil bit. The kayaks were sit inside kayaks that weighed close to 100lbs and had seen better days; some even had holes in them! After about a 30 minute break we paddled back to the boat for lunch where we were joined by the rock climbers. After lunch we took a motorized basket boat to Tiger Beach for the second set of climbs for the climbers while the kayakers were able to hang out and relax on the beach or boat. Tiger beach is a small stretch of beach about 100-150 yards and Tim, one of the climbing guides, had made a makeshift house on the beach. He lives there along with two other Vietnamese workers. I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was working for a rock climbing company and I asked if I could try climbing one of the routes. The climbers had already climbed 3 routes on an island across from tiger beach while we were kayaking. They get to do 5 climbs and each one gets harder as they go along. Only about 80 percent of the group usually attempts the 4th climb and only about 20 percent attempt the 5th climb. Of those that attempt the 5th climb only about 15 percent actually make it up. So naturally for my first climb ever, I went for the 5th climb!! It’s rated a 6B, whatever that means. I eventually made it to the top after falling twice! Around 430pm we loaded back on the boat and headed to Cat Ba island. The guest checked into their hotel and met at the noble house for dinner while I took a shower, grabbed dinner and headed to the bar for another long night at work.

Kat, Bats and Caves

Next morning (9.29.08) I woke up at 7am to see the tour group off and meet Kat. The Hanoi Backpacker tours also eat breakfast at the Noble house before they jump back on the boat for Hanoi. After breaky Kat dropped her bags in my room and we took off to explore the island. I had worked out an agreement with Mr. Antwon, Ms. Oanh’s brother who owned another hotel and rented motorbikes, that if I sent travelers to his hotel and got them to rent motorbikes from him, he’d give me free motorbike’s for my use whenever I needed provided that I paid for the gas. However I decided to take Tim’s motorbike, an old beat up Minsk (sp?) Motorcycle from Russia. It had to be kick started, had no horn, lights or signals!! It was my kind of bike! As we drove down the road we passed the bunker we explored on the first day and just passed it on the other side was a locked gate with a sign stating there was a cave. I pulled in and stashed the bike in some bushes out of sight; did I mention the bike doesn’t need a key to be started? We jumped the locked gate and walked briskly up the pathway. When we got to opening we were surprised by another locked gate. This time we had to shimmy around the side of it, hanging over a cliff! Once inside we realized we hadn’t planned this out to well, since it was pitch black and didn’t have a flashlight. I used the flash on my camera to light up the tunnels as we cautiously explored the first couple of chambers. I then remembered that my cell phone had a small light on the top!! I turned it on and it was actually bright enough to illuminate the pathways enough for us to press on into the mountain. It was moist and narrow in some areas and everyone once in a while we would hear the flapping of wings swooping by our heads and duck! The passages just kept going and going. We I stopped momentarily to take pictures but was trying to keep a good pace as Kat was starting to get weary and wanted to turn around. We eventually made it to a section where we were being dive bombed by bats every two seconds and had to pass thru a low tunnel that they were flying out of. I decided that maybe this was far enough! I somehow convinced Kat to push thru it with me. On the other side I used the flash on my camera to get a better look around and was shocked by what I saw… there were literally hundreds of bats hanging from the ceiling of the cave and wires that lights ran along (the power to the lights was off) right above our heads. I took a pic and then decided to try to get a lil closer for another. I kept inching closer with each picture and was amazed that the bats weren’t bothered by the flash which was literally 6 inches from them. Every once in a while a bat would take off and send me falling to floor to get out of the way. Kat meanwhile was definitely ready to get out of the caves so we turned back made our way out. After working our way back around the gate, Kat slipped on the