Rainsville

Cats and dogs, dogs and cats and a whole litter of puppies and kittens. That is how much it has been raining in Cat Ba Town since I went climbing and so I have aptly renamed it Rainsville.

So my beach day was scuppered and Wednesday became a bit of a none day. I finished my book 'Nosh, Plead, Shag', read lonely planet and spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find cash as all ATMs (how american) had been bled dry due to the celebration of Vietnamese Independence day on 2nd September.

Steve the yank showed up 2 days late, he couldn't get a bus out of Sapa due to the national hol. He seems like as really nice lad, looks like Rainelle got it wrong.

Dinner with Steve, Hannah, Justine and Harriet was all a bit low key. Steve had a deadline to meet and Hannah had to pack for an early departure so they left early. Harriet and Justine are a big hit with the young climbing brigade so I went to the bar where they all hang out and ended up getting trollied with Sarah my instructor. Very impromptu and I had a great night but had to get myself up for hardcore trekking the next day after only 3 hours of kippage...

Trekking was wet, wet, wet and still being a bit drunk all a bit hazy. It was deep in the jungle of Cat Ba National Park and I was eaten alive by mosquitoes and leeches; yes I said fooking leeches which freaked the beJesus out of me. Apparently they can give you hideous diseases which I am just about to Google. I took a few snaps but torrential rain and mammoth hangover meant keeping a photographic record was low priority compared to staying on feet and not breaking neck.

Jungle...

Frog Pond...

Village where we stopped for lunch.

Yet another Adilady 'cloud on mountain' shot.

These are my trekking mates, from left to right;

Adilady, Miguel, Michella, Mel and Carlos is at the front. They were all great and we hung out in the evening.

The rest of the photos are just views. They would look better in the sunshine:(

In the evening we all met up and had dinner at a local restaurant with the fabulous name of 'Mr Zoom's', it was the best meal I have eaten since leaving home shores. It was then off to Rose's Bar as birds got free beer until midnight, hurrah for being birdage. I think Carlos and Miguel are a couple although I didn't ask. Their ability to dance and musical taste gave it away, how stereotyping am I lol.

So it was another early start for Adilady the following day as I had booked the 7.15am bus, boat, bus back to Hanoi. In hindsight I should have gone later but I was expecting the usual 'no mates eat alone' scenario after trekkingtons. Justine and Harriet were on the bus and although I really like them I was uncomfortable with the way they spoke to the taxi drivers at the bus station. It was kinda 'back off and get out of my face or you'll get nothing from me...', no need girlios! It all felt a bit harking back to the colonial days. Then we got scammed by a dodgy, speeded up taxi meter, which did make me chuckle a bit inside. The girls are only 24 and have a confidence bordering on arrogance which comes with the young and privileged. They were really incensed as the fare was double at a whopping 100,000 dong, that's 5 US dollars between 3 of us, for crying out loud just pay the man.

I met up with Mel from trekking for dinner. She is a 30 year old lawyer from California and I like her a lot; we have a similar out look and sense of humour. Good food, good company and a few beeros made me feel the most cheersome I have felt in a while. We swapped men stories like we girlies do, she said all the right things to make me feel less battered and bruised and told me some great stories about the hunky fireman she found on the Internet. A great story about a fog machine!

Anyways, Mel and I are gonna hook up again to wander around town and see the water puppet show. Tomorrow its the overnight train to Dong Hoi then a transfer to Phong Nha National Park to see some spectacular caves. Lots of love to everyone, Adilady over and out xxx