Finding the Beauty

With a vision for rock climbing the mystic islets of Halong Bay, my travel partner and I threw together some shorts, running shoes, and climbing gear into packs and jumped on an afternoon flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. We arrived to winter in Asia (strike 1) - and quickly realized a wardrobe adjustment was in order. After a trip to the market for incredibly cheap North Face gear and Chuck Taylors, we rented a motorbike to make the trek to the coast. With hand written directions and hopes high, we picked up a loaf of fresh French bread from a roadside stand and took off in the most intense traffic I've witnessed. Two Americans + Gear + Motorbike = much laughter from the locals. We were thrilled to find so many smiles in the North after hearing we may not be warmly welcomed. Eight hours later, we had witnessed two motorbike accidents (deaths?), were frozen to the bone, had broken shocks on the bike, and were lost on the Chinese border (strike 2+). Exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe our emotions as we found ourselves searching for a (warm) place to sleep. We stumbled across a room for rent next to a prison with hard beds and no hot water but mercifully drinking water. A few hours sleep and we woke to the sound of endless yelling over the loudspeakers at the prisoners. Onward ho! Our spirits were renewed with a bottle of petrol for the bike and a few remaining bites from our crusty bread. Seventeen hours after our original departure we arrived at the ferry only to have just missed it (strike 3). We discussed the options over a huge lunch: Wait for the next ferry in hopes of making it to Cat Ba Island to climb or board the tourist ship about to depart for an "easy" vacation. We chose to persevere... we had made it this far. I will never forget that day, turned two days, of braving so many discomforts for the dream of rock climbing this wondrous piece of the planet. Nor will I forget standing on the top deck of the ferry in the sunshine, my breath catching at the view. I will never forget climbing to the last possible minute only to miss the return ferry, nor negotiating with hand signs and smiles to convince a fisherman to transport us back to the mainland. And I will never forget the return drive with a proper map taking a mere 2.5 hours, the celebratory French dinner, 5 star hotel, and first hot shower in days. The beds were soft, the sleep was earned. Until the next adventure... Xin Chaou!