slimy stairs and nearly busted her head open. She did get some nice scrapes and bruises. I made my way around and in suit slipped as well; I miraculously was able to stay upright as one foot after the other slipped out from under me as if I was running in place trying to get a foot planted. Back on the motorcycle we headed to the same harbor I saw the day before and then made our way to a fish farm for lunch. Jess had told me about a cute lil restaurant on a fish farm where they will let you catch your own fish and then cook it for you. We looked for the bamboo structure as Jess had described it and were more than happy when we finally arrived. I was about to eat my hand and Kat’s stomach had already been eating itself for the last two hours! We were greeted by a not so friendly dog, that later took a liking to me, followed by Vin who was the son of the family that ran the restaurant/farm. He gave us bamboo poles with a line tied to end and he stuck a blade of grass on the hook for our bait. The line had a small piece of styrofoam which was the bobber. I threw my line out and was robbed of my bait three times in rapid succession. Eat time the Styrofoam dipped down I pulled back on the poll but just came up with a clean hook. Vin asked if I wanted him to show me how to catch a fish. I agreed despite my ego yelling “No, I think I can handle catching a fish in a fish farm, thanks” Vin threw the line out and in a second had a huge fish on the hook. He handed the pole to Kat who proceeded to pull the fish in. Vin took it off the hook and let her pose for photo opts before taking it to the kitchen to cook it for us. Now I was determined to catch a fish. I grabbed some more bait and cast away. On my second attempt I got a strong bite. This time I waited a second before I pulled to set the hook and it worked!!!! I too pulled in a fish, a lil bigger than Vins too, if you ask me anyways. Feeling no that my pride had been restored I walked to the waters edge to where I noticed a small wooden boat with a bamboo pole. I had seen people using this style boat on TV the night before and felt that was all the training I needed to give it a go. I stepped in and used the pole to push myself along in the pond, similar to the way a gondola boat is pushed down the canal. The light breeze made it a lil challenging to keep it going straight but by the time I was done I felt I had mastered the art of bamboo boat pushing. Lunch was ready and it was absolutely amazing; steamed FRESH fish with veggies and rice. After lunch we made our way to the harbor I came in at when we pulled up I noticed a few basket boats tied to the shore. These were the basket boats that the Vietnamese used to paddle in the ocean with two oars. I had wanted to try it out so I asked the people how much it would cost to give it a go. He told me 200,000 VND! I laughed and told him 20,000 and the game began. He dropped his price and I slowly raised mine and we eventually agreed on 50,000 VND which was still pretty expensive. The small basket boat had seen better days and had a huge hole up front which let plenty of water spill in. It was a lot harder than those small Vietnamese ladies make it look!! And the wind that started blowing didn’t make it much easier either. I couldn’t even figure out how to do it. I started at first by facing forward in the boat and pushing the oars handles forward thru the water, that didn’t seem to work so well so I turned around. Now I was facing backwards and pulling the oar handles towards me thru the water, but I kept hitting my knees with the handles. Finally after an attempted rescue by two boys in another basket boat I untied one oar and used it like a stand up paddle out of desperation. This actually worked but with the wind we spun around several times. I took the boat back to shore half full of water and in worse shape then I took it. They seemed happy with the 50,000 VND and we later joked that they laughed to themselves “we were gonna sell that piece of crap for 25,000 VND anyways!” We returned to the Noble house and got ready for my night behind the bar. It turned out to be a fairly busy night with a large tour group from Hanoi Backpackers. There were some really cute girls in the group and I definitely doubted my decision to let Kat spend the night with me! I closed the bar around 1am and headed to bed.

Cat Ba Island Day 1-3!

(Thursday October 16th 11:15am Crown Gardens Apt #307 Sydney, Oz)

