"Right now I am sitting with Claire and the others on the most beautiful little deserted island somewhere in Halong Bay. It is literally a strip of sand at the base of an enormous limestone karst, and we are surrounded by what seems to be just mountains of tropical forest. We are sleeping tonight in tiny huts with low roofs and no walls, made from bamboo and dried plants. They are actually on the beach; when you step out of them you step onto the sand and can walk 5 meters to the water. The ocean is warm, and such an intense jade colour. Apparently if you swim at night, the plankton light up the sea as they swim away from you because they contain phosphorus, lighting up the ocean. We are sleeping in the most secluded part of the beach with Joan and Rachael (our Canadian friends) There is a boat for wakeboarding and tubing, a volleyball net on the sand, a ping pong table and a bar and kitchen area for hanging out. Last night we were on the boat overnight and it was so much fun. Claire and I had a neat little room to ourselves with our own bathroom and everything. It was funny because there was just a showerhead coming out of the wall of the bathroom, rather than a separate shower, and the floor was sloped for it to drain out. I have never seen anything like it before. We had lunch in the dining room, which was the middle of 3 floors on this old boat, and then went kayaking through the towering limestone karsts. It was amazing! The air was kind of misty, so it gave the area this eerie, magical feel. After dinner we all sat on the rooftop deck and had a couple of drinks and just chatted with everyone. We met some really cool people, and laughed so much as we were playing games. One girl got really drunk and started stroking my hair and telling me that I should enter a dolly modelling competition, but she kept calling my "Byron Bay Claire" which was kind of awkward because by the time I realised it was past the point when it is ok to correct someone, so I just let her run with it! The next morning we gathered our things nice and early and jumped on a boat to bring us here. It was the most amazing boat ride, the sky got clearer with every corner we turned, and we went past the floating villi\ages which out guide had told us about the day before. He said that the sea people never ever touched land, that for their whole lives they lived on boats and pontoons. They believe that if they touch just one foot on land they will be cursed by a ghost. There are two kinds of funerals they have because they don't bury their dead on land. There is a sea funeral; where they lower the body into the water in a casket with holes in it. They leave it to decompose for 3 years and then they go back to collect the bones which give good luck to the village. The other one is a sky funeral, which they also practice in the hills of Tibet. When someone dies, a monk will take the body to the highest peak in the area and chop it to pieces with an axe. They ring a special bell and eagles come and take the pieces to feed to their families. It really embodies the concept of the circle of life, though it is a little confronting."
In the afternoon on the second day, just after this was written, we went on a banana boat ride. We thought it was going to be pretty tame, so I wasn't too worried when my life jacket didn't fit. I had to wrap it around me without zipping it up, and just use the buckle to fasten it shut. When we got out there though, we realised that it was less "romantic cruise" than "vicious death machine." They were flipping us off every 30 seconds, and it was quite dangerous because eight people falling off the one thing into the same spot never ends well. As I soon discovered. One time, I was flung off with everyone else, and as I hit the water, I smacked head first into someone else. I felt my nose crunch as I landed, and then I was pushed under by another person landing on top of me. Coughing and spluttering I popped up on the surface, conveniently being strangled by my almost non existent life vest. I turned around and everyone's jaws dropped when they saw me. My face and chest were covered with blood. I could taste it and feel it running down my face. All I could think was "Please don't be broken, don't ruin out trip" as I climbed into the back of the boat. Needless to say, that was the end of my banana boating career. It swelled up like you would not believe, I looked like Shrek. Still do. It had stopped bleeding now- 2 days later, but still hurts like hell! Claire and I had planned to do a massive bike ride trip today, but we're both feeling a bit worn out so we thought we would get coffee and a massage instead. Haha! We went to the best Indian restaurant last night and realised that this time last year we were in our English exam. Oh my god. It is the best feeling to be so far away from all that, out exploring the world. Just doing whatever we feel like and not having to please anyone but ourselves. We are having a blast! Going to put some photos up soon, so you can see everything I had described! Bye :)
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