The tour has been good so far and today was the first day that we ran into a glitch - although you can't really call it a glitch because one cannot control nature! Before heading out to Ha Long Bay, we made a stop at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. This is were Ho Chi Minh rests, preserved in a glass case and protected by what seems to be about a million soldiers in white. We couldn't take pictures of him inside the mausoleum but the site itself is beautiful - there is marble everywhere. What is it with great leaders of poor countries having to have these beautiful structures built for them while the country suffers! (Opps.. that might be a rant!). It was extremely hot outside and the line up took us about an hour to get through...and walking through the mausoleum took about 60 seconds! Well, at least it was air-conditioned. :)On the way to Ha Long Bay, we had a scheduled stop for lunch in the mountainous region of Yen Tu, which is the Buddhism capital of Vietnam. There is a trek to take up the Yen Tu Mountain but we didn't quite make it there because we were going to try to go to Ha Long Bay to get to the cruise in case it rained tomorrow.
We took a scooter partially up the mountain to the restaurant that served us a vegetarian meal with rice. We hurried with lunch because we didn't want to miss the cruise in Ha Long. My mother and I abandoned all safety rules (and perhaps logic) and decided to take one scooter all the way back down. She, wedged in the middle of the driver and myself, looked a little freaked out but it was too much fun to pass up. Here's a video:
We didn't quite make it on time to Ha Long Bay and it wasn't meant to be because when we got back on the bus, it started to rain. I remember being a child and my mother would tell me that whenever it rained in Vietnam, people would come out from their homes because it cooled the entire city. Children would play in the rain and adults would pull up chairs on their verandas and watch! Although it is true that the rain cools everything down, I'm not quite sure that people on the tour were ready to go play in the puddles!
Last minute arrangements were made and we ended up at a hotel for the night. After dinner, the rain stopped so our tour guide decided he would take us around town to see some local sites. We stopped by a shop that specialized in pearls and I lost $60 to a great sale. LOL.
The rain has put a bit of a damper on the second day of the tour but I'm confident that there is still much to see and all is not lost. We weren't meant to see Ha Long Bay this time if the rain continues and I'm OK with that... we are on vacation after all and you can't get upset about these things. The tour guide is sympathetic but there's really nothing that he can do - you cannot control nature. If the weather is good tomorrow, we've got quite the adventure coming - a four hour cruise on Ha Long Bay and a 20-minute trek up Yen Tu Mountain where we are going to see the pagoda at the top of the mountain and then go zip-lining all the way down. :)
Let's hope that my prayers at the pagoda this afternoon are heard....