I arrived to Cat Ba Island (9.26.08) right at the end of a Typhoon. There was no power on the island and I made my way to the Noble House, where Slopony adventures office is located. Upstairs I met Slo, Jess, Joe, Chris and Brian. Slo and Jess work for Slopony and Joe, Chris and Brian were out in Vietnam shooting a rock climbing video. Slo told me that they didn’t need any help at the moment but he would turn me onto ms. Oanh who owned the bar/restaurant to see if she needed any workers. That night I met Ms. Oanh and she was happy to have me bartend. She told me I could stay there for free and eat for free. There was a guy from Canada that had been bartending for the past two months and he was itching to get off the island, so he was stoked when I showed up. That night I let him work the bar since it was his last night and there were only 2 bar guest. I found out, to my surprise, when it came time for bed, I was meant to sleep in the bar. All the Vietnamese workers slept on the floor in the bar and I was to do the same. Next morning (9.27.08) I went on a motorbike tour of the island led by Slo. I rode with Luke, a rock climbing guide for Slopony. We stopped at all the harbors and one large bunker inside a mountain that was used as a hospital during the war. When we returned to Noble house I was handed a wad full of money and the keys to the bar. I was told not to let the Vietnamese workers touch the money, only I was to handle it. I kept close records of what drinks I sold and how much money I took in. Throughout the day I had spoken to every western person I saw on the island and told them to come to the bar later that night. It worked and we went from 2 guests the night before to 20 that night. At the end of the night I gave Ms. Oanh my cash report, the money and keys and she told me I didn’t need to keep track of the money, “no worries, you don’t need to write down, you make me money, I trust you” she said. I thought it was kinda weird since she just met me the night before. Apparently she was stoked that I had brought so many people to the bar. I closed the bar around midnight and upgraded my sleeping spot to the pool table! Next morning (9.28.08) I woke up and headed out to beach number 2 to see if I could rent a kayak and get into the water. They did have kayaks however they wanted 100,000 VND an hour to rent them, so I was over it. I wanted to rent one for the day and really see what was around this place. I instead swam out to a nearby island, which wasn’t so nearby I found out when I was halfway there. Things always look closer than they are! I climbed on the island for a little bit but he rocks were really sharp so I had choose my route carefully. I finally found a safe place to jump off and swam back to the beach. When I got back to the Noble house I found out that Slopony had a climbing/kayak tour that day and there would be a group coming to bar after dinner. There hadn’t been any tours the prior two days because of the Typhoon but on a normal night the tour ends at noble house for dinner and then the guest come up for drinks afterwards. Cat a girl I met in Hanoi was on the tour and I convinced her to stay on the island for a few days and explore with me. We found out this was no problem and she could just simply complete her tour in couple of days, assuming there was a tour running on that day. OH! Earlier in the day when I came home from beach I came into the Noble house to find a Vietnamese guy yelling at Ms. Oanh. I walked by and started to head up the stairs trying to stay out of the situation but keeping an eye out as well. As I started up the stairs he shoved her and she took her shoe off and began swinging back. I rushed over and shoved him into the kitchen after seeing him hit her. He began yelling at me in Vietnamese and put his hands up like he wanted to fight so I did likewise and told him to bring it, cautioning him that it might not be a good idea for him. Keep in mind he is probably in his 40’s, half my size and drunk. Ms. Oanh told me she was ok and directed me to go upstairs. I began to wonder what I had just gotten myself in to? Was this guy Vietnamese mafia trying to get money out of her I wondered? There is a strong mafia here and I had already stories of them trying to exploit money from Slopony. I began to wonder if should have just minded my own business and stay out of it. I walked up to the bar and grabbed a pool stick on my way behind the bar as he had followed me upstairs yelling for me to get out. Ms. Oanh was trying to talk to him and calm him down but he was visibly upset that I had had bruised his ego and didn’t seem that he was willing to let it go. He just kept yelling for me to get out. I realized I probably looked a lil confrontational standing behind the bar with a pool stick in my hand so I walked to pool table and began playing pool. Ms. Oanh told me to go upstairs “I have room for you, you go upstairs, room 305” I grabbed a knife from behind the bar and wrapped it in the towel I was carrying so no one would see it and headed upstairs. That was the end of the incident and I later asked ms. Oanh who the man was and she told me he was her husband! I apologized and she told me it was ok “you did good for me”. The good side of this whole thing was now I had a room and was out of sleeping in the bar. I had mentioned to her before I prefer to have a room incase I had a girlfriend spend the night but she didn’t really respond. In the middle of the incident I think I got a room simply because she needed to send me somewhere out of his sight, either way I was happy to have it!!!!

