After the fall of Saigon in 1975 thousands of Vietnamese tried to escape by boat - coining the phrase "boat people." The boats, not intended for navigating open waters, would typically head toward busy international shipping lanes. The lucky ones would succeed in being rescued by foreign freighters. The unlucky ones faced a much more difficult journey, sometimes not succeeding at all. Thanks to a great book recommendation from Russell, I am reading Catfish and Mandala, an autobiography of Andrew Pham who was one of the lucky survivors to make it to America. I highly reommend it for the both the story and the history.
Emily and I spent the last two days on a very different type of boat, a junk to be exact. Complete with our own bathroom, air conditioned cabin, and about 15 other tourists, we cruised around some of the 3,000 islands that make up Halong Bay. The scenery was everything the book promised although the experience was more commercial than what I hoped for. We walked through some caves several stories deep and several New York blocks wide, climbed to the top of one of the small islands, and enjoyed a swim in the Bay. Meals were extravagant with 5-6 courses, mostly seafood. Emily pretended to be a vegetarian and ate mostly rice which left me with several helpings of fresh shrimp, fish, and crab.
Night on the boat was peaceful and this morning after checking out some other caves / islands, we drove back to Hanoi. The only hitch was a much needed bathroom break on the ride home. Our mute and deaf driver (with inch long fingernails - I'm not kidding) did not understand us at all. It took 20 minutes of every word for bathroom and toilet that we knew plus numerous gestures until Emily finally tried to open the door while we were moving before he got the idea and pulled over.
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