After a long night, with little rest, we headed off for our "booze cruise." When we arrived to the docks we found out that the rest of our crew was primarily Vietnamese. I will say that Robbie and I were expecting there to be a lot of backpackers ready to have a great time. Our tour guide was speaking about the area in English first then Vietnamese; after he got done with the Vietnamese part, everyone would start to clap. It was pretty funny.
When we stopped off at our first island, Robbie and I took the time to get to know this girl from the UK. She told us all about how she is a chef and has used her skills to both work abroad and expand her culinary knowledge while traveling. What a good idea, a traveling chef.
Once we got back on the boat, Robbie and I began to break into our two handles of rum that we brought with our new friend. Our boat eventually stopped right off the coast of another island where we were able to go snorkeling and jump off the top level of our boat. We took advantage of our time and continuously jumped off the boat. After getting a little worn out, we decided to snorkel.... There was nothing to see.
As it came to be lunch time, a group of the Vietnamese invited us to join them for the drinks and food that they had brought. From what English they spoke, we were able to build a great friendship with the people. Some of them liked to have a lot of fun and were always inspiring us to drink, shouting. "một, hai, ba, cổ vũ." "One, two, three, CHEERS!" in Vietnamese. This meal was one of the best that I have had while I have been in Vietnam. Aside from the good people, the large spread of rice, noodles, squid, chicken, shrimp, veggies, and peppers was amazing. While at first we were unhappy with our fellow tourists on the boat, all it took was time to get to know them and they turned out to be a great group of people.
So, I will go ahead and say that Asians liking karaoke is in no way a stereotype. There are bars all throughout the cities I have been in that just say "Karaoke" on the outside. After our meal, it was karaoke time. Our guide broke us into countries and had us sing a song iconic to our where we are from. When Robbie and I got up on stage, the guide chose Hotel California by the Eagles. Needless to say, it is a great song, but the full lyrics had slipped both our minds. There was a mumble thrown in every now and then, but the rest of the boat, including us, were having a great time.
We then made our last stop on another island where we were given plenty of time to swim and explore. We spent our valuable time taking a nap.
Once we got back to our hostel, Robbie and I spent the next couple hours sleeping off the afternoon in the dorm. Luckily, Boyd came and woke us up for dinner. We headed down the street in search of some good food. One of the westerners that was working at a bar (one of the guys serving shots outside on the streets) recommended that we go to this hole in the wall place. He walked us over there and the place had zero customers. We came to learn that this restaurant had just opened and was being run by a Vietnamese girl and her Swedish boyfriend. We enjoyed a great conversation with them over a round of shisha and dinner. It was great to be able to speak with a Vietnamese person, who spoke great English, about Vietnam. She is from Ho Chi Minh, Saigon as she refers to it, and has recently moved to Nha Trang to open up this restaurant with one currently open back in Saigon.
After a long night spent learning about some of the Vietnamese culture, we set off for the bars to entangle ourselves in yet another long fun night.
When we stopped off at our first island, Robbie and I took the time to get to know this girl from the UK. She told us all about how she is a chef and has used her skills to both work abroad and expand her culinary knowledge while traveling. What a good idea, a traveling chef.
Once we got back on the boat, Robbie and I began to break into our two handles of rum that we brought with our new friend. Our boat eventually stopped right off the coast of another island where we were able to go snorkeling and jump off the top level of our boat. We took advantage of our time and continuously jumped off the boat. After getting a little worn out, we decided to snorkel.... There was nothing to see.
As it came to be lunch time, a group of the Vietnamese invited us to join them for the drinks and food that they had brought. From what English they spoke, we were able to build a great friendship with the people. Some of them liked to have a lot of fun and were always inspiring us to drink, shouting. "một, hai, ba, cổ vũ." "One, two, three, CHEERS!" in Vietnamese. This meal was one of the best that I have had while I have been in Vietnam. Aside from the good people, the large spread of rice, noodles, squid, chicken, shrimp, veggies, and peppers was amazing. While at first we were unhappy with our fellow tourists on the boat, all it took was time to get to know them and they turned out to be a great group of people.
So, I will go ahead and say that Asians liking karaoke is in no way a stereotype. There are bars all throughout the cities I have been in that just say "Karaoke" on the outside. After our meal, it was karaoke time. Our guide broke us into countries and had us sing a song iconic to our where we are from. When Robbie and I got up on stage, the guide chose Hotel California by the Eagles. Needless to say, it is a great song, but the full lyrics had slipped both our minds. There was a mumble thrown in every now and then, but the rest of the boat, including us, were having a great time.
We then made our last stop on another island where we were given plenty of time to swim and explore. We spent our valuable time taking a nap.
Once we got back to our hostel, Robbie and I spent the next couple hours sleeping off the afternoon in the dorm. Luckily, Boyd came and woke us up for dinner. We headed down the street in search of some good food. One of the westerners that was working at a bar (one of the guys serving shots outside on the streets) recommended that we go to this hole in the wall place. He walked us over there and the place had zero customers. We came to learn that this restaurant had just opened and was being run by a Vietnamese girl and her Swedish boyfriend. We enjoyed a great conversation with them over a round of shisha and dinner. It was great to be able to speak with a Vietnamese person, who spoke great English, about Vietnam. She is from Ho Chi Minh, Saigon as she refers to it, and has recently moved to Nha Trang to open up this restaurant with one currently open back in Saigon.
After a long night spent learning about some of the Vietnamese culture, we set off for the bars to entangle ourselves in yet another long fun night.
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