Hanoi, Vietnam

(10.5.30.08 Noble House, Room #305. Cat Ba, Vietnam 11:30pm)

After an over night bus ride I showed up to Hanoi the following morning (9.24.08). I called Bethany, my CS host in Hanoi and she told me to catch a cab to her house. I showed the cab driver the address and told him 40,000 VND he laughed and said it was metered. 120,000 VND later on the meter and I called Bethany to tell her I thought I was being given a tour of the city at my expense. She talked to the cabby who explained it was 9,000 per kilometer. Basically I got robbed by taking the wrong kind of taxi. Anyways I finally arrived at Bethany’s house 200,000 VND later and dropped my bags. She had several meetings lined up for work but she took me her favorite lil breakfast bakery. She gave me a map of the city and suggested a few places to go. I made my way to rent a moto bike and then headed to Hanoi Backpacker Hostel. It’s probably the sickest hostel I’ve seen. I hung out there looking for someone to explore the city with but wasn’t able to find any solo travelers, plus it was raining. I used the free internet at the hostel to stay dry from the Monsoon that was on its way. While in Nha Trang Lisanne told me she use to work for Slopony Adventures on the island of Cat Ba in Ha Long Bay. She bartended there in trade for lodging, food and free rock climbing. She put me in contact with Onslo, “Slo”, one of the owners. I had been in contact with him for the past few days and he told me we’d see if we could work some kind of work trade out while I was out on the island. He suggested that I just come out rather than take a tour. I called him and he told me there was no power on the island but other than that everything was cool. I decided to catch a bus out there the following morning. I eventually found someone that was willing to weather the storm and explore the city so we headed out into the rain on the motorbike. It was actually a refreshing feeling to have the cool rain running all over me. We had no agenda; we just drove and turned from street to street. We eventually made it to a huge wall with armed guards; I tried to drive right in but was quickly stopped at gunpoint and turned around. We drove by a huge park with a lake, in the pond we saw Goose shaped peddle boats and decided to go for it!! Keep in mind its pouring rain, we are soaking wet and no one is in the park but us. We found the office and told the man we wanted to rent a peddle boat. He walked us outside and pointed to a regular, non goose shaped boat. I shook my head no and pointed at the goose boat. He said no and motioned with his hands that they were unstable/tipsy. I explained it didn’t mind getting wet and I was a really good swimmer but he refused to let us have the goose boat. I kept on asking, at least a half dozen times, but made no head way. We later found out that he wouldn’t let us take it because we were too big, and that’s what he meant with his hand signals about it being unstable. They are made for smaller, Asian, people. As we peddled along we came across a naked man bathing on the side of the lake. He had no shame; he just kept washing as if we weren’t even there. I don’t understand why he was bathing in the lake, when it was raining, because the lake water was absolutely disgusting. In the middle of the lake was a small island which we decided to explore. The only problem was that there was no dock rope to tie our boat to. Instead we took a large branch and laid it across our boat, hoping that it was heavy enough to hold it while we walked around. Otherwise I would have to send her to swim after it. In the middle of the island was a temple and we lit incense and sent our intentions up then headed back to our boat which was still there. We peddled back to the office, when we showed the guy our tourist map and asked where we were and pointed to where we wanted to go, he laugh and shook his head. Apparently we had driven a lot further than we thought. When we finally made it back to the hostel we attended the Australian BBQ they were having on the roof. At the BBQ I ran into to girls I met in Chiang Mai and hung out with them for a while. I returned to Bethany’s house where her and some friends were having band practice. Next morning (9.25.08) we again went to her breakfast place and she followed me to return my motorbike and then drop me off at Hanoi backpacker. I found a girl to join me in exploring the city. It was still raining so we took ponchos and headed out. Our first stop was an art museum with artifacts dating back all the way to several thousands of years B.C. the problem is the titles simply said things like “animal sculpture” and didn’t tell what it was used for or its significance. In another room there were large Buddha sculptures and I found out that the Nazi swastika sign was for many years a sign of peace in Buddhism. The Germans simply turned the sign backwards. I found out halfway thru the museum that camera’s weren’t allowed. Oops! Our next stop was the Temple of Literature, which in the pouring rain wasn’t as impressive as it was an out door garden setting. It was interesting to know that many of the Eastern great minds were taught there, starting with Confucius. We walked back to the hostel and Bethany picked me up for dinner at a great lil Indian restaurant. Next morning (9.26.08) Bethany took me to breakfast one last time and dropped me off at the bus station for the 9am bus. The problem was, there was no 9am bus, and the next bus wasn’t til 11am. This gave me time to update my blog while I waited. Four and half hours later I arrived at Cat Ba town on Cat Ba Island!!

