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!!!!