From Hanoi Claire & I spent three very relaxing days floating through Ha Long Bay. In a renovated junk boat we gently cruised in amongst the islands, stopping for swimming and kayaking along the way. On the first afternoon we were able to take the kayak under a small cave in one of the limestone islands into an internal bay, entirely surrounded by sheer cliff faces.
On our final day we (Claire, I and two friends met on the trip) ate at the only free table in a restaurant full of a group of very drunk Vietnamese. Rice wine, beer flowed and the group got into their party tricks, one singing Vietnamese opera and another drinking beer through his nose. One of the group, a lady, came over to practice her English and explained that the group were army and government officials celebrating the conclusion of a training course.
During our discussion, the singer came over and our translator explained he was a high ranking military official, and that he'd like to toast with us. Glasses and a bottle of rice wine quickly appeared. Our host drank a shot to each of ours, then broke into a tune each verse of which was interspersed with another round of shots. After he'd proved he was a big man by downing 7 shots in 5 minutes with the foreigners we made a polite exit before the second ranked man decided to do the same.
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