Hue and the DMZ

(10.5.30.08 Noble House, Room #305. Cat Ba, Vietnam 6:15pm)
Later that afternoon (9.22.08) we arrived in Hue. I made my way through the hordes of people trying to get me to stay at their hotel or give me a moto bike ride and found my way to the backpacker area. It was a small alley with about 8 different guest houses. I walked from house to house trying to find the best rate, taking advantage of the fact that it is slow season. I was able to find A/C rooms for 8USD at most and non A/C for 6USD, however at one guest house I found a room next to the lobby with no AC, and no windows for 4USD. It had a fan but was literally a sweat box. I walked to an internet café to check emails and shipped off a box of presents back to Maui. I went back to Sinh Café and booked a tour of the DMZ (Demilitarization Zone) for the following morning. It was an all day tour which cost 20 USD. This is the area that some of the fiercest fighting took place in the N/S Vietnam War. I set it up that the bus to Hanoi would pick me up at the end of the tour, rather than me coming back to Hue since the DMZ was about 2 hours north of Hue. Returning to my room I called Cang, Thai and Nhi, the CS’ers I had been corresponding with. The three of them already knew each other and they brought another friend, Yen, from one of their English classes to meet me at the guest house. They took me out for dinner to a small house way down a maze of alleys to have Com Hen (Rice Shell) and Bun Hen (Noodle shell). Both dishes consisted of pork rines, peanuts, spices, vegetables and of course “shells”. At first I thought they were saying “Snails” but when I drew a picture of a snail they laughed and corrected me. Through a lot of picture drawing and hand signals I later found out that “Shells” is either oysters or muscles. After dinner they took me out for Nucc Sam Dua, which is milk flavored with ginseng and pineapple. They all had me write in their books the Hawaiian words I had taught them and they wrote in my book. Cang then took me back to my guest house. It was sooo hott in my room I slept with the door open all night.
I woke up at 6am the following morning (9.23.08) to check out of my room and grab breakfast before the tour. On the way to the first sight I realized that I had left my passport at the guest house. All guest houses make you leave your passport at the front desk til you check out. The thing is, at 6 am neither I nor the guy I woke up to check me out, were awake enough to remember that I needed it back! I quickly called the guest house, as soon as I said “Passport” they said “OH, Tim Lara! Yes we have” I got the bus driver to sort it out that they would take it to Sinh Café and they would have one of their bus drivers bring it to me before I left for Hanoi. A couple of hour bus ride later we pulled into a restaurant for breakfast. We were met by our “English” speaking tour guide here as well. Once back on the bus she explained, in broken English, the intenarary for the day. I could barely understand what she was saying and looked around the bus to see if I were the only one struggling. Blank stares from all the passengers re-assured me that I wasn’t. I felt bad for those that English was their second language, because I was certain that they weren’t even picking up on the bits and pieces that I was able to understand. Our first stop was “the rock pile” we pulled off the road and the guided pointed out a mountain in the distance and explained that this is where the Americans set up a surveillance camp. Five minutes later we back in the bus. Our next stop was a bridge over the river that divided the North from the South. This bridge was also the beginning of the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” which was used to smuggle supplies and weapons during the war. Our next stop was Khe Sang Military Base, which has now been turned into a museum. From the literature in the museum and what the tour guide told us, this was a strategic and vital base for the Americans and South Vietnamese which was overtaken by the North Vietnamese after 6 months of heavy fighting. I was told by others on the tour that it didn’t go down exactly as it was being portrayed by the museum and tour guide. Apparently movies like Hamburger Hill and other Vietnam War movies are about this battle. There were two men walking around the grounds of the museum selling artifacts from the war that they had found with metal detectors: US dog tags, Vietnamese medals and bullets. I bought a Viet Cong medal after much hassle from the guy to buy something. We got back on the bus and had an hour and half bus ride back to the same restaurant for lunch. The next 4 things on the itinerary were a joke. She pointed out a tank and bridge on the side of the road as we drove by on separate occasions without stopping. Then we stopped at a large statue in memory of the Northern Vietnamese fighters. The final stop on the tour was tunnels just north of the DMZ where an entire village lived for 6 years. There were three different levels underground and many chambers for sleeping, giving birth, community room, bathing. We were given a 25 minute tour of the tunnels and at one point joined by a man that grew up in the tunnels. An hour bus ride took us back to the restaurant that we had eaten at all day and I got off to wait for my bus to Hanoi. Two hours later the bus showed up and low and behold the driver actually had my passport!

Viet Nam Surfing!

(10.5.30.08 Noble House, Room #305. Cat Ba, Vietnam 4:30pm)

Our first stop the following morning (9.21.08) was in Hoi An, where I had the option to stay however I decided to skip it and go to Da Nang. During the 1 ½ break I had breakfast and then we loaded back on the bus. We stopped again only a half hour later at Marble Mountain. I bought both my parents a Buddha made out of Jade Marble from mountain. Dad got a “happy Buddha” and mom got a “lucky Buddha”. We only had a 20 minute break there and I almost missed the bus because I was inside the mountain taking pictures of the caves and carvings. Thirty minutes later I arrived at the Sinh Café bus station in Da Nang where Mike, my couch surfing host picked me up. We went to a lil café to have some coffee and chat. I asked him if he would mind taking me to China Beach to see what the surf looked like, so we went home to drop my bags. We sat and talked with mom for about 20 minutes and were off to China Beach. We checked two spots: Tam’s Surf Shop and Hoa’s Guest House. There was no surf what so ever! Every once in a while a tiny lil wave would break but nothing you could ride. I spoke to some people at the beach that reported the surf gets better first thing in the morning and at night. We headed back to Mikes house for lunch and I took a nap while he went to his afternoon class. After school he picked me up and we headed back to the beach. I told him it would probably be too small for me to surf but big enough to teach him and some of his friends if they wanted. He was STOAKED! I rented a board from Tams surf shop and Mike my first International Surf Lesson. I started the same way I start a lesson on Maui, with a land lesson, making sure he knew everything he needed to know before we hit the water. The small inconsistent waves made it difficult for me to pick proper waves for him but after a few unsuccessful tries he caught his first wave! He was beaming as he paddled back out. A couple more and his arms gave out on him so that he could no longer paddle nor jump up. I decided to see what I could make of the surf. I taught him to use my camera and went at it. I was surprised that I was able to actually catch quite a few waves. Plus mikes camera skills made them look like decent waves! He went back in to talk to his girlfriend and I remained until the sun had set completely. However on my way in I stopped near a group of 6 Vietnamese guys and allowed them to play with the surf board. One after one, I motioned for them to climb on and I gave them a push. Two of them actually stood up but then quickly jumped off. After returning the board, Mike insisted that he would take me to dinner since I paid for the board and taught him to surf. The three of us went to a pizza joint and then for coffee. We stopped by Sinh Café, my bus company, and check me in for the bus in the morning. Next morning (9.22.08) we woke up and headed out for breakfast. After breakfast mike took me to a coffee shop so I could use my laptop before hitting the road. As I was powering down my laptop Sinh Café called and told me the bus was waiting. I told them I was literally two blocks away and on my way, to please hold the bus. When we pulled up the bus was gone! The lady inside pointed down the street. “Mike lets go. We have to catch the bus!!!” as I jumped back on. Mike flew down the busy street, weaving in and out of cars. We spotted bus and I told him to pull right in front of it. As we pulled up on the side I motioned for the driver to stop but he didn’t respond. I again told mike to pull in front of the bus. Now in front of the bus I put my hand out, motioning for the bus driver to stop. I pointed to myself, then the bus. He finally understood and pulled over. I climbed on board and got sour looks from people as I made my way down the isle.